New shipping routes are opening up in the Arctic, even directly over the North Pole, as the ice there keeps melting. Scientists report that sea ice covering the Arctic has declined each decade since the 1980s, with older, thicker ice disappearing due to global warming. This won’t happen tomorrow, but by the middle of this century they predict that the warming will “open up vast swaths of the Arctic Ocean,” and even direct over-the-pole routes could be navigable during summer and fall.
The Arctic, of course, offers faster, more direct routes between ports in Asia and Europe. Commercial shipping there will increase as Russia develops its oil and gas fields. Shipping experts say that if shipping times fall to less than three weeks, Arctic routes will be more attractive, and profitable, than the southern routes used today.
For more, including great graphics, see The New York Times here: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/05/03/science/earth/arctic-shipping.html
