WHAT IF A CRUISE SHIP wrecked in Alaska? “The Costa Concordia wreck shocked the world last week. Although at least 16 died, thousands more lived because they were able to escape the ship into the warm Italian waters. However, ship traffic to frigid Arctic waters is on the rise. And if the Costa Concordia had run aground in the Bering Sea rather than the Mediterranean, the result probably would have been much deadlier.”

UPDATE: Well, there’s this unfortunate precedent, forwarded by reader J.M. Heinrichs.