For the first time in human history, the North Pole’s ice may break apart completely.

Arctic ice could break apart completely at the North Pole this summer, allowing ships to sail over the normal frozen top of the world. Isn’t that a surprise?

It’s a 50-50 bet that the thin Arctic sea ice, which was frozen in autumn, will completely melt away at the geographic North Pole.

Reduced greenhouse gas emissions could cool things down a bit.

It would recover fairly quickly, but it’s just not going to happen for a while.

There are some positive aspects to the ice melting. Ships could use the Northwest Passage just to save some time and energy by no longer having to travel through the Panama Canal or around Cape Horn.

There’s also oil at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean that the irony of that is kind of clear, but the great fact that we are opening the Arctic Ocean makes it more accessible.