Breaking Out... The Sunscreen

(Photo : Mark Peterson/Corbis file)

The North-West Passage – the sea route running along the Arctic coastline of North America, normally perilously clogged with thick ice – is nearly ice-free for the first time since records began.

"Analysts confirm that the passage is almost completely clear and that the region is more open than it has ever been since the advent of routine monitoring in 1972," they said in research conclusions published on the centre's website.

-UK Guardian

Brand new cost-cutting shipping lanes, oil reserves and miles of beach-front property. What's the problem again?