Gore at climate talks: Polar ice may go in 5 years

Al Gore has told the UN climate conference that new data suggests that the Arctic polar ice cap may disappear in the summertime as soon as five to seven years from now.

Al Gore has told the UN climate conference that new data suggests that the Arctic polar ice cap may disappear in the summertime as soon as five to seven years from now.

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Clicking through a slide show Monday in a packed side event, the former US vice president joined the foreign ministers of Norway and Denmark in presenting two new reports on melting Arctic ice. The Arctic Ocean sea ice has shrunk dramatically, to record low levels, the past several summers. Scientists blame global warming, which has raised temperatures twice as fast in the far north as elsewhere.

Gore said polar scientists told him Sunday that the latest data "suggest a 75 per cent chance the entire polar ice cap will melt in summer within the next five to seven years."

Gore won a Nobel Peace prize for his climate change efforts.