First tanker crosses northern sea route without ice breaker

[hunter]

A commercial LNG tanker has sailed across the colder, northern route from Europe to Asia without the protection of an ice-breaker for the first time.

The specially-built ship completed the crossing in just six-and-a-half days setting a new record, according to tanker's Russian owners.

The 300-metre-long Sovcomflot ship, the Christophe de Margerie, was carrying gas from Norway to South Korea.

Rising Arctic temperatures are boosting commercial shipping across this route.

--more--

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-41037071

This is terrifying news on two fronts.

First the arctic is melting, second, LNG is becoming a global commodity just like oil.

There's plenty enough gas in the ground to destroy the world as we know it.

[Moostache]

1. The world as we know it is ALREADY destroyed...

The amount of already released CO2 and methane from farming and permafrost melt are guaranteed to continue an unabated rise in temperatures that will track directly with the existing trend because we have NOT made a concentrated, concerted global effort to actually CUT emissions...just signed some non-binding pledges (and even THAT non-progress was seen as too great a threat and abandoned by Trump and cronies.

The worst effects and extinction are the only things left to prevent and it does not look good on either front for those...

[rickford66]

2. So we will never know if life exists in the rest of the Universe.

I hope they find the remains of us some time.