A meltwater lake has formed at the very top of the world, covering the North Pole with about 12 inches of water.  And an approaching arctic cyclone due this week will boost the melting process even more.

The current image is available on the Internet from the North Pole Environmental Observatory’s website.  It started in early July, as temperatures ranged from 1 to 3 degrees Celsius higher than they were supposed to be.  You can even watch as the lake forms.

Now, there has been ice melt at the North Pole before.  But it comes at a time when the polar icecaps are in retreat as global warming takes its toll.  The fact is, more and more Arctic Ice disappears every summer in the Northern Hemisphere and is not fully replaced in the winter.  And this is happening in the same year that our own Australian weather forecasters were forced to add a new color to their maps to illustrate record-high temperatures in January.

The shallow lake is about a foot deep, and is not the result of seawater flowing over the ice; it consists entirely of the melted ice itself.   And because water is darker than ice, it absorbs more heat from sunlight.  It’s the physical manifestation of a vicious cycle.

Climate Change?  Climate Changed.  Pass the sunscreen.  SPF 5,000 if you have it.