COI | Centre for Ocean and Ice | Danmarks Meteorologiske Institut
BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Arctic summers ice-free ‘by 2013’
COI | Centre for Ocean and Ice | Danmarks Meteorologiske Institut
BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Arctic summers ice-free ‘by 2013’
Think I’ll rent a pleasure craft this summer and sail up through the ice free arctic and visit a few places I haven’t seen since the late 70’s…..should be relatively smooth sailing!!!
Depends on your definition of “free”, I suppose….
21 yachts in 2012 completed a Northwest Passage between the Atlantic Arctic Circle and the Pacific Arctic Circle. Reading personal blog sites makes it clear from their first hand observations and ship’s logs that the Arctic is undergoing changes – a recent 2007 yacht reported no ice navigation problems – but in 2012 the sea ice remained so later in the season it requiring yachts to wait for ‘choke-point’ routes to open… definitely more inshore ice caused navigation problems for these small craft. On the other hand – one motor yacht was able late in the summer season to navigate through McClure Strait over the top of Banks Island for the first time in recorded history since the discovery of the Northwest Passage by Captain Robert McClure aboard HMS INVESTIGATOR in 1853. Don’t confuse reduced ice with melting – consider other factors such as winds, weathers, currents, fresh water etc.
The Northwest Passage is blocked by 10 foot thick ice this year. Good luck with that trip.
Do you think that satellite imagery, GPS, Internet, icebreakers, radio communications, electric lights, depth finders, sonar, radar, airplanes, etc. might be making it slightly easier than it was 100 years ago?
Douglas Pohl,
Roald Amundsen transited the Northwest Passage over a hundred years ago, so why are you so impressed that people are doing the same thing today?
http://www.cruisingworld.com/people/passage-notes/northwest-passage-routes-made-passable
“Ketches, catamarans, and sloops were part of the mix, along with the icebreakers and tugs.”
You think those icebreakers and tugs made a slight difference?
I would love to see a meaningful mean.