For the first time in recorded history the Arctic Circle may well be free of ice in the summer. The full implications of this run the gamut from newer shipping routes for industry to less territory for already endangered polar bears, with many scientists seeing the new conditions as something to warrant fretting over. Most leading climate experts are predicting a total elimination of the sea ice in the Arctic anytime from this coming summer to four or five years from now, with even the most conservative estimates acknowledging a 25% chance that the melt will occur this summer. more »