The 400 Year Search for the Northwest Passage - How it is Finally Appearing Through the Melting Ice.

For four hundred years, roughly 1500 to 1900, European and American explorers searched for the “Northwest Passage.” If it existed, this “passage” would provide a water route through the North American Continent, or north of it, that would allow ships to pass easily from the Atlantic to Pacific oceans, or vice versa. This could open up a fast, efficient, and hugely profitable trade between the Orient and Europe and North America.

When the Northwest Passage was finally discovered in 1906, it was found to be so ice-clogged as to be impractical for commercial navigation. Yet, by the early 2000s, global warming had significantly reduced the icepack that jammed it. It is now looking as though it will be a practical passage for navigation very soon.

Given the increasing “value” of the Arctic to world powers due to the opening of the Northwest Passage, it is no wonder that President Trump covets a vast piece of Arctic real estate called Greenland.

This talk is based on the years of research I’ve done into exploration history, and especially research for a collection I edited about the Arctic, “Ring of Ice” (2000).