This tanker is the first to sail across the melted Arctic in winter

[joshcryer]

[...]

The volume of Arctic sea ice hit record lows in January, according to the National Snow & Ice Data Center (NSIDC), which tracks sea ice extent around the world.

The monthly average Arctic sea ice extent of around 13 million square kilometres was recorded some 1.36 million square kilometres below the 1981 to 2010 average, and 110,000 square kilometres below the previous record low set in 2017.

What’s more, the Arctic Council, a scientific policy group of the eight countries with territory in the Arctic Circle, says that over the past 30 years, the minimum coverage of summer ice has fallen by half while its volume has fallen by three-quarters.

While thinning ice volumes does present opportunities for increasing trade, perhaps the drawbacks outweigh the benefits.

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/02/tanker-crossed-arctic-in-winter-unassisted-first-time?utm_content=buffer56c9f&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

[Pope George Ringo II]

1. It's a tanker. Of course it's a tanker.

What other kind of ship would you send to do this? It's just so fitting.

[KT2000]

2. climate change

will open a Pandora's box of issues. The US Navy is preparing.


http://www.navy.mil/docs/USN_arctic_roadmap.pdf