It’s melt season in the high Arctic, and the prospects for a healthy polar ice cap by the end of the summer thaw are not good, according to the latest report from the National Snow and Ice Data Center. The extent of sea ice at the end of March remained virtually tied with the previous record low set in 2006. Meanwhile warm air was flowing north over Alaska’s Chukchi Sea, a possible harbinger for a fast start to spring conditions. Satellite images were giving a grim prognosis as well, showing that the amount of thick multi-year ice was down across the entire region, replaced by the much thinner and more vulnerable new and young ice. And then there was that weird “tongue” reaching north from Canada. To read much more, check out "Arctic Ocean grows 20 percent fresher, but don't flee Manhattan yet."