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IPFS News Link • Transportation: Air Travel

ARE AIRSHIPS THE ANSWER TO CANADA'S INTERIOR WOES?

• http://www.popsci.com

By land mass, Canada is the second largest country on Earth. Yet much like Earth's largest country, Russia, humans populate a very small amount of its land. This leaves large tracts of resources untapped and wilderness unvisited. However, snow and ice make vast swathes of this land inaccessible for all but a few summer months, and large sea ice prevents the same for ships much of the time. And though increasing global temperatures will eventually (if global climate change isn't halted) reduce sea ice and the potential severity of winter, there's another alternative if humans want to traverse interior Canada before that happens: actual freakin' airships.

Highlighting the efforts of a few existing modern airship companies, Prentice outlines one of the first markets where it seems airships truly offer a competitive advantage. Needing only limited space to deliver their goods and capable of carrying heavy cargoes, airships could act much like ocean-going vessels do for much of the world: hauling in bulk items regularly, without the added costs and speed of airplane delivery.


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