The latest findings show that virtually all the ice surveyed is what is called first-year ice, ice that only grew this past winter, as opposed to tougher multi-year ice which survives the warmth of summer.

BBC: Arctic team gives up on ice radar

Each year I guide ski expeditions across the pack ice to the North Geographic Pole and each year brings new surprises -- severe storms rarely seen in these parts, vast tracts of first-year ice where there should be years of accumulation, pack ice drifting faster and farther than ever before.

CNN: The story

Estimates range from 2013 terrifyingly soon to 2050 for the first year when the Arctic is free of ice in summer.

ECONOMIST: An imminent answer to an Arctic riddle