The North Pole becomes an 'island' for the first time in history as ice melts

The North Pole becomes an island for the first time in human history.

Startling satellite pictures taken three days ago show that melting ice has opened up the fabled North-West and North-East Passages - making it possible to sail around the Arctic ice cap...

Meanwhile

Nine polar bears spotted swimming 400 Miles from nearest ice.

Struggling against the waves, this polar bear faces almost certain death after becoming lost at sea in the Arctic.

It is one of a group of nine to have plunged into the ocean after the ice float they lived on melted.

The bears were spotted miles from their normal hunting ground by U.S. government oil survey scientists flying over Alaska's Chukchi Sea.

They said the creatures' homing instinct has sent them north towards the edge of the polar cap instead of 60 miles south towards the nearest land.

However, because of global warming, the ice cap has melted so much that it is around 400 miles away - too far for the bears to reach.

Although one group of polar bears is known to have swum 100 miles, they arrived at their destination exhausted, with several drowning along the way.