Melting ice in the Arctic is opening up new trade routes

Brut America

The Arctic sea ice is melting dramatically, but several countries see it as an economic opportunity. Here is why scientists are concerned about these new trade routes.

Transcript

00:00The impacts of climate change are already forcing the circumpolar region to undergo

00:23an unprecedented transition in human history.

00:27As Arctic air and sea temperatures warm at more than twice the rate of the global average,

00:34the Arctic Ocean has lost 95% of its oldest documented sea ice.

01:58As more and more cargo ships transit from Asian markets to Western markets,

02:04there is an increase in carbon emissions, in black carbon emissions,

02:10that in turn results in more global warming.

02:14When heavy fuel oils are burned from ships that are transiting through the northern sea route,

02:21they create soot. And that soot, that's black, covers Arctic sea ice and snow

02:29that then absorbs the heat from sun's rays and melts it much quicker.

02:51For Arctic Indigenous peoples, from the Yupik and Inuit in North America,

03:07to the Sami in Europe and Lapland, there are enormous consequences for an increase in shipping.

03:16Their sovereignty as nations has not been recognized in negotiations

03:22for the ships that are coming from the eastern to western market.

03:46We can expect the northern sea route to see an increase in marine traffic,

04:10but not a skyrocketing of ships and cargo that are moving from east to west.

04:16And that's because of uncertainty. Even though we are seeing sea ice melt,

04:22that does not mean that all ice is diminished in the Arctic.

04:27There are still icebergs and ice flows that ships have to contend with,

04:32and those make it more uncertain and more dangerous for ships to transit through.

04:52Countries around the world are interested in what's happening in the circumpolar north,

04:58because what happens in the Arctic doesn't stay in the Arctic. It impacts us all.

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