Climate Change Impact on Canadian Northern Shipping Regulations

The objective of this study was to find what effect climate change would have on the Zone-Date System (ZDS). The paper presents an analysis of ice conditions in the Northwest Passage (NWP) shipping lanes and the access routes to the Port of Churchill in the Hudson Strait. The analysis examines the existing and potential changes to ice regimes in the NWP shipping lanes due to the impact of climate change. The length of the shipping season in the NWP is analyzed for each zone by both the ZDS and the Arctic Ice Regime Shipping System, and both systems are then compared. This paper discusses the results of the analysis.