As climate change continues to melt away the world’s glaciers & ice, the entire topographical landscape of a sizable part of Canada is being changed drastically. Let’s move to Canada’s arctic regions & islands, specifically the seas and passageways around Canada’s northern islands in the territories of Nunavut & the Northwest Territories. The historically frozen waters of these regions have recently begun to clear away, and as time continues, these waters will eventually become completely ice-free, making it possible for ships to pass through them. Notably, this will now also allow for trade ships to pass through.
For the last century or so, almost all trade conducted between China, Japan, and the rest of East Asia to the East Coast of the United States & Canada has been conducted through the Panama Canal. This obviously forces ships who wish to go from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic to detour towards the equator from which they can cross. This does work, however, it takes extremely longer than the journey theoretically has to. In a world where globalization will and has resulted in the value of shipping times, crossing fees, and fuel costs skyrocketing, this Panama Canal solution just may not be as feasible anymore.
Bring in the Northwest Passage, the new trade route between East Asia & the North American East Coast. The clearing of these new Arctic passages will allow ships to pass through, and for nations to conduct trade by going North instead. Now, why is this so beneficial? Well, this Northwest passage is far quicker than the Panama Canal, with Chinese estimates predicting a 30% time decrease. This will result in quicker trade & shipping, lowered fuel costs, less of a monopoly for Panama, and an absolutely massive economic and geopolitical boost for Canada. Overall, the full utilization of the Northwest Passage could result in one of the greatest global trade revolutions of the modern era, finally challenging and potentially replacing the Panamanian route that had a near monopoly here for a century.
Despite the obvious benefits of the Northwest passage, there are some clear downsides we need to take into consideration. First of all, this whole operation is only possible because of the devastating impacts of climate change and global warming. Whether it be melting glaciers, mass environmental destruction, habitat loss, species endangerment and extinction, or significantly rising sea levels, the devastation is unquestionable. On top of this, this challenge of the Panamanian monopoly by a strong American ally has the chance of causing some severe geopolitical tensions, some of which have already been seen between China, Russia, Canada, & the USA regarding this very passage. All in all, we will just have to let time tell if this Northwest Passage will really live up to its expectations, or whether it will just remain another failed idea.
Mohit Bhabak
The Carbon Newsprint
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