The Arctic ice shelf could completely melt during summer by 2080 because of global warming, according to scientists from the DAMOCLES programme.

If the situation evolves like physics predicts, the summertime Arctic shelf will completely disappear by 2080, confirmed Eberhard Fahrbach of the Alfred Wegner Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Bremerhaven. This will have consequences above and beyond those in the Antarctic, he added.

For example, climate change not only threatens polar bears that live in these regions but the entire Arctic food chain. This even has consequences for the fish that ultimately ends up on our tables, said Fahrbach.

DAMOCLES (Developing Artic Modelling and Observing Capabilities for Long-term Environmental Studies) is a European project that brings together more than 100 researchers working in 45 institutions spread across 11 European countries and Russia. Its goal is to observe, understand and quantify climate change in the Arctic Ocean. (AFP)