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Arctic ice retreats to record low

PARIS: Arctic ice has shrunk to the lowest level on record, new satellite images show, raising the possibility that the Northwest Passage that eluded famous explorers will become an open shipping lane.

The European Space Agency said nearly 200 satellite photos taken this month showed an ice-free passage along northern Canada, Alaska and Greenland, and ice retreating to its lowest level since such images were first taken in 1978.

The waters are exposing unexplored resources, and vessels could trim thousands of kilometres off the sea journey from Europe to Asia by bypassing the Panama Canal. The seasonal ebb and flow of ice levels has already opened up a slim summer window in which some ships can pass through.

Leif Toudal Pedersen of the Danish National Space Center said that Arctic ice has shrunk to some 3 million sq.km.. The previous low was 4 million sq.km. in 2005.

“The strong reduction in just one year certainly raises flags that the ice (in summer) may disappear much sooner than expected,” Mr. Pedersen said in an ESA statement posted on its website.

Mr. Pedersen said the extreme retreat this year suggested the passage could fully open sooner than expected — but ESA did not say when that might be.

A U.N. panel on climate change has predicted that polar regions could be virtually free of ice by the summer of 2070 because of rising temperatures and sea ice decline, ESA noted.

Russia, Norway, Denmark, Canada and the United States are among countries in a race to secure rights to the Arctic that heated up last month when Russia sent two small submarines to plant its national flag under the North Pole. A U.S. study has suggested as much as 25 per cent of the world’s undiscovered oil and gas could be hidden in the area.

Environmentalists fear increased maritime traffic and efforts to tap natural resources in the area could one day lead to oil spills and harm regional wildlife.

Until now, the passage has been expected to remain closed even during reduced ice cover by multiyear ice pack — sea ice that remains through one or more summers, ESA said. — AP

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