Photo Gallery Meltdown in the Arctic
Arctic ice is rapidly shrinking. Soon, both the Northwest Passage and the Northeast Passage may be open for shipping.
Sea ice maps from August 25, 2008 show that both the Northeast and Northwest Passages are navigable.
Foto: Institut für Umweltphysik / Universität Bremen
Diminishing ice returns: temperatures on the North Pole are rising twice as fast as elsewhere on Earth.
Foto: NASA
The ice cap wasn't looking so bad in 2003.
Foto: NASA
For comparisons sake, here was the maximum ice cover in 2005...
Foto: NASA
...it has visibly shrunk in this picture, from 2007.
Foto: NASA
Last year the two passages were not yet quite open. The Northwest Passage (yellow line) was navigable, but the Northeast Passage (blue line) along the Siberian coast was still blocked in certain places by the ice.
Foto: ESA
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