On May 12, Ann Daniels, from Bradford, and her colleagues pitched camp on the ice right over the North Pole – they were part of the Catlin scientific expedition.

Their findings, about sea ice cover, its thickness and the increasingly-acid nature of the Arctic Ocean are expected to confirm earlier evidence that the Arctic is the area where climate change is most advanced.

All the facts, from weather stations, satellites and observation of ice cover, suggest that the temperatures within the Arctic Circle are increasing at twice the rate of the global average – at least three degrees Celsius in the last 30 years, and in some areas it is as much as five or six degrees.

This is all to be expected as dark-coloured seas and soils absorb much more of the sun's energy than white snow and ice, which reflects 80 per cent back into space. In addition, there is less atmosphere to be warmed near the poles, and, as far less energy is used to evaporate water, it is available to heat the air.

The melting of the snow and ice is accelerated by black soot from industrial sources, with the result that temperatures in Spitzbergen have risen by eight degrees Celsius in less than a century.

The results of this rapid climate change are clearly seen in a number of key features. The southern limit of the permanently-frozen ground is now 80 miles closer to the Pole than it was a century ago, and there’s an increase in the methane bubbling out of the Siberian sea bed and the nearby frozen land.

Measurements on the glaciers pouring out of the Greenland ice cap show that they have doubled in speed in the last ten years, and the evidence that more ice is being lost than is accumulating from snow is shown by the fact that Greenland is now rising at the rate of two inches a year as the earth’s crust has less weight depressing it.

More than a third of the CO2 we produce is absorbed by the sea, and this is particularly important in the Arctic as it is more soluble in colder water. So the seas are becoming more acidic, by more than a third since 1,800, and this isn't good news for shell fish.

The possibility that the Arctic could be ice-free in summer by 2030 is now looking more likely, as this May, the extent was the lowest-ever recorded for that month, even below that of the 2007 record low.

It's no wonder that the power-hungry industrial countries are jostling to exploit the fossil fuels that might now be more accessible.