An area twice the size of France has melted from the Arctic ice cap during the past two years, according to research by the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in Paris, France, and this year could see further losses.

In 2005, the ice mass covered a total of 5.3 million square kilometres, but by September last year, it had dropped to 4.13 million square kilometres, with the fastest ice retreat occurring last summer. The average thickness of the ice has also been affected, and is estimated to have shrunk by a half from three to 1.5 metres during the past 20 years.

Jean-Claude Gascard, CNRS research director, said that the rate at which the ice had retreated took them by surprise. ‘Summer 2007 was marked by a major retreat in the ice cap, one we were not anticipating,’ he said. ‘The rate of decline is two or three times faster than before. This year promises to be a critical one on every level… melting could result in the loss of another million square kilometres in one summer.’

The research forms part of the Damocles scientific research programme, funded by the EU as part of the International Polar Year, which aims to monitor the effects of climate change across the Arctic region using a raft of state-of-the-art meteorological and oceanographic instruments that have been deployed across the region.