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  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

Cruise ships could sail now-icy Arctic seas by century’s end

Without carbon cuts, many cargo ships could ply the Northwest Passage, between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, in 2040.
The Canadian Coast Guard ice-breaker Louis S. St-Laurent makes its way through the ice in Baffin Bay

An ice-breaker navigates Canada's Arctic waters, which could soon become accessible to ordinary vessels if global temperatures continue to climb. Credit: Canadian Press/Shutterstock

The retreat and thinning of Arctic sea-ice projected by the end of the twenty-first century could allow ships of all kinds to safely sail Canada’s northern seas and passages during much of the year.

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Nature 595, 474 (2021)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-01889-w

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