Arctic Thaw  - Free Passage over Troubled Waters ?

Global Warming has completely opened the Northwest Passage for the first time by year end melt season 2007. The rising sea temperatures have brought closer the prospect of the Northwest Passage opening up as a commercial shipping lane. A summer thaw of sea ice would shorten the voyage between Asia and Europe by 5,000 km.

More than 2 trillion tons of land ice in Greenland, Antarctica and Alaska have melted since 2003, according to NASA data that shows the latest signs of global warming. Sea ice extent in late summer decreased 15% - 20% over the past 30 years.

As sea ice melts, its reflective power is lost, resulting in the Arctic waters absorbing more heat in the summer. The Arctic is warming far faster than the global average, according to the U.N. Climate Panel. Darker ocean or ground, once exposed, soaks up far more heat than reflective ice. This absorbed heat is released into the air in the fall. That has led to autumn temperatures in the last several years that are 6 - 10 degrees warmer than they were in the 1980s. An ice-free Arctic Ocean could in turn accelerate climate change from Africa to Asia.

NASA's Quikscat satellite has produced a map of the Arctic's most stable ice, perennial sea ice (ice that remains through the summer) for the years 2004 and 2005:

(Pic: Evidence for Global Warming: RST.gsfc.nasa.gov)

The reduction of perennial ice( in white ) amounts to 14% in one year - the largest ever recorded. The remaining ice has also thinned from an average of 3 meters to less than 2 m. Early explorers had hoped for at least a short season of summer thaw to melt enough of the Arctic ice cap to provide an open water lane for ships. This ice-free passage not only has become a reality, but has since 2007 become an annual phenomenon in the Northwest Passage. It enables sea navigation between Europe and Asia without having to pass through the Panama Canal.

Arctic sea-ice melting enabled free passage through the fabled Northwest Passage  for the first time in human memory (AP Photo)

Arctic sea ice receded so much that.......
When R. Amundsen began the first successful navigation of the Northwest Passage route in 1903, it took his hardy group two-and-a-half years to leapfrog through narrow passages of open water. Their ship got locked in the frozen ice through two cold, dark winters.
However, Arctic sea ice receded so much that this fabled Northwest Passage was completely opened for the first time by year end melt season 2007, and that a standard ocean-going vessel could have sailed smoothly through.

The CU-Boulder research team which studies and monitors Arctic sea ice year round, is of the opinion that the diminishing sea ice cover may have passed the point of no return. As the years go by, we are losing more and more ice in summer, and growing back less and less ice in winter. It is projected that we may well see an ice-free Arctic Ocean in summer within our lifetimes.

Some scientists agree such an event could occur by 2030, decades earlier than previously thought. The implications for global climate, as well as Arctic animals and people, are disturbing. (Source :University of Colorado at Boulder). Some scientists, in the latest prediction, even suggest that Arctic waters could even be ice-free in summers by 2013, decades earlier than previously thought.

Arctic's thaw brings security risks for NATO
NATO will need a military presence in the Arctic as global warming melts frozen sea routes. Major powers rush to lay claim on lucrative energy reserves, particularly as exploration for oil and natural gas becomes possible in once inaccessible areas, as disclosed by the military bloc's chief. Arctic thaw is bringing the prospect of new standoffs between powerful nations. There is a need for political and economic cooperation among the Arctic coastal states to alleviate any chance of military conflicts. The Arctic Council states are the United States, Russia, Canada, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland.

Russia and Canada have already traded verbal shots over each other's intentions in the Arctic, and Canada has beefed up its military presence in the region, announcing plans to build a new army training center and a deep-water port in contested Arctic waters. In August 2007 Moscow planted a flag beneath the pole ,sparking an international war of words over Arctic sovereignty. Tensions flared again in February 2009 when two Russian aircrafts ventured close to Canadian airspace in the Arctic with Canadian fighter planes sending a strong signal of discontent. Norway, the U.S. and Denmark also have claims in the vast region, the size of France. (Jan 29 2009 AP News )

 

References and Related Posts:

NSIDC: Arctic melt passes the point of no return, “We hate to say we told you so, but we did”
First commercial ship sails through Northwest Passage: “I didn’t see one cube of ice”
Despite cooler weather, Arctic ice retreat just misses last year’s mark
NSIDC stunner: Arctic ice at “Likely Record-Low Volume”
Despite cooler weather, Arctic ice retreat just misses last year’s mark
Arctic shrinks by an Alaska and 3 Arizonas in August
NSIDC: Arctic sea ice declines sharply in August
What drove the dramatic retreat of arctic sea ice during summer 2007?
Another big climate bet — Of Ice and Men
Glaciers in China are Melting at a 'Worrisome Speed':scientists
Big Thaw Could Leave the Arctic Ice-Free by 2013: The Scotsman
Evidence for Global Warming: RST.gsfc.nasa.gov

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