So the melting Arctic ice has persuaded the US Coast Guard to set up its first operating base in the region. It will start small, reporters tell us:

“But given continued warming, that small base, which could be in place by next spring, would be expanded later to help speed responses to oil spills from tankers that the Coast Guard believes could eventually carry shipments from Scandinavia to Asia through the Bering Strait. Such a long-hoped-for polar route would cut 5,000 miles or more from a journey that would otherwise entail passage through the Panama Canal or the Suez.”

What’s wrong with this picture?