Arctic Ice Loss: Northwest Passage Now Open

"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 one million sq. km. (386,000 sq. miles) in just one year is extreme." The most direct route of the Northwest Passage across northern Canada is "fully navigable", while the so-called Northeast Passage along the Siberian coast "remains only partially blocked," ESA said in a press release. The previous record low was in 2005 when the Arctic area covered by sea ice was four million sq. km. (1.54 million sq. miles). Even then, the most direct Northwest Passage did not become fully open, ESA said. On August 10, US Arctic specialist William Chapman of the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana said that Arctic sea ice cover had already plunged to the lowest levels measured, 30 days before the normal point of the annual minimum. http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gaqQ_VVyYsLR1kGREDURI7iZcASQ

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