Global Warming - 2 German cargo ships pass through 'Arctic Passage'

[Rybold]

He said the shipping company was planning more voyages through the area in coming months. Traditionally, shippers traveling from Asia to Europe have to go through the Gulf of Aden and through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean Sea and, pending their destination, into the Atlantic Ocean.
A journey from South Korean to the Netherlands, for example, is about 11,000 nautical miles (12,658 miles). By going northward and using the Northeast Passage, approximately 3,000 nautical miles (3,452 miles) and 10 days can be shaved off. That means lower fuel costs
Researchers said the ability to navigate the route showed climate change.

"We are seeing an expression of climate change here," said Mark Serreze, director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo. "The Arctic is warming; we're losing the sea ice cover. The more frequent opening of that Northeast Passage is part of the process we're seeing."

2 German cargo ships pass through 'Arctic Passage' - Yahoo! News



I'm assuming the ice is not completely melted; the ships are pushing through the already broken ice, and also warming the water with the heat from their water-cooled engines. This is only a guess right now, but it sounds logical that they are having to push through chunks of ice in some areas. The heat from only two ships can be considered insignificant compared to the size of the ocean, but if this becomes a regular passageway for thousands of ships, all traveling over roughly the same path, the heat from the water-cooled engines could become significant.

[efusco]

I knew this was coming...but wow...wow.

[dogfriend]

See, it isn't all bad. Sure, we may have set the wheels in motion for all human life to be wiped from the planet, but think of all the money we can save on shipping in the meantime.

[Rybold]

Originally Posted by dogfriend

See, it isn't all bad. Sure, we may have set the wheels in motion for all human life to be wiped from the planet, but think of all the money we can save on shipping in the meantime.

...so that the executives and major stock holders of the shipping companies can buy more personal vehicles that get terrible mileage, and also continue to fly on their private leer jets that have an environmental impact of ... BUT WAIT !!! let's consider something... if the cargo ships travel 3500 fewer miles each, per trip, how much diesel fuel is being saved each year (positive environmental impact). Are they actually breaking the ice, or are they just traveling through ice that has already melted? If we assume the ice is already melted, then on a entire-planet scale, this is positive. However, at the same time, if the heat from the ships contributes to complete melting of the polar ice caps... based on geological history, this could trigger a shift in Earth's behavior; potentially triggering another mass extinction. (note: virtually all - not all, but almost all - major shifts in Earth's climate in the geologic time record involved an altering of oceanic currents; inducing either an increase or decrease in polar ice quantities. All major ice ages were initiated by a shift in the oceanic currents; inhibiting the mixing of equatorial and polar waters; allowing the polar waters to become very cold; leading to an increase in polar ice that created mile-thick ice sheets covering Canada and the northern half of the United States. The reverse; the melting of the ice caps has an effect of...)

[hobbit]

See, that mass extinction would fix everything.
.
_H*

[Jimmie84]

OH NOES!!!! WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!!!!

Happens all the time during the summer solstice, Wait a few more months at will be thick with Ice.

[efusco]

Originally Posted by Jimmie84

OH NOES!!!! WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!!!!

Happens all the time during the summer solstice, Wait a few more months at will be thick with Ice.

It doesn't "happen all the time" While 2 years ago the first ice breaker made it through that particular passage this is the first time I've heard of any commercial freighter being able to make it through.

Not being alarmist, but you're a fool if you don't consider this significant and worthy of further study and evaluation. I don't think anyone is sure what it means or what the future holds. And of course it'll freeze again...that's not the point...the point is that it's never melted to this degree before allowing a navigable passage.

[dogfriend]

Originally Posted by Jimmie84

WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!!!!

Yep, we are all going to die. The issue is whether our offspring (and their offspring, and so on) are going to live. You and I won't be around to see it, but if you care about humanity, it might concern you to see rapid and substantial changes in our environment.

[DaveinOlyWA]

well. the problem we have is a ½º C increase down here equates to a 7º C change up there. and it will snowball from there.

estimated methane gas levels currently trapped in the not so frozen tundra across Canada and Russia is more than 150 times THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF GREENHOUSE GAS RELEASED BY MAN SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION.

gas release has been tracked and is showing a 30-50% increase in volume year to year. we may have already reached our tipping point

now, if we can only figure out a way of trapping and collecting the methane, that would really brighten up T. Boone Picken's day!!

[jayman]

Originally Posted by DaveinOlyWA

now, if we can only figure out a way of trapping and collecting the methane, that would really brighten up T. Boone Picken's day!!

Well, believe it or not, there is extensive research activity in the Canadian Arctic to recover natural gas hydrates, or methane clathrate. The government of Japan is investing heavily in Canadian research along those lines

Gas Hydrates - Natural gas hydrate studies in Canada

The methane clathrate is an interesting and unique natural occurrence.

NASA GISS: Research Features: Methane: A Scientific Journey from Obscurity to Climate Super-Stardom

It is thought that if the polar regions, and deep ocean areas, were to suddenly warm up, there could be a literally explosive release of methane from the clathrates. Assuming nothing horrible happens, the deposits will be a very long-term but expensive source of natural gas