Call it global warming or the hand of God, whatever. The fact is ice is on course to disappear entirely from the North Pole this year, reports say.

This is the first time in human history that one will see an iceless summer on the North Pole.

Satellite observations indicate the ice remaining at the poles is melting faster than last year's rate, which was already a record year for Arctic ice loss. Scientists say whether or not the ice melts completely, this year's northern melt is yet another example of the impact that global warming is having on the planet's environment.

"There were some people who were saying last year was a rogue year. If the same thing happens again a lot more people are going to be persuaded about the consequences of global warming," Andy Mahoney, a researcher at the University of Colorado's National Snow and Ice Data Center, told CTV, a Canadian channel.

"A lot of people think it's a very small change in temperature. This shows that the change in sea ice is quite a dramatic consequence."

Seasoned polar scientists believe the chances of a totally ice-free North Pole this summer are greater than 50:50 because the normally thick ice formed over many years at the Pole has been blown away and replaced by huge swathes of thinner ice formed over a single year.

"The issue is that, for the first time that I am aware of, the North Pole is covered with extensive first-year ice – ice that formed last autumn and winter. I'd say it's even-odds whether the North Pole melts out," said Dr Mark Serreze, another researcher at the Colorado Center remarked.