Polar Ice And Climate Change Affecting Humans

The Arctic Sea Ice is melting or slowly disappearing and it is said to be one of the reasons of global warming. What is happens is that the Arctic Ice it melts a little and gets smaller during the summer season and than during the winter season the ice gets bigger and expands over the Arctic Ocean, “a freeze-thaw cycle that in the Arctic has been dramatically altered by global warming (Global Warming Effects).” The Arctic Sea Ice in the past could grow up to 3 meters, which is around 10 feet, but now the average thick ness is becoming much less, and some scientist are afraid that in a few decades there might not be any sea ice during the summer (Global Warming Effects). Another major thing that has been discovered is that the amount of ice

Climate change is going to affect the arctic more dramatically than other parts of the world. A study has shown that the average temperature has risen over 2ºC from 1960-2011 ("Climate Change In the Arctic"). Just a couple weeks ago the arctic was 20ºC higher than usual. Rising temperatures are going to affect the sea ice and glaciers, vegetation and wildlife as well as infrastructure. Of course these things won't just disappear quietly, they will take many other things down with them.

As important as it is, Arctic coastal sea ice plays a vital role in dynamics of the coastline, covers stretches of open water which serve as important biological habitats, and serves as a platform for a broad range of activities by residents and industries (Druckenmiller et al., 2009). Sea ice is also important because it is used as a platform for harvesting seals and whales in spring, transport of personnel and supplies to camps, and as a network of trails (Druckenmiller et al., 2009). Dangerous effects of climate change include “ice breakouts” which are when large chunks of ice that whalers are using as working areas break off of the main ice blocks and take whaling camps out to sea (Druckenmiller et al.,

At the present rate of global warming most of the frozen portions of the Arctic may disappear by the end of this century.

Even just the ice melting in itself is a big deal since that makes it more difficult for polar bears to survive as shown with the decline of the populations of polar bears. Polar bears need their own area just like any other living thing and with the shrinking size of their habitat then that causes them to be more at risk since they no longer have the space they need to survive. In addition, “Cold water absorbs more CO₂ than warm water does, and more cold water is now open to the air. As the water acidifies, it loses carbonate.” (Isaacson 12).

For many years now, scientists have believed that our climate is changing. This climate change has caused water currents up north, near Antarctica to shift leading to warm waters taking the place of the usual cold arctic waters. Warm water melts the glaciers and causes the top of the glaciers to float off into the sea, allowing the warm water to melt even more glaciers. The extra glacier melting into our sea has caused the sea levels to raise and the

Economic growth is vital to sustain human life; however, the unsustainable consumption of natural resources to attain this demand is leading to self-destruction. The Earth is facing environmental changes, including climate changes, which are altering the Earth system. Significantly higher thermal expansion is inescapable if the increasing pollution by carbon dioxide emission continues relentlessly. One evidence of this change is global warming and its impact in the Arctic Ice. The critical role of the Arctic in the global climate system implies that Arctic Ice changes will have far-reaching connotations for, and feedbacks to, the entire Earth. Currently, the warning signs include: rapid diminishing of sea ice, increased mass

The increasing global temperatures have caused many problems in Arctic ecosystems. The increasing warmth has caused ice caps to melt, and permafrost to thaw, causing shifts in the ecosystems around them. 1According to Harris (2005) “Permafrost is soil, rock or sediment that is frozen for more than two consecutive years. In areas not overlain by ice, it exists beneath a layer of soil, rock or sediment, which freezes and thaws annually and is called the "active layer".” (p. 17). While the melting of ice may not seem like a big issue at first glance, its effects are truly catastrophic. Many professionals in this field, such as Houghton (2009) have said 2“Warming is expected to be strongest in the Arctic, with the continuing retreat of

Greenland has lost 250 cubic kilometers of ice in a 4 year period, and Antarctica has lost 150 cubic kilometers. Sea ice in the Arctic is also significantly decreasing, melting at a rate of 13 percent per decade, according to NASA. On March 19, 2015 the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDA) reported that the Arctic sea ice has reached the lowest on record. These two ice forms melting at such rapid rates it contributing to the raise in volume of the oceans that we looked at in the previous paragraph. In addition, the snow cover in many of the world's mountains is decreasing. Snow is highly reflective, and very often light is reflected back into space instead of warming our atmosphere. As the snow melts in the summer, more heat is absorbed; and satellites have captured that snow is melting sooner that it usually does. The effect of our carbon emissions are very widespread, and it is killing our planet at an increasing

The world warmed by about 0.7°C in the 20th century. Every year in this century has been warmer than all but one in the last century (1998). If carbon-dioxide levels were magically to stabilize where they are now (almost 390 parts per million, 40% more than before the industrial revolution) the world would probably warm by a further half a degree or so as the ocean, which is slow to change its temperature, caught up. But CO2 levels continue to rise. All this affect the ice pack in the Arctic. As temperature rises, ice melts. This causes many problems.

Another impact of ice melt would be flooding and permafrost in communities or hometowns in places such as Alaska. (Sason) People that have been living there had no choice but to move out due to the tragic impacts of global warming. According to Sason, permafrost releases methane, a natural gas, which is, as stated in the previous paragraphs, a more climate change causing than carbon dioxide. And if all the ice caps melt, the sea levels will rise, which will cause some of the cities to disappear from the map. And it will, of course, cause flooding to the communities around that will take out most of the population. Some people might not even believe that the planet is facing global warming since they believe that they are experiencing an extremely cold weather rather than extreme heat. This is just exactly what the major impact of global warming or climate change is about: Extremeness of coldness and heat. Some places are experiencing El niño and La niña. This is just one of the many debates concerning global warming. People are not realizing that the issue is actually more dangerous than it

Why is the Arctic very important to us as people of the Earth? The Arctic is very important, climate change heats up the ice and makes the ice/snow melt. It doesn’t only affect one place on Earth, if one place is having an horrible time it will affect everybody else. The ice melting means it can’t reflect the sun’s gruesome radiation that causes more greenhouse gasses, which then heats up the Earth further and destroys our environment. This also the melting of the ice increase sea-levels, basically drowning us slowly. Also by the loss of ice and snow, habitations and species decrease and one thing we know about evolution: if one species dies, others will die too, eventually killing us.

The melting ice caps are having a dramatic affect on the polar regions of the earth. For example, the average temperature in the Arctic is rising twice as fast than the rest of the world (nrdc.org). The once prominent ice is now melting at a dramatic speed, which is affecting native people, wildlife, and plants. When the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf splintered, the freshwater lake that it surrounded drained into the ocean, along with the ecosystem that inhabited it. Polar bears, whales, walrus and seals are changing their feeding and migration patterns, making it harder for native people to hunt them (nrdc.org). Because of the flooding, entire villages will be uprooted order to avoid being swamped. Also, the Arctic coastlines are beginning to move as well. The melting ice caps are threatening the native peoples’ cultural identity and their very survival. Ice-dependant animals, such as walruses and ring seals will be greatly affected by the melting ice caps (treehugger.com). They have fewer places to rest on, as well as fewer places to hunt. If the ice caps keep melting, their lives will become in great danger. The melting ice caps are not only affecting the Polar Regions, but they are also affecting the rest of the world as well in the form of rising ocean levels.

Last but not least, global warming has caused the polar ice caps to melt. The melting of the polar ice caps will cause the sea levels to rise all over the world. If the sea levels rise just a metre

One of the effects of global warming is the polar ice caps’ melting. Scientists have been researching and examining the polar ice caps for a long time and they have come to the conclusion that the thin ice sheets are slowly wasting away. They have also found out that Greenland’s glaciers are getting smaller and smaller. Places around the globe that use to be covered in ice and snow are now showing more green terrain as the years go on and as the winter months grow warmer. The polar ice caps are melting more and more due to higher global temperatures. This is really bad because the ice caps “reflect and help regulate the Earth’s temperatures.”