Northwest Passage ...

by Edward ODaniel - 6/5/12 9:13 PM

In Reply to: Should have typed Arctic by TONI H

"1905: In mid August, Amundsen sailed from Gjoa Haven, Nunavut) in the vessel Gjoa. On August 26 they encountered a ship bearing down on them from the west, and with that they were through the passage. From Amundsen's diary:
The North West Passage was done. My boyhood dream - at that moment it was accomplished. A strange feeling welled up in my throat; I was somewhat over-strained and worn - it was weakness in me - but I felt tears in my eyes. 'Vessel in sight' ... Vessel in sight."

Further expeditions after the passage was routed showed that quite likely it could have been accomplished many years earlier but for wrong turns that left ships stranded or ice bound in both directions from the point at which the two ships eventually did meet up.

While harsh winters had a lot to do with it wrong turns and wrong time of year had a lot to do with the navigation also.

Additionally, several of the native tribes were aware of and had used various routes from both east and west to get to the vicinity of King William Island and had told Expedition leaders of these routes.

Matter of fact, ROBERT McCLURE Proved The Route Existed in 1850-54:
While his ship was trapped in the ice, McClure set off by sledge and
discovered a passage between Banks Island and Victoria Island. Coming
west to east, this linked up with Parry's previous position coming east
to west. McClure and his crew were awarded the £10,000 prize for finding
the Passage.

Yes, there has been some warming just as there has been for thousands of years but some of the Arctic discoveries (such as mammoths with grass in their mouths) indicate that the passage was even more open and accessible at various earlier times in the history of the world. The AlGore "manmade global warming" has been pretty well debunked using the "manmade global warming" alarmists's own data.