Baltic sea ice cover hits an all-time low: meteorologists

0 Comments | AFP, May, 2008

STOCKHOLM (AFP) — The extent of ice covering the Baltic sea this winter reached an all-time low, since measurements began more than a century ago, Swedish meteorologists said.

"Overall, 49,000 square kilometres (around 19,000 square miles) of the Baltic sea were covered in ice compared to the usual 180,000 square kilometres," the Swedish Meteorological Agency (SMHI) said.

That was just over a quarter of the normal level, the agency said. And the the ice season had ended two weeks early, it added.

The SMHI also reported lower than normal levels of ice cover in the Gulf of Finland, and said the Gulf of Bothnia near Finland was hardly covered in ice at all this winter, apart from coastal areas.

According to agency records, the highest levels of ice...