filed under Environment
North Pole Melt Means Clearing Of Northwest Passage
11AM ON
27/06/2008
BY
Eric Smith
From LiveScience.com comes this rather alarming report on ice thickness at the North Pole, as scientists have discovered the region is covered entirely with first-year ice, not the layers of ice that are usually built up over years of freezing. What this means for the North Pole –where there is no land, only ice– is that for the first time in human history the pole could be reached by sailing through open water. One of the effects of this melt is the opening of the Northwest Passage, which allows for shipping lanes between Europe and Asia above Canada, and not the much longer journey through the Panama Canal.
Meanwhile, two Russian vessels reached the area last summer in an attempt to plant a flag on the Arctic seafloor and claim the now-accessible area which many believe holds large oil and natural gas reserves. Denmark, however, claims the area is an extension of its territories via Greenland
What everyone agrees on is that within a few decades the North Pole may have no ice at all, and that increase in water will effect coastlines worldwide.
June 27th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
Alright, I’m going to say it again, because this makes my idea even -more-relevant. Let’s build a small container port at Quonset. If we made it state-of-the-art, we could do some serious import/export, it might even lower the cost of goods.
All I want is a small container port with road and rail connections somewhere close enough to bring some more business here.
June 30th, 2008 at 10:53 am
[...] report on the disappearing arctic ice caps we mentioned lat [...]