Arctic Ice Island breaks in half

The giant Ayles Ice Island drifting off Canada's northern shores has broken in two - far earlier than expected.

In a season of record summer melting in the region, the two chunks have moved rapidly through the water - one of them covering 98km in a week. Their progress has been tracked amid fears they could edge west towards oil and gas installations off Alaska. The original Manhattan-sized berg broke off the Ayles Ice Shelf in 2005. One of the scientists on the mission said that the fact that the island had headed south was significant. Arctic sea-ice shrank to the smallest area on record this year, as measured by satellite.

The US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) said the minimum extent of 4.13 million sq km was reached on 16 September. The figure shattered all previous satellite surveys, including the previous record low of 5.32 million sq km measured in 2005.

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