The massive flood that struck Nepal on the 0th has brought the issue of glacial melt from climate change to the fore as a global disaster factor. As snow and ice on the mountains melted, they triggered a large landslide and caused significant loss of life. The accident showed that melt acceleration from warming can go beyond a mere environmental issue and lead to a real disaster.
Melting is not a problem unique to the Himalayas. Ice is also melting rapidly in the polar regions. Recently, expanded use of the Arctic shipping route has been cited as one of the variables determining the pace of melting in the Arctic. There is a view that the Arctic route development being promoted by the Lee Jae-myung administration could face a stumbling block in terms of responding to climate change.
◇ Government preparing for the Arctic era… after navigating diplomatic swells, faces climate issues
According to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries on the 0th, the government earmarked about 100 billion won for next year to prepare for the Arctic era, including pioneering the Arctic route and building an icebreaking research vessel. If this year marked the first step with a pilot operation of the Arctic route, the government plans to push in earnest next year for long-term development.
The government also plans to lay the groundwork for route development by building a cooperation governance framework with Arctic-related countries next year. This appears to reflect the fact that diplomatic issues have hampered efforts to pioneer the Arctic route.
As the international community imposes strong sanctions on Russia for starting the war in Ukraine, developing the Arctic route, which inevitably requires cooperation with Russia, could send a signal that Korean society is breaking ranks with the sanctions regime. While the government managed to carry out a pilot operation through active diplomacy with neighboring countries, the massive flood in Nepal has brought previously obscured environmental issues to the surface.
The scientific and environmental communities have consistently argued that using the Arctic route accelerates Arctic ice melt and fuels climate change. Carbon emitted by ships traversing the route and icebreaking activities melt sea ice. Dark seawater absorbs more solar heat than white ice surfaces. The absorbed heat raises surrounding temperatures, which in turn accelerates climate change, according to scientists and environmental groups.
Why does ice melt faster when ships use the Arctic route? The first reason is "black carbon." When soot from ships operating in Arctic waters accumulates on sea-ice surfaces, the white ice darkens, reducing its solar reflectivity (albedo), which in turn absorbs more heat and speeds up melting.
◇ The more the Arctic route is used, the faster the melting, they say
The process of ships physically breaking sea ice during operations is also cited as a cause that brings forward melting. When ships operate in polar regions, direct icebreaking from collisions with sea ice and indirect icebreaking from wave forces occur. Broken-up sea ice has a larger surface area in contact with seawater and melts faster.
Moreover, as ice melts and its volume decreases, wave-induced melting accelerates. In a paper released in 2022 in the international journal The Cryosphere, a research team of Mocus and Montiel at the University of Otago in New Zealand explained that broken ice becomes more vulnerable to melting, which locally reduces "sea-ice concentration," allowing waves to propagate more easily and again promote breakup in a feedback loop. This breakup–melt acceleration effect is particularly pronounced from summer to fall, which overlaps with the current Arctic route operating season (July–October).
Ultimately, the more the Arctic route is used, the faster the ice melts, and the faster the ice melts, the longer the navigable period becomes, creating a "vicious cycle" in which more ships use the Arctic route.
The government is also aware that pioneering the Arctic route will bring global warming issues. The government's policy is to minimize impacts on the Arctic environment through measures such as using eco-friendly ships. At a budget briefing on the 1st, Vice Minister Nam Jae-hyeon of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF) drew a line by saying, "Deploying ships on the Arctic route is not the direct cause of ice melting," while acknowledging that byproducts from ship fuels, such as black carbon, can accumulate in the Arctic Ocean and worsen pollution. "To prevent this, we used eco-friendly fuel even during the pilot operation," he said. "We will push the project so that Korea can play a role in environmental protection while also leveraging the economic aspects of the Arctic route."