Suomi NPP sees the Northwest Passage

On August 9, 2016, the VIIRS instrument aboard the Suomi NPP satellite captured this true-color image of the Northern Hemisphere featuring a nearly ice-free Northwest Passage (NWP). The NWP is a collection of possible shipping routes through the Canadian Arctic that allows for the transport of goods between Europe and Asia. The route is 9,000 kilometers (km) shorter than the route through the Panama Canal and 17,000 km shorter than the route around South America's Cape Horn. Last year, NOAA's Climate.gov reported that , for the first time in recorded human history, the Northwest Passage may become a useful shipping route during Arctic summer. In 2011, a route through the straits of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago opened for the fifth year in a row. Other routes across the Arctic may also open, providing ships with viable alternatives to traveling through the Panama Canal or around the southern tip of South America. This new reality will have impacts not only on the environment, but also on the world economy and national security, as nations compete to gain rights to shipping lanes and newly accessible resources in the Arctic. Climate scientists are particularly concerned about the decrease of sea ice because its white surface reflects up to 80 percent of incoming sunlight, deflecting additional energy away from the planet. With less ice present, the dark surface of ocean water absorbs considerably more solar energy, leading to further warming of the atmosphere and more melting of ice, which leads to further warming. Scientists are actively studying the effects of this positive feedback loop to help them understand and predict how the observed decrease in Arctic sea ice will affect the global climate system.

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