Dank Chinas Boom geht der Trend in Europa und den USA zum Fünft-DVD-Player, Reedereien und Werften werden in den nächsten Jahren keine Not leiden müssen. Angesichts des gigantischen und stetig wachsenden Warenverkehrs wäre es großartig, der Seeweg zwischen Asien und Europa ließe sich durch einen Kanal um 4.000 (in Worten: viertausend) Kilometer verkürzen. Wie ich in The First Post lese, gibt’s den Kanal (und obendrein Zugriff auf Rohstoffe) demnächst gratis, dem Weltuntergang sei Dank:

The Arctic Council is another authority seeing benefits in a warmer planet. Oil and gas deposits hidden under ice will become accessible. Previously frozen sea lanes will open up: it is estimated that the sea-journey from Tokyo to London will be reduced by twelve days. The fabled Northwest passage, over the top of Canada, will finally be a reality. Grass has already started growing in the Antarctic, for the first time in many thousands of years.

Wikipedia bestätigt:

Effects of global warming

Around the time of the Viking Sagas and for at least two more centuries (a conservative interval from 1000–1200 AD that also happens to include the dates allotted to some of the larger Norse ships), prior to the Little Ice Age the climate was not only warmer, but the sea-level in the Arctic was also quite different from that of the present day.[4] Between the glacial rebound and global cooling, land levels of the land masses about the Northwest Passage have risen upwards to the order of 20m in the centuries after the Viking times.

In the summer of 2000, several ships took advantage of thinning summer ice cover on the Arctic Ocean to make the crossing. It is thought that global warming is likely to open the passage for increasing periods of time, making it attractive as a major shipping route. Routes from Europe to the Far East save 4000 km through the passage, as compared to the current routes through the Panama Canal.