Sea ice in the Arctic has melted to below four-million square kilometres, the lowest it has been for a million years, according to a noted sea ice geophysicist and climatologist.

Professor John Yackel from the University of Calgary said: "This is the smallest minimum ice extent we've ever had, and not just in the satellite record, but probably in the last million years."

“When there’s no longer that sea ice below the air mass and it's just open ocean, that’s when more moisture off the ocean’s surface gets into the atmosphere and the water vapor in the atmosphere makes for more violent storms,” said Yackel.

“We can also expect to see an increase in storm frequency and storm intensity for most of the world's populated places as the Arctic and Earth continues to warm.”

[link to www.huffingtonpost.co.uk]