Cruise liners take to puddle of melt that once was the Arctic

Mic quoted Michael Byers, a UBC professor and Canada Research Chair in Global Politics and International Law, for a story on the giant cruise ships that are now able to tour the Northwest Passage as a result of climate change.

Beyond the environmental risks, there are also potential dangers associated with these trips.

“If the entire ship — all 1,000 passengers, all 600 crew — require search and rescue, for instance, if the ship sinks, then that would actually break the Canadian search-and-rescue system,” Byers said, adding, “They would not be able to get to those people and retrieve them in time.”