As Earth’s surface temperature rises, the ocean also becomes hotter which results in an increase in sea level and decrease in Earth’s ice. “The oceans have absorbed much of this increased heat, with the top 700 meters of ocean showing warming of 0.302 degrees Fahrenheit since 1969” (“Climate Change: How Do We Know?”). Since greenhouse gases are trapping energy from the sun, the oceans absorb more heat which ultimately increases surface temperature. Oceans are able to absorb large amounts of heat energy because water has a greater heat capacity than air. As oceans become warmer, the frozen water on Earth melts at an accelerated pace. The thickness of Arctic Sea ice has dramatically declined throughout the last several decades. “Arctic sea ice
As more of the sun’s energy is retained by increasing greenhouse gases, the earth’s oceans are heating up. This can be seen by an increase in average water temperature and warm water anomalies (water temperature over the average).
Why don’t Oceans freeze. In many parts of the world , winter temperatures drop low enough to make rivers and lakes freeze. In these parts of the world, the ocean will not freeze even though other water sources does. In the Arctic region, most of it is a tundra, which include frozen soil and animals such as polar bears and penguins. The ocean however is not frozen.
As ocean temperatures increase due to global warming they increase ice melt of these ice sheets and glaciers by melting the floating ice from below. If the air temperatures increase then the ice will begin to melt from above, creating pools of melted water that will in turn melt more of the surrounding ice. This may not always result in a problem as it’s expected that ice sheets reduce in size in the summer months but recently what has been found is that less ice is formed during winter so in total the ice sheets and glaciers are being reduced in size, adding more and more fresh water to our
Throughout history, Arctic Ocean has been explored by many nations that put its attention to discover the particular unknown areas. The first explorations of the Arctic started on 330 BC by European marine explorer named Pytheas of Massalia. Pytheas was the first person that recorded the existence of Polar Ice . Since the 12th century, with the increasing of the population and the increment of trade-related activities, commercial routes have had a growing importance and the overseas search for alternative routes has become crucial . On 1594-1960,the driving force for the exploration of the Arctic was the desire of European monarchs to find an alternate route to India and China, either a Northwest Passage along the coast of North America or
Antarctica is covered in ice that is two miles thick in some places. Thousands of years ago, there was thick ice that covered this area, that moved back hundreds of miles to where it is now. Using maps, scientists at Rice University were able to show how ice had moved during a time of global warming during the earth’s last ice age. These maps also showed where ancient water courses, like rivers and lakes, once were.
Unfortunately, the melting ice caps are another result of solar warming. Over many years, “the vast ice cover around the North Pole has shrunk due to global warming. This has led to rise in sea levels, which ultimately affects coastal regions” (“Melting Ice Caps Affect Coastal Regions”). In this article, the author goes into depth on the results of the melting ice caps. Another effect of global warming is the fact that it has led to the shrinking of the “vast ice cover around the North Pole.” Consequently, when the ice melts it adds more water into the sea, leading to higher water levels. Adding to this, the “melting glaciers add new water to the ocean, raising sea levels” (“Sea Level Rise”). The author states that the “melting glaciers add new water” to show that when the water stored in the frozen glaciers melts, it releases water that was not originally in the ocean. A factor of these increased rates of melting ice sheets has been termed dynamic thinning. In this process, “warmer ocean temperatures melt the underside of ice shelves, just as warmer atmospheric temperatures increase surface melting” (“Sea Level Rise”). This comes as another result of solar warming, as that is what causes the seawater temperatures to increase in the first place, which in turn “melts the underside of ice shelves.” This solar warming does not only affect ice caps through the
According to Dr. Parmentier and his team, regional differences are of colossal importance in this particular study due to the massive spatial variability in both sea ice concentrations and methane emissions (Parmentier el at., 2015). If sea ice departure occurs near a region with vast wetlands, it is preferably likely that methane emissions are altered as opposed to melt occurring far off. Therefore, sea ice concentration was measured to the isolated grid cells of models representing methane. The grid used by Dr. Parmentier and his team was a grid-specific index of sea ice cover that represented a weighted average of sea ice concentration that is dominated by close by ice, with a less impact from remote changes in the ice. This grid being closely
The Arctic Ocean is some five million square miles of barren ice and frigid water roughly the size of Russia that lies at northernmost point of our planet. However this portion of the planet is soon to be one of conflict, to be fought with words and lengthy jurisdictional claims, as the Arctic contains portions of Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United States. But who would want this megalithic ice flow and swath of ocean? Due to climate change the Arctic has begun to reveal its potential as a vast petroleum and natural gas source (estimated to be an eighth of the world’s untapped oil and a quarter of its gas by the USGS) and the location of valuable shipping routes between China and Europe. However there
Warming seas and melting ice are the consequences of global warming which is the heating of Earth caused by greenhouse gasses trapped in Earth’s atmosphere. Global warming causes the heating of Earth’s seas, and when the water molecules in these bodies increase in temperature, they thermally expand which causes the sea to rise. The heat is also causing the melting of Earth’s ice sheets, and when the ice turns to water, it causes the sea to rise as well. Note that the water does not rise evenly. The sea level may increase in some areas as it may decrease in other areas. Sea level rise is inevitable because of the greenhouse gasses that are trapped in the atmosphere, they will always increase sea level to some degree. However, the decisions we
As snow and ice melt, ocean surfaces absorb Sun’s energy, increasing warming. Ice normally would reflect light.
Rising sea levels can also erode shorelines, which will in turn make flooding more severe. Another severe effect of rising sea levels is saltwater intrusion. Saltwater intrusion occurs when saltwater intrudes into groundwater, contaminating drinking supplies, irrigation supplies, and agricultural fields (“Sea Level”). As the ocean temperatures continue to rise, sea level rises with it as seen in Figure 1. This graph shows the rate at which sea levels are rising as ocean temperatures rise. Rising sea level can be contributed to two factors, thermal expansion and melting of sea ice. Since the 1970’s, the sea ice in the Arctic Ocean around the North Pole has been shrinking, and getting thinner. The warmer water and atmosphere causes the Arctic sea ice to melt more than usual during the summer months. Not only will the melting of sea ice have
While thermal expansion is difficult to observe on a small scale, such as a glass of water, it can have a significant impact on a massive volume of water such as the combined oceans of the world. Melting land ice, the other major factor in the sea-level rise, is a more straightforward issue. As global temperature increases, land-based glaciers and ice will melt sooner and accumulate later. Naturally, this runoff will lead to an increase in the total amount of water in the ocean.
Arctic sea ice has receded dramatically as a result of rising temperatures, and this will continue (Johannessen, Miles). As sea ice melts natural resources, sea life, and trade routes will become more accessible to humans. While conflict over Arctic regions remains confined to terms set in international agreements, countries with access to the Arctic are increasing their military presence in the region to control trade, extract natural resources, and secure their nations. Expect these trends to continue, as countries with Arctic access cement their claims with international treaties rather than military might.
The rising of the oceans is an effect of the lost in the ice masses at the poles. This is evident from what Alina Bradford and Stephanie Pappas wrote about in their article titled “.effects of global warming” that “Global sea levels have
Besides the human-made systems that are impacted by global warming, the environment is often hit the hardest. The loss of sea ice also brings about many problems. The ability or measure of how much of the Earth’s surface can reflect light is called the albedo. When ice melts, open waters (which are dark and absorb more heat) are revealed- reflecting only 7% of the light that hits it (National Geographic, 2016). The more heat is absorbed and the less light is reflected by the oceans, the more heat the planet has to store. As sea ice loses its ability to reflect the light, the planet’s surface warming begins to speed up. The heat does not just warm the warms, but it also releases it into the atmosphere, which further aggravates global warming (National Geographic, 2016). Coastal cities and even islands are the most vulnerable to the loss of sea ice because they are consumed by the rising sea levels. This would not only