Members of the Applied Physics Laboratory Ice Station clear ice from the hatch of the submarine USS Annapolis in March during a U.S. Navy exercise in the Arctic Ocean. Tiffini Jones/Courtesy of the U.S. NavyFrom Stars And Stripes:
Early explorers dreamed of a safe trade route across the frozen Arctic for hundreds of years.
Now as global temperatures warm and ice rapidly melts, the U.S. Navy is weighing the possibility that within decades the Arctic will open into one of the world’s prime shipping lanes.
New climate data point to a summer season completely free of sea ice as early as 2030 — about 70 years sooner than previously predicted — allowing ships to move freely for the first time in history, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
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Previous Post: The Russians Are Serious About Making A Presence In The Arctic
My Comment:Russia and Canada are now spending an enormous amount of money to make a presence in the North Pole. This should not be a surprise. The Arctic is one of the last remaining frontiers in the world, and it holds geological and energy resources that have yet to be discovered. The U.S. footprint up north is via through Alaska .... a footprint that is neither small nor insignificant by any stretch of the imagination.