Russia is getting ready to evacuate an Arctic research station because the ice field surrounding it is melting, and threatening the very lives of the researchers there.  It’s a sign of the rapid change in the Earth’s overall climate.

“The Arctic station is facing difficulties because of abnormal natural processes unfolding in the Arctic basin that have led to the decay of the ice sheet,” said Russian Minister of Natural Resources Sergei Donskoi.

A nuclear-powered icebreaker is plowing through the ice to help move the “North Pole 40” station and its staff of 16, all located near Canada's economic zone.  It will be relocated to a site on Bolshevik Island off Russia’s Northern coast to resume monitoring the ocean environment and pollution, as well as acting as a weather station.

According to UN experts, Arctic ice melted at record speed in 2012, one of the warmest years on record.