The oldest and thickest sea ice in the Arctic has started breaking up, opening waters north of Greenland that are normally frozen, even in summer. This phenomenon, never previously recorded, is due to warm winds and a climate-change driven heatwave. One meteorologist described the loss of ice as ‘scary’. Others said it could force scientists to revise their theories about which part of the Arctic will withstand warming the longest. ‘I think that solar heating of the water column will increase during this opening (of the ice) and this will delay freeze-up and ice formation,’ said an expert at the Danish Meteorological Institute. Freakish Arctic temperatures have alarmed climate scientists since the beginning of the year. There are concerns that the polar vortex may be eroding.