"The Northeast Passage was expected to open first due to the Coriolis effect. As the world turns to the east, in the Northern hemisphere, flowing water will veer to the right. Warm, salty Atlantic water flows into the Arctic Ocean through the Barents Sea Opening between Norway and Svalbard, and the Fram Strait between Svalbard and Greenland, then bends right along the Arctic coasts of Norway and Russia."
"William Scorseby, a 21-year-old whaling captain, was surprised to find the Gulf Stream off Svalbard 100 fathoms deep in 1810. He reported that the Gulf Stream was strengthening with a greater percentage of annual rainfall flowing into the sea due to "the effects of human industry, in draining marshes and lakes, felling woods, and cultivating the earth" (see The Northern Whale-Fishery by William Scoresby, 1820, page 263)."
Warm, salty Atlantic water flows into the Arctic via the Barents Sea Opening and the Fram Strait and bends along Norway and Russia due to rightward veering in the Northern Hemisphere. The simultaneous 2008 opening of the Northwest and Northeast Passages defied expectations based on Coriolis-favored eastward flow. The Gulf Stream has strengthened northward, surfacing near Svalbard and contributing to land ice melt. Increased warm inflow heats the Vamal Peninsula, melts permafrost, and likely contributed to an explosive methane-related crater. Siberian and Alaskan coasts open with summer while Canadian and Greenland coasts retain fast ice, implicating other causes for the Northwest Passage opening. Rising carbon dioxide and climate change remain ongoing concerns.
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