Due to global warming, scientists claim that the Arctic Ocean could become free of ice for the first time in 10 years.

According to the Independent, professor Peter Wadhams, head of the Polar Ocean Physics Group at Cambridge University, predicted this based on satellite observation from the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center. Provisional satellite data of the data center shows there was just over 11.1 million square kilometers of sea ice on June 1, compared to the average over the last 30 years of 12.7 million square kilometers. Wadhams adds that the data supports the prediction he made four years ago that the Arctic Ocean would become ice-free.