Slashdot Mirror
Scientists Shocked as Arctic Polar Route Revealed
Paladin144 writes "A route unencumbered by perennial sea ice leading directly to the North Pole has been revealed by recent satellite pictures. European scientists indicated their shock as they noted a ship could sail from Europe's northern-most outpost directly to the pole, something that hasn't been possible during most of recorded human history. The rapid thawing of the perennial sea ice has political implications as the U.S., Canada, Russia and the EU jockey for control of the newly opened passages."
Is it just me or is the world cracking up?
What was the joke?
European scientists indicated their shock as they noted a ship could sail from Europe's northern-most outpost directly to the pole, something that hasn't been possible during most of recorded human history.
Now look, I've seen quite a few movies where they go straight to the pole. No dialogue, nothing. Seriously.
Push Button, Receive Bacon
Did they find any evidence of ManPolarBearPig?
Am I part of the core demographic for Swedish Fish?
teach polar bears how to operate arctic toll booths
But it could have some chilling consequences.
I would think this will open up lots of new trade opportunities between Russia and North America. I don't know what that could mean, but it is certainly interesting. What kind of manufacturing prowess does Russia have that has been heretofore underutilized because they could not as efficiently get goods to North American ports? Or is this all a bunch of hooey?
(I thought of this because I remember reading this article about Pat Broe, which may or may not have been slashdotted, but it is about an investor in the Canadian port of Churchill, Manitoba, which could well profit from an opened northern passage.)
By the way, I live in Manhattan, and I think it's about time to move...to some city somewhere that's 20 or 30 miles inland.
gameDB
"something that hasn't been possible during most of recorded human history."
1. So it happened earlier in recorded human history?
2. There was technology throughout most of human history that recorded Arctic ice cover?
3. Until aircraft, nuclear submarines, nuclear icebreakers, and satellites were invented, nobody was able to say with certainty whether the Northwest Passage existed or not, which was previously the domain of people like Henry Hudson. Indeed, until the technology existed, nobody could really map the icepack with any decent accuracy.
Sweeping statements like the above are simply stupid, as there is no evidence either way. They do make for good inflammatory copy, though.
Oh yeah, in geological terms, human history is less than the blink of an eye. With fossils unearthed recently showing _tropical_ weather in Northern Canada, I think it's safe to say that the Arctic ice cap is a temporary feature.
--
BMO
I did a Google search for other articles on this topic, and nobody has the actual satellite images, just a bunch of lame pictures of *small* icebergs from 2003? I can just see all the Al Gore propaganda jokes tomorrow...
But seriously if you're going to write an article at least post the images. Even Discovery Channel didn't have a good image and they are usually all about the pictures!
And in other news, Santa's workshop is nowhere to be found.
Yeah. I read somewhere that he was bought out by Wallmart, and then dismantled.
- John
Your pictures
E
You mean we'll be spared of a Titanic 2? Hooray for global warming!
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Shhhh.... don't tell the big polluters about this. Soon enough we're going to be hearing about the benefits of global warming and how it is creating more jobs and empowering the consumer, or something else equally as true.
Too small to mention, heh? I'll let you know we've never lost a single war against Russia nor the U.S... and we seriously intend to keep the record perfect!
"" How about taking the safety labels off everything, and let the stupidity-problem solve itself? """
Models run by the Met. Office show that the expected weakening in thermohaline circulation will be more than offset by the increased global temperature, making northern Europe slightly warmer at least over the next hundred or so years.
Oolite: Elite-like game. For Mac, Linux and Windows
The real struggle will be for the oil and natural resources previously buried underneath perenial ice cover.
On the contrary; the melting of polar ice means more iceburgs end up detached from the rest.
// MD_Update(&m,buf,j);
It has been predicted that half of the Netherlands (my homeland) will dissapear gradually during the next 100 years, unless we build better and higher dams all around the sea. Offcourse, parts of the NL are already under sea-level ("polders") but not nearly half of it.
Luckily, I live in the area which will be unaffected, so all I have to do to get rich is buy massive amounts of land here. Still, the implications would be enormous.
The more I think of it, the more I believe we should act, and act quick. But I'm not certain as to act upon WHAT exactly.
Free beer is never free as in speech. Free speech is always free as in beer.
at least one of the farging photos - albeit a bit touched up - here it isA MSR_2006_H.jpg
http://esamultimedia.esa.int/images/envisat/ASAR-
The non-red area near the pole (indicated by the black circle in the middle of the photo) is the concern, since it represents pack ice (and water) rather than solid ice
Actually there will likely be more.
Warmer water will weaken the edge of the polar icecap, causing it to splinter into icebergs more easily; at the same time, having open water nearer the pole means increased rainfall, which in turn means more ice formation. The circulation of water gets faster with more energy in the system; and iceberg formation is a part of that circulation, so it will intensify as well.
And of course Atlantic storms will get worse too, the rising sealevel will drown out port towns, and the drying farmland means that sailors will starve to death before boarding the ships. Doom and gloom, man, doom and gloom.
Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.
So a huge fuck-off crack appears in the pole and the first response is not hey! how do we fix it, no, it's hey I want dibbs on trade routes.
This! This! is why I want to vote communist!
In the not too distant future, next Sunday A.D.
You don't need to invade, all you'd need is one dam-busting bomb.
It doesn't matter which ape activates the Monolith
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM7ZF8LURE_index_1.html
They said we were daft, trying to build a country in a swamp
Yes, you are right.
Andy Rabagliati
For centuries your European explorers searched in vain for a Northwest Passage to China. They eventually had to give up and admit failure.
But now, thanks to good old Yankee know-how, we have created one for you. Long-dreamed of commercial trade oppertunties have been opened to you! No, no, there's no reason to thank us. Really. It was our pleasure.
If there's anything else you need that can be accomplished via massive greed, sloth, and lack of self-awareness, don't hesitate to ask us.
The bigger struggle will be for control of trade routes. Countries with the north-most land are claiming ownership of the new open water. Control of trade routes has always been a major factor in economies. Ownership of the north waters will provide a huge amount of economic and political power to a few countries.
Developers: We can use your help.
YEA! Now we can burn MORE oil, and that will melt MORE ice, letting us get to MORE OIL!!! WHOOOHOOOO!
Grammer Nazis - I mod you "troll" unless you actually add something on-topic. Yes, I know I have mispellings in my sig.
...keep fingers over eyes and in ears and keep saying
La la la - I can't hear you...
That's a real phenomenon. Of course, it's a long-term one. The North American continent is still in the return swing of it's sea-saw motion, with the part of the continent above the 49th parallel (Canada) rising while the southern half sinks. The northern half was pressed down by the ice during the last ice age, and is still rising from when it all melted away 10,000 years ago.
But that won't affect the ice sheet in question in this article, since this ice sheet is floating on top of the Arctic Ocean and rests on no land at all.
"Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies."
"Mister President, perhaps you should transmit a planetary distress signal ... while we still have time."
-- Sarek: "STIV:TVH", Stardate 8390
-kgj
So all those oil rigs out there are performing alchemy...water to black gold?
Do you also suppose that the oil reserves under ANWR stop at the beach? The inhibitor of offshore drilling in the arctic is sea ice. This is the point of the parent post.
When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.
I suspect it isn't a sign of anything human myself, or any of the "global warming" stuff. According to the Wikipedia article on the Northwest Passage, this was probably an open passage back around AD 1,000 through AD 1,200. Vikings may have crossed it. So all that is really happening is that we are finally fulling coming out of the Little Ice Age.
Best Slashdot comment ever