But in the
face of mild Pacific
storms that brought rain instead of snow, as well as drier - than - average
conditions and a record - warm winter, the snow cover stood at just 5 % of average on April 1, by far the lowest level ever recorded.
Aside from more fossil fuels to burn, critics of Arctic drilling say any spill would be practically impossible to clean given the harsh
conditions and complete lack - of - infrastructure; oil companies would
face freezing temperatures, moving ice, fierce
storms, in addition to the fact that any spill would likely have to be abandoned during the long dark Arctic winter.