The US space agency NASA has announced record-breaking heat in the first half of this year has primed the Arctic for another summer of low sea ice cover.
The Arctic Sea ice has vividly declined over the past three decades. Scientists have warned that the region is warming twice as fast as elsewhere in the world making the Arctic one of the most visible signs of global warming.
The region is changing the balance between the cold Arctic and the lower latitudes that would possibly change weather patterns.
NASA says it will launch a satellite in 2018 to make the most advanced measurements of the polar regions.