The Pros And Cons Of An Ice Sheet Melting

When President Taft created Glacier National Park in 1910, it had about 150 glaciers. Since then, the number has decreased to less than 30, and those remaining have shrunk by two-thirds. Dr. Daniel Fagre (2015) predicts that within the next 30 years most if not all of the park's glaciers will melt. Glacier National Park is not the only place effected. The snow on Kilimanjaro has melted more than 80 percent since 1912. Glaciers at the Garhwal Himalaya in India are melting so fast that researchers believe that most central and eastern Himalayan glaciers could disappear by 2035. Greenlands coastal glaciers have melted to the point of no return. “These peripheral glaciers and ice caps can be thought of as colonies of ice that are in rapid decline,

Antarctica is one of the most rapid warming areas on the Earth, climate change on Antarctica is crucial to the world and the continent itself. Although climate change on Antarctica isn't widespread as it a wide place, only a small amount of impact is taking place. Some areas in Antarctica are experiencing decreases within the sea ice whereas other areas have an increase in sea ice. Both changes are causing negative impacts on wildlife. (Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition, 2014) Climate change has been a continuing scientific curiosity. Climate change is raising many concerns on not only the environmental and regulatory concerns but also within the economy, health, security, safety, and food production. (UNEP, 2009)

The study noted that while Antarctica has already begun to melt, the ice sheet’s future mass balance is unknown due to a combination of factors: future emissions of greenhouse gases; atmospheric warming; and oceanic warming that results from atmospheric warming.

The environment around us carries the scar caused by global warming. Precipitation has increased across the globe, which has consequently caused more frequent floods, an increase in sea levels, and a higher frequency of strong storms. Lakes are drying up, islands are virtually dropping into the ocean, and the polar ice caps are disappearing. The planet is truly in peril. This paper will focus on three regions of the Earth in particular: Antarctica, the Amazon Rainforest, and the Great Barrier Reef. More specifically, it will examine the extent of the impact that global warming has had on each region..

In “Cold Comfort for ‘Global Warming’,” Phillip Stott try’s to make the argument that global warming is nothing to be afraid of because it is not a threat. Unlike Revkin, Stott does not use and expert testimony and very little facts to prove his purpose. In the beginning of the essay, Stott includes information on the collapse of the Larson B ice shelf in Antarctica. He then goes on to state that we have nothing to be worried about because when an ice shelf melts it does not raise sea levels (Stott 306). According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center, an ice shelf is a permanent floating sheet of ice that connects directly to a landmass. When Stott stated that the melting of ice shelves does not cause a rise in sea levels he was not considering the indirect consequence of it.

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 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.

A research scientist stands on a sheet of ice. He looks right, then left, more ice. Off in the distance are mountains of ice. There are open patches of water in the middle of this great land of ice reflecting the vibrant and glowing sun. Waiting with patience around one patch is a polar bear, white and skinny. Skinny, as the polar bear has not eaten in days. It stands watch with hopeful eyes that a big, juicy seal will pop its head out just enough to get a bite and haul the seal on shore to feed itself and the bear’s two cubs. This area is known as the arctic, and it is home to many animals, such as the polar bear, but they are in danger of losing their home due to the melting ice caps. At the beginning of the article “The geopolitics of Arctic melt”, Charles K. Ebinger, the director of the Energy Security and Climate Initiative at Brookings Institution, as well as Evie Zambetakis, a Senior Research Assistant at Brookings Institute in 2009, asserts their credence of how the thawing Arctic, due to Global warming, increased the interest of the area worldwide.

One of the global warming changes our planet is going through is the melting of glaciers in the Arctic sea. John Hawkins states, “How much Arctic ice really matters is an open question since the very limited evidence we have suggests that a few

Antarctica is essential for science because of its enormous effect on the Earth's climate and ocean systems. The Antarctic is critical our understanding of global climate change. Preserved in its four kilometre-thick ice sheet is a unique record of the

“The Glacier, and with it the Duck, might have moved since then.” Lou Sapienza is the lead organizer of a Coast Guard Operation searching for a missing World War II plane; the Grumman Duck and its lost crew. A challenging problem the party has with finding the Duck is the movement of glaciers since the planes went down close to 70 years ago. Since the 1950s the extent and the movement of the ice sheets have rapidly changed due to Global Warming. Most affected by this climate change is The Arctic, Antarctica and the Greenland Ice Cap. Lou Sapienza and his team of specialists only have a hand-drawn map of where the Duck crashed and an old radar survey from years ago. Their daring task is to predict how the movement of the ice sheet accelerated by global warming might have moved their missing plane. Since global warming is a problem, everyone will be affected by it in one way or another. It is time to act, to confront the problem and find a solution.

This "drying" period would be more severe than any "megadroughts" that have happened in the past one thousand years. "Such megadrought events exceeded the duration of any drought observed during the historical record and had profound impacts on regional societies and ecosystems". Many studies have predicted that the Southwest could dry due to global warming and that this could exceed the worst conditions from any drought in the past. Due to the region 's large population and use of resources, the impacts would be devastating (U.S Drought Risk This Century Worst in 1000 years). Not only are the continents getting warmer, the oceans are getting warmer as well. Although the Antarctic Ocean is extremely cold, it’s starting to heat up. Scientists have been keeping an eye on a big portion of West Antarctica. This part of Antarctica is undergoing a historic thaw. Climate experts say that this massive ice sheet could collapse in futre centuries. New evidence is now causing concern that this collapse could happen much faster than anyone imagined. New scientific studies are recording the acceleration of the West Antarctic melting, saying that if this melting continues, coastal cities worldwide could be majorly affected. The cause for this high acceleration of melting: Warm ocean water is hitting the bottom of the ice sheet. These findings are adding to the evidence to the fact that climate change is becoming worse. Scientists say climate change is driven by the increasing

The Arctic is global warming’s canary in the coal mine. It is a highly sensitive area which is profoundly affected by the changing climate. The average temperature in the Arctic is rising twice as fast as elsewhere in the world (nrdc.org). Because of this, the ice cap is getting thinner, melting away, and rupturing. Here is an example of this; the largest ice block in the Arctic, the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf, had been around for 3000 years before it started cracking in 2000 (nrdc.org) By 2002, the Ward Hunt has cracked completely through and had started breaking into smaller pieces. The melting ice caps are affecting the earth and its inhabitants in many ways. In this paper, the following concepts and subjects will be

Underneath the Antarctic ice sheets exist subglacial lakes which scientist are discovering play an important role to the ice sheet dynamics above them. The physical processes involved in the creation of these lakes . Scientist’s understanding of the hydrology between subglacial lakes and the surrounding ice sheets is beginning to become more comprehensive with studies being carried out to attempt to link the draining and filling of lakes with the velocity of the surrounding glacier.

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.”