A yacht makes it through the Arctic’s long-sought Northwest Passage
in this brand-new video. New satellite photos show a very reduced ice pack.
** NORTHWEST PASSAGE NOW OPEN THROUGH THE ARCTIC CIRCLE. For centuries, seafaring nations sought and hoped for a “Northwest Passage” between Europe and Asia, through the Arctic Circle. It was never found, for it did not exist, due of course to the deep and vast polar ice cap atop the planet in its Arctic Circle.
So finally the Panama Canal was built. But new satellite photos released late yesterday by the European Space Agency demonstrate that the Northwest Passage is now real.
Now, with the rapid melting of the polar ice cap, a Northwest Passage is open, though it will close up again in winter. The just shot video above shows a yacht, a magnificent sailboat really, painstakingly making its way through this Northwest Passage. Satellite photos taken by the European Space Agency earlier this month and released late yesterday show the diminution of the ice cap atop the Earth’s North Pole.
Here are excerpts from the ESA statement released last night, entitled “Satellites Witness Lowest Arctic Ice Coverage In History”:
The area covered by sea ice in the Arctic has shrunk to its lowest level this week since satellite measurements began nearly 30 years ago, opening up the Northwest Passage – a long-sought short cut between Europe and Asia that has been historically impassable. …
Leif Toudal Pedersen from the Danish National Space Centre said: “We have seen the ice-covered area drop to just around 3 million sq km which is about 1 million sq km 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 per year on average, so a drop of 1 million sq km in just one year is extreme.
Mosaics of Arctic Ocean for 2005, 2006, 2007
“The strong reduction in just one year certainly raises flags that the ice (in summer) may disappear much sooner than expected and that we urgently need to understand better the processes involved.”
Arctic sea ice naturally extends its surface coverage each northern winter and recedes each northern summer, but the rate of overall loss since 1978 when satellite records began has accelerated.
The most direct route of the Northwest Passage across northern Canada is shown fully navigable, while the Northeast Passage along the Siberian coast remains partially blocked. To date, the Northwest Passage has been predicted to remain closed even during reduced ice cover by multi-year ice pack – sea ice that survives one or more summers. However, according to Pedersen, this year’s extreme event has shown the passage may well open sooner than expected.
The previous record low was in 2005 when the Arctic area covered by sea ice was just 4 million sq km. Even then, the most direct Northwest Passage did not fully open.
The Polar Regions are very sensitive indicators of climate change. The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change showed these regions are highly vulnerable to rising temperatures and predicted the Arctic would be virtually ice free by the summer of 2070. Still other scientists predict it could become ice free as early as 2040 due to rising temperatures and sea ice decline.
Because sea ice has a bright surface, the majority of solar energy that hits it is reflected back into space. When sea ice melts, the dark-coloured ocean surface is exposed. Solar energy is then absorbed rather than reflected, so the oceans get warmer and temperatures rise, making it difficult for new ice to form. …
In 2009, ESA will make another significant contribution to cryosphere research with the launch of CryoSat-2. The observations made over the three-year lifetime of the mission will provide conclusive evidence on the rates at which ice cover is diminishing.
This is why Russia has been the most aggressive of nations in staking claims to the North Pole, going so far as to plant a Russian flag beneath it. The Russian version of a Northwest Passage, as noted in the ESA statement, remains blocked.
Although in time, the Arctic Circle may be better known as the Arctic Sea. And its projected treasure trove of oil, gas, and minerals — free at last from its impenetrable icy enclosure of millennia — at last accessible to the most aggressive of corporations and nations.
** 9:15 AM UPDATE: GENERAL WES CLARK ENDORSES HILLARY CLINTON. Retired Army General Wes Clark, the former NATO supreme commander who successfully prosecuted the war in Kosovo and unsuccessfully sought the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination, has just endorsed Hillary Clinton for president.
In a conference call just now, which was bedeviled by repeated technical glitches linking up with the general’s cell phone in Arkansas, Clark called Clinton “smart and strong, a great choice to lead America. She’ll be an excellent commander in chief.”
For her part, Clinton told of her “25-year friendship with the general, longer than both of us may want to recall” and said his advice and counsel will be important to her.
I asked the general and the senator about the nature of the threat posed by Iran, and got a multi-faceted response that deserves a non-weekend story.
Clark, like Bill Clinton, is from Arkansa and is a Rhodes Scholar. (Though, like Hillary, he was born in Chicago.) He will be familiar to readers not only from the Kosovo War and his own presidential campaign, but also as a regular cable news analyst on politico-military affairs.
Clark was valedictorian of his West Point class, graduated from Ranger School, and won the Silver Star as a company commander in the Vietnam War. His career advanced rapidly in the Clinton years, which he began as commander of the Army’s 1st Cavalry Division and ended up supreme commander of NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization comprising the combined military forces of the US, UK and Western Europe.
He considered running again for the presidency earlier this year — making several forays into early states, including Nevada, as reported on NWN — but decided against it. In the 2004 campaign, he began as an early favorite, but found the going fairly rough as a first-time candidate for public office, though he did show well in a number of primaries and won the Oklahoma primary.
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What an adventure trip that would be!
What an adventure trip that would be!
The icecaps on Mars are receding too. It’s really kind of creepy. What are we going to do?
You can always go to Mars and take pot shots.
As you may know, there’s very little water on Mars. The parallel is not terribly relevant.
Don’t wait too long. You don’t want to run into the cruise ship crowd.
>Jonas Blane :
What an adventure trip that would be!
Sep 15, 2007 07:47 AM
Ever notice how the dittoheads act like the spitball kids in the back of the classroom?
Ever notice how the dittoheads act like the spitball kids in the back of the classroom?
The North Pole is melting. Why worry?
Let’s go sailing! lol
I bet you can get a deal on summer beach property on Wrangel island. 24 hours of sunlight, whale watching, and no polar bears.
You’re right. Why is there all this crepe-hanging about climate change anyway?
That still looks too cold to me.
What I’m waiting for is a presidential candidate to announce his/her campaign in a live satellite broadcast from the Arctic Sea.
>Ann :
The North Pole is melting. Why worry?
Let’s go sailing! lol
Sep 15, 2007 08:55 AM
Don’t be a girly man.
What a surprise! Wes Clark endorses Hillary! Clinton-Clark in ’08?
There’ve certainly been worse tickets.
But Hillary has to win the nomination first. And that is a long climb ahead.
I catch colds too easily.
>Ann :
Don’t be a girly man.
Sep 15, 2007 09:48 AM
The Arctic polar circle is central to President Putin’s plan for Russia.
There’s a connection between these two stories, of course, as General Clark’s bombing raids, destroying civilian infrastructure while polluting the skies with jet fuel exhaust, contributed to the build up of greenhouse gases that’s causing Arctic ice to melt. The Clintons were in a position to do something to address climate change a dozen years ago; rather than use the ‘peace dividend’ after the break up of the USSR and the closure of US military bases to invest in renewable energy or create ‘green collar jobs’ then, they continued the project of extending US imperialism, and feeding the bloated military industrial complex. Clark should be tried for war crimes, Ms. Clinton has blood on her hands with her vote to destroy the civilian infrastructure of Iraq by Bush and her support for sanctions in the 1990s that left millions dead. Wake up and smell the depleted uranium.
Paul Burton, meet Sam Loomis. lol
Paul Burton, meet Sam Loomis. lol
Paul, really now.
The Kosovo War was in 1999. That is far too recent for you to be so, ah, factually challenged.
>There’s a connection between these two stories, of course, as General Clark’s bombing raids, destroying civilian infrastructure while polluting the skies with jet fuel exhaust, contributed to the build up of greenhouse gases that’s causing Arctic ice to melt. … Clark should be tried for war crimes,
We were supposed to stop the ethnic cleansing by putting flowers in their barrels?
Make Greenland green again.
I do get a kick out of “History” being defined as the last 30 years.
Nice distortion.
30 years of satellite photography coverage.
Many centuries of attempts to do what the yacht in the video just did.
That’s history.
As is well known.
That would have been interesting.
>Wilbur :
We were supposed to stop the ethnic cleansing by putting flowers in their barrels?
Sep 15, 2007 12:55 PM
For centuries, explorers tried to reach the North Pole. They died in the attempt. For millennia, sailors looked for a sea route atop the world. They failed in the attempt. Today I watched a sailboat navigate through across the Arctic with ease. Yet some scoff with tinny murmerings. Pathetic.
For centuries, explorers tried to reach the North Pole. They died in the attempt. For millennia, sailors looked for a sea route atop the world. They failed in the attempt. Today I watched a sailboat navigate through across the Arctic with ease. Yet some scoff with tinny murmerings. Pathetic.
Again, sorry for the double- posting.
Again, sorry for the double- posting.
This Northwest Passage sounds like a perfect setting for the movie I posted about earlier.
Not long ago, the Northwest Passage in a story would have made it scifi.
Not long ago, the Northwest Passage in a story would have made it scifi.
Cal looks like an easy time of it today against Louisiana Tech.
USC might have a tougher go in Nebraska.
Cal looks like an easy time of it today against Louisiana Tech.
USC might have a tougher go in Nebraska.
Clark is a great pick-up for Clinton, and well-timed, too, coming soon after the unfortunate announcement that Sandy “Sticky Fingers” Berger is one of her key national security advisers.
Dear Paul Burton,
Thanks for the rant. Nurse Ratched says it’s time for you to take your meds.
As for the Northwest Passage story, this illustrates why the green weenies are only looking at half the equation. Namely, while alleged global warming may create problems in some areas it may, at the same time, create major opportunities in others.
Reminds me of one definition of an “optimistic opportunist”:
“Somebody who buys up beachfront property in Arizona the day after California slides into the ocean.”
Cal leads 28-6 at half-time.
I only just read Mark J’s lunacy. Talk about not getting it.
I’m hoping there was a tongue in that cheek.
Bill – could it have been done in say 1000 AD? How about 1200 AD?
It was warmer then than now in Europe – the part of the world where the most reliable historical records have been kept.
Good Morning!
Thank you Cal Fire, Firefighters and a big thank you to Arnold for the emergency declaration. We are okay this morning:):):)Everyone remember the Firefighters they are heroes:)
Bill…go buy your girlfriend flowers:) Today is a good day!
Glad you survived the big fire — state of emergency in sprawling San Bernardino County, biggest in the continential US — in good form.
You may be confused with Mars …
Remember, folks, pay no attention to the greenhouse effect. The elephant in the living room isn’t really there.
>NickM :
Bill – could it have been done in say 1000 AD? How about 1200 AD?
It was warmer then than now in Europe – the part of the world where the most reliable historical records have been kept.
Sep 15, 2007 10:43 PM
I’ve seen and heard too many of these last ditch potshots to thin they’re meant as jokes.
>Wilbur :
I’m hoping there was a tongue in that cheek.
Sep 15, 2007 08:13 PM
42-12 at the end. And a big win for USC against Nebraska.
>Capitol Boy :
Cal leads 28-6 at half-time.
Sep 15, 2007 05:15 PM
Mark, you sound like Lex Luthor in the first Superman movie.
>MarkJ :
Dear Paul Burton,
Thanks for the rant. Nurse Ratched says it’s time for you to take your meds.
As for the Northwest Passage story, this illustrates why the green weenies are only looking at half the equation. Namely, while alleged global warming may create problems in some areas it may, at the same time, create major opportunities in others.
Reminds me of one definition of an “optimistic opportunist”:
“Somebody who buys up beachfront property in Arizona the day after California slides into the ocean.”
Sep 15, 2007 05:00 PM
Marina del Lex?
In Nevada, I mean.
In Nevada, I mean.
Right. After the earthquake breaks California off the continent, Nevada has plenty of beachfront property.
Greenhouse deniers are incapable of acknowledging that average temperature and local temperature do not always move in the same direction — if warming happens to freshen water in the North Atlantic and shut down the thermohaline conveyor, then actually Europe and New England will get a lot colder, while equatorial areas will get ever warmer (making what we used to think of as once-in-a-century hurricanes will become a regular feature of life).
I know it’s complex science, but still, the willful ignorance is annoying. I can understand the guys whose paychecks depend on not understanding. But where do folks like the commenters here get off?