Melting Arctic Ice May Ease Russia's Grip On Sea Routes

Sea ice levels could be so low by 2065 that the Arctic's navigability will dramatically increase, opening new trade routes and loosening Russia's grip on trade in the region, research suggests.

- Harry Cockburn

A new study by US climate scientists at Brown University and Maine School of Law found that parts of the Arctic Ocean previously covered in ice all year round will likely become "reliably ice-free for months on end" over the next two decades.

While they warned that the rapidly heating climate would spell disaster for countless species in the Arctic, the potential for shorter maritime trade routes would expand, allowing for "more eco-friendly" shipping. That could also provide new trade routes which bypass the Russian-controlled Northern Sea Route.

"There's no scenario in which melting ice in the Arctic is good news," said Amanda Lynch, the study's lead author and a professor of Earth, environmental and planetary sciences at Brown University. "But the unfortunate reality is that the ice is already retreating, these routes are opening up, and we need to start thinking critically about the legal, environmental and geopolitical implications."