Canada's Northwest Passage is a system of gulfs, straits, sounds and channels in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago that connects the Beaufort Sea in the west with Baffin Bay in the east. There are 2 main navigation paths through the Northwest Passage: a northern route and a southern route.

Canada's Northwest Passage presents a potential deep-water Arctic shipping route between the northern Pacific and Atlantic regions that is much shorter than routes through the Panama or Suez canals. The Northwest Passage is covered by sea ice for most of the year, making it a navigation obstacle for ice-breaking ships and a safety hazard for non-ice-strengthened ships.

Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada (2021) Canadian Environmental Sustainability Indicators: Sea ice in Canada. Consulted on May 9, 2022

Available at: Government of Canada, Sea Ice In Canada

Calculate the rate of change at the following locations Foxe Basin, Hudson Bay and Hudson Strait. Decadal trends is the approx. rate of change. Draw conclusions about the northern passage versus the southern passage? Which is likely to occur first?

North Beaufort Canadian Hudson Hudson Foxe Basin | Kane Basin Baffin Bay Arctic Davis Strait Labrador Sea Bay Strait (thousands of (thousands of (thousands of Archipelago (thousands of Sea Year (thousands of (thousands (thousands of square thousands of square square square (thousands of square kilometres) kilometres) square of square kilometres) kilometres) kilometres) square kilometres) square kilometres] kilometres) kilometres) 103 483 33 30 120 27 12 1991 68 550 31 53 1992 79 38 140 166 608 208 21 41 4 1993 57 31 210 261 524 141 510 116 19 31 6 1994 56 29 140 454 25 169 299 529 94 12 14 1995 56 51 119 21 28 6 1996 35 258 146 536 16 3 1997 47 35 156 319 570 101 15 1998 52 32 138 166 391 53 11 57 30 143 344 457 36 26 5 1999 10 25 3 2000 41 32 91 420 502 119 17 1 2001 56 34 102 442 519 50 2002 57 34 77 368 562 122 14 26 9 97 8 17 2 2003 51 30 73 357 553 24 2004 60 32 101 320 696 213 20 359 548 63 10 9 1 200 40 30 111 51 376 132 46 12 2006 27 27 2007 54 24 96 244 107 76 10 18 5 2008 59 25 91 163 135 93 14 23 0 313 504 137 16 28 6 2009 52 19 26 3 2010 39 79 237 406 34 0 2011 44 22 73 192 337 59 2012 51 26 43 135 351 73 18 17 2013 57 32 67 347 501 84 60 22 52 268 519 86 12 13 5 2014 Canadian Environmental Sustainability Indicators Page 21 of 32Table A.2. Data for Figure 2. Sub-region sea ice area trends, Northern Canadian Waters, 1968 to Canadian North Beaufort Hudson Foxe Basin | Kane Basin Baffin Bay Arctic Hudson Davis Strait Labrador Sea Bay Strait Archipelago (thousands of Sea Year (thousands of (thousands of thousands of (thousands of (thousands (thousands of square square square square (thousands of square (thousands of of square square kilometres) kilometres} kilometres} kilometres) square kilometres) square kilometres] kilometres) kilometres} kilometres) 337 55 94 21 25 5 1968 73 26 130 35 168 486 569 191 25 34 1969 79 1970 71 31 196 392 570 130 19 38 12 1971 32 171 402 512 109 30 31 9 33 160 355 659 211 42 67 15 1972 114 46 5 1973 52 35 137 372 520 123 30 1974 52 33 100 485 670 154 27 24 1975 52 34 479 509 107 16 25 1976 76 34 136 449 593 111 18 38 7 15 41 6 1977 71 35 209 298 514 34 1978 10 30 208 422 646 191 29 34 6 139 127 1979 33 337 36 75 657 22 1980 60 32 146 133 575 108 15 25 2 2 1981 40 30 125 367 465 103 14 27 1982 61 31 157 314 657 140 24 57 6 1983 38 35 185 476 532 158 36 81 12 56 14 1984 64 31 123 455 525 161 42 1985 55 30 84 480 511 133 27 24 10 3 1986 72 32 178 107 620 163 21 42 26 32 7 1987 84 26 186 288 583 155 1988 64 24 120 403 487 109 21 25 5 19 28 5 1989 78 31 174 398 526 139 382 579 125 29 35 7 1990 77 23 143