Opportunities and downfalls of a melting Arctic

The Artic Ocean may be open for regular commercial shipping by 2017 due to changing ice conditions. Although this is good news for many businesses, the melting ice may bring about new dangers to ships working the polar seas.

According to CBC news, David Barber, the lead scientist on the Circumpolar Flaw Lead System Study said that reducing ice would only cause an increase of how fast the ice will move.

Barber and 2,000 other scientists will be attending the International Polar Year Conference in Montreal on Wednesday to discuss their findings of the International Polar Year, which was from 2007 to 2009.

Barber’s study, which took him over a year, shows that the Artic coast is becoming more like the Pacific and Atlantic coasts. He claims that it is turning into a maritime climate and causing dangerous storms to occur during the winter.

Ocean currents and countless species will be affected. 

Flickr photo by: Ryan Gardiner