This triggered an early spring melt, which made the ice vulnerable to the impact of high summer temperatures.
The heat from the impact would have melted a lot of ice, releasing fresh water.
Researchers will investigate reductions in ice sheets and explore the impact on sea levels and marine ecosystems.
The less ice there is, the more dramatic the impact.
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Impact craters surrounding the cap appear to be filled with ice and dust that was either deposited by wind or condensation, or perhaps further remains from an earlier larger ice cap.
"While the ice is disappearing faster than the computer models indicate, both observations and the models point in the same direction: the Arctic is losing ice at an increasingly rapid pace and the impact of greenhouse gases is growing, " said co-author Marika Holland of NCAR.
While the players have managed to perform on the ice, the lack of home matches is having an impact on the club's finances off it.
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Once ice is discharged from a grounded ice sheet into the ocean, it has an immediate impact on sea level, even though it remains part of the cryosphere until it subsequently melts.
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Taken together with the ice melt estimate, the scientists say the overall, maximum impact on the seas by 2100 will be a rise of 69cm - just 10cm higher than the IPCC projection in 2007, termed AR4.
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"Such a loss of Arctic sea ice has recently been assessed to set in motion powerful climate feedbacks which will have an impact far beyond the Arctic itself, " Sommerkorn said.
Melting ice in the Arctic will have implications for the rest of the world in terms of its impact on global sea level, atmospheric and oceanic circulation.
UNESCO: Global Change in the Arctic and Co-production of Knowledge
Even if wintertime Antarctic sea ice were to increase or decrease significantly in the future, it would not have a huge impact on the climate system, according to the Center.
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