The Arctic sea ice is melting. That's what this item is about. It's already floating in the sea. When it melts it will not generate any rise in sea level. What we have to worry about is loss of the Greenland and more importantly the Antarctic ice, because they are on land. Sea level rise - up to 300'. Am I worried? My house is at 315'. My grandchildren will have a nice beach front property.
True, but there's the aspect of no ice, i.e., with no ice the reflectivity of Sun's light will seriously go down and that will result in more heat absorbed by the world ocean = water will get hotter. That will affect our climate more than any increase in sea water.
Agreed. There is a lot of detail like that I could have addressed. For example as the newly melted water rises in temperature it will initially decrease in volume. But my central point was that some of the posters appeared to be confusing the loss of the Arctic ice (which is a bloody, human induced screw up) with the loss of Antartic ice, which is an entirely different (bloody, human induced screw up) matter.
The global temperature went up and down like a Munroe walker during the Quaternary, and the Antarctic ice didn't melt except around the edges; I don't see any real evidence that it will melt due to Anthropogenic Global Warming. Unless the Antarctic ice melts we won't see 80 metre sea level rises.
Don't forget the Arctic ice cap. Better get a mobile home just to be safe. That sea level mark of 300' could go a little higher (like 325' plus) once the North Arctic caps starts to melt a little more too. May_wentee Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
May, read the bloody thread. Read my earlier posts. I don't mean to be rude, but what do you think we have been saying in here. The melting of the bloody Arctic ice will have no practical effect on sea level. Get with the program. And in more measured terms welcome to the forums. eburacrum45 - the only thing wrong with your argument is is that the Antarctic ice sheets are melting, and if you don't believe that try living as a penguin with a chick to feed for a season.
Dont worry , its natural for species to become extinct, this time it includes humans. I hope we can create robots that will out last this extinction, at least something will be left of us. We the shameless, busy making money , ignoring the doom of earth for personal gains.
We've survived quite a few ice ages with no technology at all, I see no reasons why we wouldn't survive the next one.
The Antarctic is actually pressed down by the weight of the ice so much that it is partly below sea level- if the ice were suddenly removed by teleporting it away the Antarctic could be seen to be in fact two island continents separated by a strait. So, much of the Antarctic ice can melt without affecting sea levels at all; only the ice domes on land themselves will affect sea-level directly. The ice domes have never melted, even when the Earth was much warmer than today; nor will they. Southern England had a mediterranean fauna in the Ipswichian interglacial, and the temperature was perhaps 3º C warmer than today. Yet the ice domes of Antarctica did not melt. If all the ice were to suddenly melt the land surface of Antarctica would recover isostatically untill the strait between the two islands disappeared; this would add to the total sea level rise, but once again, this has never happened since before the quaternary period, nor will it (unless there is a catastrophic release of methane clathrates, which I wouldn't neccssarily rule out). Isostatic recovery is a very slow process, so we would wait thousands of years for this last effect to become apparent after the last ice melted. I short; I think sea level rise will be a slow phenomenon, and we will have time to put some remedial countermeasures in effect before we have any 80 metre rises.
The real question regarding the melting Arctic ice is whether or not it's anthropogenic. I don't discount the possibility but can it really be demonstrated? Also, there are those crackpots with theories about the "polar reversal" causing higher temperatures. A completely unsubstantiated load of poppycock. Perhaps the melting of the ice will disrupt the Gulf Stream, which brings warm water to Northern Europe and greatly influences climate. Would effect would all that fresh water have on the thermohaline circulation of the Atlantic Ocean?
The ice domes of Antartica will melt someday. So will just about everything else too. As soon the sun starts to expand a little in it's evolutionary trip towards becoming a Red Giant someday. Things will definetly start to heat up around here in the future. You can be sure on that. May_wentee Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
so. some say an ice age is coming. some floods, and some global warming--which suggests to me arid desert spreading. which view is correct? or isit more complex than that?
I'd say that it is safe to think that the climate is changing. Nobody really knows what will be the next enduring state.
Why Do U think there were floods all over planet this years. increased number Powerful huricanes all over planet. Thats because large chunks of Polar ice has melted, 30 % in last 50 years. this has put more water evapourated in the atmosphere which in turn has a green house effect and more heat, this cycle will stop only after CO2 levels crash. But till then face the warth
yes sorry, i am awre...very of how floods and huuricanes, tornados etc are connected with global warming........ what i want then to ask is ...what then? more of that OR an ice age? for insance i have heard a while back tat if cold water gets into te Gulf Stream ten a VERY drmatic change occurs which catapults us into an ice age
Do U think there will ever be a ice age in a manmade glass greenhouse ? But earth has no glass celing above, hence ...
