The Arctic is now an island
It's time to listen to more Arctic music, now that the Arctic has become an island. The Northwest Passage is clear, as is the Northeast:
Northwest passage?
Stephen Harper, Canada's Prime Minister, has announced that
ships entering the north-west passage should first report to his
government. The routes have previously opened at different times, with
the western route opening last year, and the eastern route opening in
2005.
ships entering the north-west passage should first report to his
government. The routes have previously opened at different times, with
the western route opening last year, and the eastern route opening in
2005.
Northeast?
Shipping companies are already planning to exploit the first
simultaneous opening of the routes since the beginning of the last Ice
Age 125,000 years ago. The Beluga Group in Germany says it will send
the first ship through the north-east passage, around Russia, next
year, cutting 4,000 miles off the voyage from Germany to Japan.
hmmm....the article seems to be using last year's data.....the Artic sea ice has actually increased from last year.
The northwest passage is still quite impassable...as recent first hand evidence shows. It is actually a polar gothic tale that should be accompanied by this
Posted by: peter naegele | September 02, 2008 at 12:06
That's a fine comparative tool, peter. If there's more ice now, was the Arctic one giant island last year, too?
That second story's from May. Perhaps things warmed up and smoothed out over the rest of summertime.
Many thanks for that Residents clip! A blast from the past, for me.
And maybe this can only be settled by an Infocult road trip...
Posted by: Bryan Alexander | September 02, 2008 at 19:35
A good up-to-date resource is:
Cryosphere Today
http://arctic.atmos.uiuc.edu/cryosphere/
posted by the U of Illinois Polar Research Group.
Included are graphs and charts, plus features like orbital photos allowing you to the ice mass on either pole, for any two dates.
The graphs show that the ice mass recovered from last year's loss over the winter, and presently the summer ice loss is about half of last year's.
Posted by: Randy McCall | September 02, 2008 at 21:06
@Bryan
From what I have seen [i.e. recorded history], I don't think the Arctic was ever an island.
As you said, things melt over the course of the year and being that September is traditionally the end of the hottest months, things do melt off! However, there has been contention that even during the winter months, the ice is quite passable, which it is not.
Finally, regarding Eskimo, as Penn Jillette said, it;s like tapping your foot to wind!
Posted by: peter naegele | September 03, 2008 at 13:15