According to the National Snow & Ice Data Center, ice sheets are defined as "glacial land masses that extend more than 50,000 kilometers." Today, there are only two ice sheets on Earth, Greenland and Antarctic. Over the course of millions of years, ice and snow accumulated, creating these masses. If these ice sheets were to melt, sea levels would rise, which would result in a global catastrophe. Melting of the Greenland ice sheet would raise the sea level by 6 meters, while the Antarctic ice sheet would raise the sea level to an outstanding 60 meters.Over the last 50 years, both the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have been significantly impacted by global warming. Between 1979 and 2006, the Greenland ice sheet saw a 30% increase in ice loss per year. Scientific evidence has shown that because the surface temperature of Earth is rising, the glacial ice is melting at an astonishing rate. According to Bill McKibben, between 2003 and 2008, the West Antarctic ice sheet was melting 75% faster than previous decades. At Earth's present temperature, both ice sheets will be completely melted within the next one hundred to two hundred years. So, in order to retard or terminate ice sheet loss, Earth's surface temperature will have to be reduced by at least 1.3 degrees Celsius within the next few decades.
Glacial melt is not only having an effect on sea level rise, but it is acidifying the oceans, and pushing many species to the verge of extinction. The phytoplankton population, the ocean's main "staple" organism, is beginning to decrease. If the phytoplankton go extinct, the ocean's food web will be disrupted and severely harmed. In addition, many penguin, seal, and polar bear species are being starved out, due to a lack of sea ice, and a disturbed ocean food chain.Over the course of the next fifty years, there is expected to be a three foot increase in sea level. More than 75 species are predicted to go extinct, and the world will continue to be destroyed. If we do not create an immediate solution to global warming, melting sea ice will certainly endanger the lives of many species, including humans, on Earth.
I'm interested to hear your presentation! I'm a little ignorant on this topic; I'm assuming there was ice on the North Pole that melted, though I have no idea when the time frame was. To me, it would seem that having warmer water around a mass of ice would cause it to shrink faster and faster as melting progressed, like a snowball effect. Many more species of animals are expected to go extinct than I had any idea of.
ReplyDeleteOne of the scary things I have learned about the ice sheets melting is the way the sun's rays interact with them compared to the ocean. The white ice that covers the poles reflects as much as 80% of the sun's rays back into space, while dark ocean water only reflects something like 10%. So the effect of losing ice (not to mention all of the species it will affect) is dangerous as it accelerates warming in a nonlinear way.
ReplyDeleteMy topic was Arctic sea ice, so I can relate to your topic. The melting in these areas have almost the same effects. I didn't read much about the Antarctic, but to my understanding they are melting at a significantly slower rate than Arctic sea ice. I am looking forward to being able to compare the melting in the poles.
ReplyDeleteI had some prior knowledge to this subject before reading your post, but never knew some of the facts that you present. Its a scary thought to picture the ocean water levels rising 60 meters if the Antarctic ice sheet completely melted! I look forward to your presentation to learn more!
ReplyDeleteIt is very scary to think that over the course of our live,s both ice sheets may completely melt. Although 100 years seems like a long time, I would only be 118, which, with the advancement of medicine, may be very conceivable in the future.
DeleteIt is very saddening to think about all of the species that are being effected by global warming. When something happens to a city or costs us a lot of money at least we are the ones that created the beast. The animals are not responsible though and should not be the ones that are effected.
ReplyDeleteWow! All of these posts are very scary. It is also very amazing how much of this I still do not know. I have decided that even after this class I am going to continue to buy and read books about climate change and the affects of it. There are so many international and domestic problems that are occurring and I can't figure out why we aren't doing anything! It makes me so angry! Thank you for your post, it was very helpful and informative.
ReplyDeleteI think that's shocking to hear that glacial melts are acidifying the oceans. I wonder how, is it because of rising water levels leading to runoff contamination or maybe certain plankton species releasing toxic chemicals because they are no longer living in optimal temperatures?
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