Ocean
The Living Force
The North Pole becomes an 'island' for the first time in history as ice melts
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23547713-details/The+North+Pole+becomes+an+%27island%27+for+the+first+time+in+history+as+ice+melts/article.do
The North Pole can now be circumnavigated for the first time in history, sparking fears that the melting Arctic ice cap has entered a 'death spiral'.
Satellite images reveal an opening in the famed North-west and North-east passages, with water stretching all the way round the Arctic.
Until recently both passages had been blocked by ice since the start of the last Ice Age.
North Pole satellite picture
Historic event: It is now possible to sail around the North Pole after the North-west and North-east passages opened up at the same time
Some scientists fear the ice cap will disappear completely in summer within five years as global warming continues to take its toll.
The pictures, taken two days ago, were published on a website by scientists at the University of Bremen in Germany.
Gathered by Nasa using microwave sensors that penetrate clouds, they show that the North-west passage around Canada opened last weekend, and the North-east passage around Russia was free from ice a few days later.
Professor Mark Serreze, a sea ice specialist at the official US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), said the images provided evidence the Arctic ice cap may have gone into a 'death spiral'.
He told the Independent on Sunday: 'It's a historic event. We are going to see this more and more as the years go by.'
He warned that official bodies would be reluctant to confirm that the passages were open, however, for fear of lawsuits if ships came across ice after being encouraged to enter them.
The news will be welcomed by shipping companies hoping to sail round the north of Canada and Russia, cutting their routes by thousands of miles.
But the satellite pictures are the latest indication of a growing crisis in the Arctic.
Baffin Island's Auyuittuq National Park was evacuated four weeks ago when melting glaciers caused it to flood.
Two weeks later, nine polar bears were spotted off Alaska trying to swim 400 miles north to the thawing ice cap edge.
Ten days ago, the previously unaffected Petermann glacier in the north of Greenland was said to be cracked.
And last week the NSDIC warned that the amount of sea ice in the Arctic could shrink to below the record low reached last year.
But Sarah Palin, John McCain's new running mate, believes that the consensus that global warming is behind the melting Arctic ice is unreliable.
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23547713-details/The+North+Pole+becomes+an+%27island%27+for+the+first+time+in+history+as+ice+melts/article.do
The North Pole can now be circumnavigated for the first time in history, sparking fears that the melting Arctic ice cap has entered a 'death spiral'.
Satellite images reveal an opening in the famed North-west and North-east passages, with water stretching all the way round the Arctic.
Until recently both passages had been blocked by ice since the start of the last Ice Age.
North Pole satellite picture
Historic event: It is now possible to sail around the North Pole after the North-west and North-east passages opened up at the same time
Some scientists fear the ice cap will disappear completely in summer within five years as global warming continues to take its toll.
The pictures, taken two days ago, were published on a website by scientists at the University of Bremen in Germany.
Gathered by Nasa using microwave sensors that penetrate clouds, they show that the North-west passage around Canada opened last weekend, and the North-east passage around Russia was free from ice a few days later.
Professor Mark Serreze, a sea ice specialist at the official US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), said the images provided evidence the Arctic ice cap may have gone into a 'death spiral'.
He told the Independent on Sunday: 'It's a historic event. We are going to see this more and more as the years go by.'
He warned that official bodies would be reluctant to confirm that the passages were open, however, for fear of lawsuits if ships came across ice after being encouraged to enter them.
The news will be welcomed by shipping companies hoping to sail round the north of Canada and Russia, cutting their routes by thousands of miles.
But the satellite pictures are the latest indication of a growing crisis in the Arctic.
Baffin Island's Auyuittuq National Park was evacuated four weeks ago when melting glaciers caused it to flood.
Two weeks later, nine polar bears were spotted off Alaska trying to swim 400 miles north to the thawing ice cap edge.
Ten days ago, the previously unaffected Petermann glacier in the north of Greenland was said to be cracked.
And last week the NSDIC warned that the amount of sea ice in the Arctic could shrink to below the record low reached last year.
But Sarah Palin, John McCain's new running mate, believes that the consensus that global warming is behind the melting Arctic ice is unreliable.
