Global warming was supposed to open up Arctic region shipping routes, making the Northwest Passage easier and less risky to traverse. Per a new study, the opposite has happened.
As we reported earlier this year, while a declining trend in Arctic sea ice was observed from the 1990s to 2007, there has been no trend reduction in Arctic sea ice since then. A 17-year pause.
It has long been a “common belief” that shipping through Canada’s Northwest Passage would become “more viable” with a warming Arctic and a consequent reduction in sea ice impediments.
Observations trump beliefs, however.
The East Beaufort Sea has increasingly been generating sea ice “choke points” that have reduced the length of the shipping season from 27 weeks (half the year) during 2007-2011 down to 13 weeks (summer only) during 2017-2021. And, as scientists are now warning, “the negative trend [in shipping season length] shows no sign of reversing.”
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