Three-years of rigorous sea-ice measurements have shown the frozen surface is rapidly thinning.
The European Space Agency's (ESA) CryoSat mission has taken the most accurate measurements of the changing ice sheets, an ESA press release reported.
"From the satellite's measurements we can see that some parts of the ice pack ice have thinned more rapidly than others, but there has been a decrease in the volume of winter and summer ice over the past three years," Andrew Shepherd, of the University of Leeds, said at the Living Planet Symposium .
"The volume of the sea ice at the end of last winter was less than 15 000 cubic km, which is lower than any other year going into summer and indicates less winter growth than usual," he said.
By the end of last winter the volume of Arctic sea ice had reached a low of 15,000 cubic kilometers (about 9,320 miles).
Scientists do not predict the thinness of the sea ice will reach a record low this year, but the volume is a different story. The volume may reach an all-time low this autumn.
"Now that we have three years of data, we can see that some parts of the ice pack have thinned more rapidly than others. At the end of winter, the ice was thinner than usual. Although this summer's extent will not get near its all-time satellite-era minimum set last year, the very thin winter floes going into the melt season could mean that the summer volume still gets very close to its record low," Shepard told the BBC.
Cryosat uses "advances radar" to determine the difference between the ice's surface and the top of the water that runs into "cracks, or leads, that separate the floes," the BBC reported.
It will about a month before researchers can test the accuracy of their predictions, the press release reported.
"Readings from CryoSat in October, when the ice starts to refreeze, will confirm this either way," Rachel Tilling, PhD student at University College London, said.
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