In a Warming Arctic, a Fight Brews Over the Fabled Northwest Passage

By Norimitsu Onishi – The New York Times

For centuries, death and disaster met those searching for the fabled Northwest Passage. The promise of a shorter sea lane between Europe and Asia, somewhere through the icelocked labyrinth of Canada’s Arctic Archipelago, lured explorers like Sir John Franklin to their doom.

Today, with sea ice melting fast, the Northwest Passage is open long enough to welcome thousands of tourists annually aboard large cruise ships. Nine are expected to dock this year at Gjoa Haven, an Inuit hamlet whose history is tied to the passage’s past and could help secure its future.