Ships may sail over North Pole by 2050 due to Arctic melt

US: The Arctic sea ice cover, melting rapidly due to global warming, will be so thin by 2050 that ships will be able to sail directly across the North Pole for the first time, experts have predicted.

Researchers said it could also lead to unprecedented geo-political tensions between countries that have territorial claims in the region.

Global warming will make these frigid routes much more accessible than ever imagined by melting an unprecedented amount of sea ice during the late summer, a University of California - Los Angeles (UCLA) research shows.

“Nobody’s ever talked about shipping over the top of the North Pole. This is an entirely unexpected possibility,” said lead researcher Laurence C Smith, a professor of geography. “The development is both exciting from an economic development point of view and worrisome in terms of safety, both for the Arctic environment and for the ships themselves,” Smith said in a statement.

The first thorough assessment of trans-Arctic shipping potential as global temperatures continue to rise, the study is based on independent climate forecasts for the years 2040 to 2059.

By mid-century, even ordinary shipping vessels will be able to navigate previously inaccessible parts of the Arctic Ocean, and they will not need icebreakers to blaze their path as they do today, the researchers found.

The Arctic ice sheet is expected to thin to the point that polar icebreakers will be able to navigate between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans by making a straight shot over the North Pole, Smith and Stephenson predict.

DECCAN HERALD