Increased evaporation from the exposed sea should also mean more snowfall to compensate for the ice cap's losses (though together with rapid erosion at the margins this could increase the gradient of the ice cap, making it less stable.) But this is small consolation for another big fear: rapid thawing of the Arctic permafrost.

ECONOMIST: The science

Last, the project will try to work out how thawing permafrost will affect the numerous streams, rivers and lakes of the Arctic.

ECONOMIST: Global warming and the permafrost