[felix_thursday]

Isn't there a cruise ship trying to make the northwest passage next year?

[sliverstorm]

It's cleared dramatically as the Arctic sea ice is melting. The wiki has satellite pics, it's pretty dramatic

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwest_Passage

[soperj]

It didn't clear at all last year though if i'm not mistaken.

And based on this: https://nsidc.org/data/seaice_index/ It's already closed up again.

[paavokoya]

Despite the obvious CO2/warming reasons, wouldn't these research vessels/cruise ships cause more ice melt as well? (Breaking up the ice causing faster melt)

[roywiggins]

The Arctic is pretty big and there aren't many research boats. There are only a few dozen icebreakers in the world.

https://news.usni.org/2013/07/23/u-s-coast-guards-2013-reive...

[Thrymr]

One has already made it this year: https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-crystal-serenity-nor...