Scientists are predicting cooler temperatures in the Arctic and changes in regional ice conditions over the next few years, Interfax news agency reports.

“In 2013 and 2014, abnormally large areas of ice were recorded compared to 2012 when the areas were at a minimum — just three to four million square kilometers. In September, we will be able to calculate the area of the ice for 2015. We may have already passed the peak warming phase and are now gradually moving toward cooler weather,” Vasily Bogoyavlensky, the Deputy Director for Research at the Institute of Oil and Gas Problems at the Russian Academy of Sciences, told delegates of the Arctic 2015 national maritime research and practical conference in Murmansk.

Vladimir Masloboyev, Deputy Chairman of the Presidium of the Kola Science Center at the Russian Academy of Sciences, said the Arctic climate was expected to cool in the next 20 years, citing a forecast by the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute.

Scientists believe that subsequent warming is particularly dangerous for Yamal.

“In some places ice formations are located under several meters or several dozen centimeters of soil. This area includes Bovanenkovo on the Yamal Peninsula. The ice layers are up to 30 meters thick. If the warming process continues, this ice may melt, and a considerable part of Yamal will turn into a 20-25-m deep body of water,” Bogoyavlensky noted.