DHAKA: A new study suggested that shipping routes in Artic are going to be open up significantly by this century even with a reduction in CO2 emission.

A group of researchers have studied how these routes will be more accessible given the influence of warmer temperature of sea-ice.

They find that by 2050, opportunities to transit the Arctic will double for non ice-strengthened vessels, BBC reported.

"The reduction in summer sea-ice, perhaps the most striking sign of climate change, may also provide economic opportunities," commented Reading’s Dr Nathanael Melia.

Sea-ice is in a committed, long-term decline as the polar north warms, the study said.

Dr. Ed Hawkins fro the same university said, "If we experience a 2-degree increase in global temperatures, we will get close to an Arctic that is effectively ice-free for part of the year; that’s less than a million sq km of ice cover.”

If vessels can transit the Arctic, they will shave many days off their journey times between the Pacific and North Atlantic ports, and save fuel. In addition, by plotting a more central course, they can avoid the fees they would otherwise be charged for going through Siberian waters.

One of the major agendas of their research was to observe the opportunities open up by the global warming in next decades.

The Reading scientists also asserted that there will always be some sea-ice, especially in winter, and that year-to-year the conditions could be highly variable.

BDST: 2107 HRS, SEP 07, 2016
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