Global Warming Iceberg Melting one thing i dont understand?

Question

If you have a jug of water with ice filled to the brim and ice melts the water does not overflow because ice takes up the same mass as the water they displace. So dont icebergs take up the same mass as the water they displace. In other word why will water levels increase cause major flooding due to global warming, wont the levels stay the same.

Answer 1

Hiya Jojo,
You are completely correct in that if floating ice melts it does not contribute to sea level rise. Even the ice in the berg above water level does not add to global sea levels because as you say it's the mass of the iceberg that is displacing the seawater.

As other folks have said sea level rise will be caused by melting of ice on land, so that in Antarctica, Greenland and the mountain glaciers.

Another thing that causes sea level rise is something called thermal expansion. As the atmosphere is warming up the oceans also warm causing the sea water to expand.

Over the last centuary sea levels have risen by around 30cm, around 10cm of this is attributed to thermal expansion, and 20cm due to melting of land ice.

Answer 2

Loss of the Arctic sea ice or of the floating Antarctic ice shelves would have no effect on sea level because these already displace water.Large Ice masses such as the West Antartic Ice Shelf are not bouyant but supported by land mass. Large-scale ice melt would also raise sea levels and flood coastal areas, currently home to about half the world's people. Over the past century, melting in ice caps and mountain glaciers has contributed on average about one-fifth of the estimated 10-25 centimeter (4-10 inch) global sea level rise-with the rest caused by thermal expansion of the ocean as the Earth warmed. But ice melt's share in sea level rise is increasing, and will accelerate if the larger ice sheets crumble. Antarctica alone is home to 70 percent of the planet's fresh water, and collapse of the WAIS, an ice mass the size of Mexico, would raise sea levels by an estimated 6 meters-while melting of both Antarctic ice sheets would raise them nearly 70 meters.

Answer 3

Jojo, Ice Bergs are but a small portion of the fresh water trapped in ice and snow. The water level of the oceans will rise as the Glaciers and Ice in Antarctica, Greenland, Siberia, Himalayas etc, melt. Another reason Global Warming is taking place is because of vast amounts of Methane, which is a greenhouse gas.being released as Arctic Tundra melts and the vegetation below the surface rots and gives off Methane. This amount of Methane will cause an even more rapid increase in Global Temperatures, We in the USA are probably the biggest Greenhouse gas producer in the world as far as nations go. This is because we have become the most energy using country there is.

Answer 4

Part of icebergs are above the sea level.

When the ice melts and becomes water, these new bits of water will drip down into the sea below causing the sea level to rise.

Test: if you put an icecube into an empty glass, before it starts to melt there will be no water level. Once the ice has melted you will have water in the glass and the previous nil level will have "risen"

Hope that makes sense!

Answer 5

Icebergs have a portion that's above the water. In your jug the ice cubes are probably just under the level of the water's surface.
The reason for this is that icebergs have a different density to the sea.

Answer 6

Water level will increase when an iceberg partly or entirely on a land mass melts.

Answer 7

Its not just your icebergs is, it .The poles arent solid ice that float, it is sat on solid ground.Add all that pouring into to your seas and oceans and that is when the **** hits the fan. Add to that your everyday glaciers melting,you have got a lot of extra water to deal with. Doom! Doom I tell ya !

Answer 8

You're right, melting icebergs don't raise sea level. However, ice melting above sea level (on the land) will add to sea level.

Answer 9

icebergs dont take up the same volume as the volume they displace, the displaced volume is due to the part of the iceberg that is submerged, there is still 40-60% of volume out of the water that does not caused displacement until it melts

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Answer 10

You are quite right about your icebergs but what you are missing ,is that the Antarctic is a land mass and it is the snow and ice their that is melting

Read here http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4651876.stm

Some good pics of glaciers (Before and recent)
http://nsidc.org/data/glacier_photo/special_collection.html