Why monitor the Arctic Ocean? - UNESDOC
... Shipping routes through the Arctic, compared to current routes. With predicted reductions in summer sea ice the Northeast The journey by ship from North America's Pacific coast to Western Passage and Northern Sea Route may open for regular Europe via the Panama Canal is 12,000 nautical miles. This w ...
... Shipping routes through the Arctic, compared to current routes. With predicted reductions in summer sea ice the Northeast The journey by ship from North America's Pacific coast to Western Passage and Northern Sea Route may open for regular Europe via the Panama Canal is 12,000 nautical miles. This w ...
Northwest Passage
The Northwest Passage is a sea route connecting the northern Pacific Oceans through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The various islands of the archipelago are separated from one another and from the Canadian mainland by a series of Arctic waterways collectively known as the Northwest Passages or Northwestern Passages. The Parliament of Canada renamed these waterways the ""Canadian Northwest Passage"" in motion M-387 passed unanimously 2 December 2009.Sought by explorers for centuries as a possible trade route, it was first navigated by Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen with a small expedition in 1903–1906. Until 2009, the Arctic pack ice prevented regular marine shipping throughout most of the year. Changes in the pack ice (Arctic shrinkage) caused by climate change have rendered the waterways more navigable. The contested sovereignty claims over the waters may complicate future shipping through the region: the Canadian government considers the Northwestern Passages part of Canadian Internal Waters, but the United States and various European countries maintain they are an international strait and transit passage, allowing free and unencumbered passage. If, as has been claimed, parts of the eastern end of the Passage are barely 15 metres (49 ft) deep, the route's viability as a Euro-Asian shipping route is reduced.