As Ice Melts, Debate Heats

Satellite photos show the ice cover in the Arctic Ocean is shrinking by about 3%-4% each decade, says John Falkingham, chief of ice forecasting for the Canadian Ice Service. The melt has accelerated, he says, to a rate of about 8% per decade since 2000. But because Arctic currents push drifting ice toward the Canadian archipelago, he predicts more ice in the passage for the near term. However, Falkingham says, "at the end of the century, there could be an extended summertime shipping season." Others expect faster change. A 2001 U.S. Navy report predicted that within 10 years, the passage would be open to non-ice-strengthened vessels for one month a year. Only icebreakers and specially made ice-hardened ships now travel the passage, mainly for military purposes and scientific research. http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-04-03-nwpassage-debate_x.htm

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