If you want to see climate change, head north and keep going until you run out of globe. That is easier said than done. The Arctic   is home to few people and covered in ice much of the year. But those who make their way to the icy seas of the Arctic Ocean will see a part of the planet that is warming and changing faster than anywhere else. In September, scientists announced at the National Snow and Ice Data   Center that Arctic summer sea ice had fallen to its second lowest level since 1979, and probably long before that. The Arctic has lost an area of ice greater than the area of all U.S. states east of the Mississippi River. And what ice remains appears to be getting thinner and weaker. Nick Toberg and Till Wagner are polar ice scientists who are doing sea ice fieldwork. "There is plenty of data to suggest that the ice is becoming thinner as well as smaller in area," they say. The changes happening in the Arctic are a warning for the entire world .  As polar expert Walt Meier puts it, " _  Some scientists worry that Arctic sea ice may be going from a downward spiral   to a "death spiral", one from which there is no escape. As more ice melts  , more dark open water appears. The darkness absorbs   more heat, which speeds up the pace of melting. Until recently, many scientists thought it might take until the end of the century for the North Pole to become completely ice free during the summer. Now some believe it could happen by 2030 or even earlier. "The melting is happening faster in the real world than it has in the models," says Nick Toberg. Nick Toberg may agree that   _  .
the ice in the North Pole will stop melting the ice in the North Pole is melting faster than expected the ice in the North Pole will melt before 2030 or even earlier the ice in the North Pole will not disappear until the end of the century