A pioneering expedition to the north pole has confirmed that Arctic ice is thinner than expected, highlighting fears that the region could be free of ice in the summertime within a few decades.

The Catlin Arctic Survey, led by polar explorer Pen Hadow, found that the area covered by their survey was covered almost entirely by ice less than one year old. The region, in the northern part of the Beaufort sea, used to contain older, thicker ice that formed over several years, and is more resistant to summertime melting.

The survey, carried out earlier this year to increase understanding of the impact of climate change in the Arctic, was beset with technical difficulties and ended with the three explorers being plucked from the ice 300 miles short of the pole, their original destination.

Peter Wadhams of the Polar Ocean Physics Group at the University of Cambridge, who analysed the team’s findings, said: “With a larger part of the region now first year ice, it is clearly more vulnerable. The area is now more likely to become open water each summer, bringing forward the potential date when the summer ice will be completely gone…”

Wadhams said the results agreed with other studies of the region, but that the thinning could not simply be blamed on global warming. Recent changes in wind patterns in the Arctic have also contributed, he said, because it has redirected much of the floating ice.

Scientists continue to evaluate more and better data as acquired. Skeptics condemn a whole realm of investigation because the answers disagree with their belief system.