A new arctic shortcut.

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Christopher Columbus would have been green with envy. Late last summer, two German-owned cargo ships achieved what countless merchant mariners had sought for centuries. The Beluga Foresight and the Beluga Fraternity sailed directly from East Asia to Northern Europe.

Instead of crossing the Indian Ocean, then following Africa's coast to and through the Suez Canal, they took the once-impassable "Northeast Passage" across the Arctic Ocean. That shaved thousands of miles off their trip from the Pacific Ocean to the North Atlantic.

"It is global warming that enables us to think about using that route," a spokesperson for the German shipping company told The New York Times. Warmer summers are melting sea ice that once blocked the way nearly year-round.

This map shows the new northern and traditional southern routes between two major seaports: Yokohama, Japan, and Rotterdam, Netherlands. Study it--especially its key (legend)--then answer the questions below.

Two German cargo ships recently achieved a historic "first"--sailing from Asia to Europe by way of the Arctic Ocean's Northeast Passage.

* Objectives

* Use a key (legend) to glean more information from a map.

* Compare advantages and disadvantages of the traditional southern and new northern sea routes.

* Consider the factors that made it possible for this "first" to occur.

* Backstory

For centuries, trade between Europe and Asia was carried out overland, via the storied Silk Road. European entrepreneurs and explorers sought a quicker route by sea. Christopher Columbus (1492) tried to do it by sailing west across the Atlantic. Bartolomeu Dias (1487-1488) and Vasco da Gama (1497-1498) blazed the route south around Africa to the Indian Ocean. That was the only viable route until 1869, when the Suez Canal opened, cutting thousands of miles off the trip. But the shortest route between the two points--traversing the Arctic Ocean--remained blocked by ice.

Because of global warming and the melting of Arctic ice, the Northwest Passage, along Canada's northern shores, and the Northeast Passage, along northern Russia, were both recently traversed.

* Rapid Review

* What made this historic first possible? (global warming melting Arctic ice, plus icebreaker ships)

* Judging by the map, where was the ships' journey most difficult? (near Severnaya Zemlya, Russia, where the sea ice was thickest)

WEB LINKS

* Suez Canal--official site: www.suezcanal.gov.eg

* Two German Merchant Ships Conquer Famed Northeast Passage: boston.com/news/science/articles/2009/09/12/ two_german_merchant_ships_conquer_famed_arctic_passage

Questions

Write your answers on a separate sheet of paper.

1. What is another name for a map key?

2. Why do you think this type of box is called a key?

3. Besides Yokohama and Rotterdam, what major port cities are shown on this map?

4. The northern route shown is how many miles shorter than the southern route?

5. Ships taking this northern route avoid what danger shown along the southern route?

6. Which part of the U.S. could benefit from cargo ships regularly taking the northern sea route? How?

7. The two German cargo ships had help from a Russian icebreaker ship. Why might Russia have such ships?

8. The icebreaker was most likely needed near which part of Russia?

9. Why haven't shippers used the Northeast Passage before now?

10. What advantages, other than saving time, does the northern route offer shippers?

1. legend

2. It "unlocks" the information provided on a map by showing what the various symbols, colors, and markings mean.

3. Hong Kong and Shanghai, China; and Vladivostok, Russia

4.4,442 miles

5. pirates

6. Alaska; goods being shipped to and from Asia would arrive more quickly and thus more cheaply.

7. Much of Russia's northern coast is close to Arctic regions, so that country would have experience in sailing icy ocean waters.

8. Severnaya Zemlya

9. Sea ice once blocked the route nearly year-round. Global warming/climate change is now melting the ice.

10. lower fuel costs, less wear and tear on craft; other answers acceptable