Warming
'Opens Northwest Passage'
By BBC
15 September, 2007
BBC
The most direct shipping route
from Europe to Asia is fully clear of ice for the first time since records
began, the European Space Agency (Esa) says.
Historically, the Northwest Passage linking the Atlantic and Pacific
Oceans has been ice-bound through the year.
But the agency says ice cover
has been steadily shrinking, and this summer's reduction has made the
route navigable.
The findings, based on satellite
images, raised concerns about the speed of global warming.
'Extreme'
The Northwest Passage is
one of the most fabled sea routes in the world - a short cut from Europe
to Asia through the Canadian Arctic.
Recent years have seen a marked shrinkage in its ice cover, but this
year it was extreme, Esa says.
It says this made the passage
"fully navigable" for the first time since monitoring began
in 1978.
"We have seen the ice-covered
area drop to just around 3m sq km (1.2m sq miles)," Leif Toudal
Pedersen of the Danish National Space Centre said.
He said it was "about
1m sq km (386,000 sq miles) less than the previous minima of 2005 and
2006".
"There has been a reduction
of the ice cover over the last 10 years of about 100, 000 sq km (38,600
sq miles) per year on average, so a drop of 1m sq km (386,000 sq miles)
in just one year is extreme," Mr Pedersen said.
The Northeast Passage through
the Russian Arctic has also seen its ice cover shrink and it currently
"remains only partially blocked," Esa says.
'Battle for Arctic'
Scientists have linked the
changes to global warming which may be progressing faster than expected.
The opening of the sea routes
is already leading to international disputes.
Canada says it has full rights
over those parts of the Northwest Passage that pass through its territory
and that it can bar transit there.
But this has been disputed
by the US and the European Union.
They argue that the new route
should be an international strait that any vessel can use.
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