Cargo ships through the Arctic may cool the region with pollution

All the extra shipping traffic passing through the Arctic might have an unexpected upside: slightly slowing the rapid warming around the North Pole, helping the sea ice linger a little longer. But it would also have other, less pleasant consequences.

The Arctic is warming faster than anywhere else on the planet, and as a result the sea ice has retreated for decades. The Arctic may see its first ice-free summer for millennia in the next few decades – although the ice does grow back in winter.

The shrinking…