It seems unthinkable, but for the first time in human history, ice is on course to disappear entirely from the North Pole this year.

The disappearance of the Arctic sea ice, making it possible to reach the Pole sailing in a boat through open water, would be one of the most dramatic – and worrying – examples of the impact of global warming on the planet. Scientists say the ice at 90 degrees north may well have melted away by the summer.

"From the viewpoint of science, the North Pole is just another point on the globe, but symbolically it is hugely important. There is supposed to be ice at the North Pole, not open water," said Mark Serreze of the US National Snow and Ice Data Centre in Colorado.

We should have thought of this earlier before we began to overpopulate and overindustrialize the planet. It's as if we were incapable of thinking ahead in the future of what the consequences of our actions will amount to. At least now, it's receiving media coverage. We will not be able to change course in a new direction unless we change the values on which our society is founded. Dethrone the Profit God!