what will happen if the polar ice caps melt?

Question

pls try to give more information as much as possible and the answer should be sensible

Answer 1

Wow, you've recieved some really horrible answers... I'll do my best to share what I know/understand about this issue.

There is a very simple answer to your question. It is estimated by scientists (and it is a very good estimate) that should all the ice in the polar ice caps melt the sea level would rise by AT LEAST 70 meters. That's about 225 feet.... This would be a total disaster for many huge coastal cities (NYC, San Francisco, Calcutta, Singapore, and Beijing to name a few). This wold cause hundreds of millions of people to be displaced - though it would happen over a fairly long period of time (decades), so it wouldn't exactly be a catastrophe. Still, it would create serious problems - and would cost on the order of TRILLIONS of dollars (in lost money/assets, and in relocation costs). Also, the lack of polar ice caps reflecting sunlight back into space would increase the global temperature even more, as would the increase in the ocean's surface area (water holds heat longer than rock). Not only that - but increased evaporation of water would add more water vapor to the atmosphere - and water vapor is a potent greenhouse gas. So, if the earth were warm enough to melt the ice caps it would actually cause the earth to become even warmer. That being said -- it is very unlikely that the ice caps of Antarctica and Greenland will totally melt in our lifetime. They may very well get smaller (and the ice cap of the north pole may actually melt in the summer time - but this ice will not effect ocean levels), but it is very unlikely that they will totally melt in anything less than a few hundred years.

The hole in the ozone is not causing global warming (though global warming may have some effect on the amount of O3 in the upper atmosphere - but ozone levels are definately not CAUSING global warming). The truth is, most of the world banned the use of CFC's almost 20 years ago now, and the ozone layer is estimated to be back to "normal" levels in about 50 years. O3 itself is a greenhouse gas, and is formed by the reaction of sunlight on air containing hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides (ie polluted air over a city). Anyway, the fact is - ozone and global warming don't really have anything to do with each other.

Global warming is most definately real. There is no real debate about whether or not the earth is warming - it is. What is (sort of) debated is whether or not humans are causing global warming. Any scientists with an ounce of intelligence recognizes that humans must be having some effect on the atmosphere. We are pumping billions of tons of extra greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere every year. Saying that this isn't going to affect global temperatures is just plain silly. There is a strong possibility that there are other mechanisms at work here - but human activity most definately plays a role. As for the "we're coming out of an ice age, of course it's getting warmer" argument.... That really shows a lot of ignorance about global temperature levels since the last ice age. Click this link for a graph showing global temperature changes since the last ice age -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Holocene_Temperature_Variations.png -- it shows that the temperature has fluctuated up and down many many times in the last 12,000 years (when the last ice age ended) - the fact that the earth is warming today has nothing to do with the last ice age.

Answer 2

Great question!! here's my answer:


There has been much worry about the possibility that anthropogenic (human-originating) global warming will cause the ice caps to melt and flood our coastal cities. Virtually every metropolitan area with over 10 million people is located on the coast.

Is human industrial activity causing the earth is get warmer? This is certain to some degree, but there are disagreements about the extent to which global warming is anthropogenic or just part of a natural climate cycle. There is a great incentive for people with political or environmental causes to warp the data in a desired direction. There are many on both sides of the divide.

But let's say that global warming is anthropogenic, and it does occur. How much would this cause the ice caps to melt?

Most of the world's ice is in Antarctica. The continent is covered by an ice shelf 2,133 meters (7,000 feet) thick. If the entire ice pack melted, the world's oceans would rise by 61 meters (200 feet). But since the average temperature in Antarctica is -37°C (-35°F), this is very unlikely to happen. More likely is that only a portion of the ice melts, increasing sea levels by a few feet or meters.

The results would still be catastrophic. A rise of a couple meters would flood the streets of many coastal cities, necessitating their evacuation. Low-lying countries such as many in Indonesia could be almost entirely submerged. The new standing water would be ideal for the breeding of mosquitos and other insects, spreading diseases such as malaria.

Much farmland is located at low elevations. If it were flooded by salt water, the crops and land would be ruined and there would be a food availability disaster. Farmers would need to move to more elevated, rocky land, which on average is less suited to growing crops.

What is not possible is that all the world's land would be covered, as in the movie Waterworld. There is simply not enough ice on earth for this to happen. Even in a severe flood, only a small percentage of the world's land would be lost - but of course this could translate to millions of square miles or kilometers.

To avoid global warming, world leaders have come up with a variety of strategies to encourage reduced emissions of CO2, which is said to be the main cause of anthropogenic warming. Emission limits for various countries have been willfully accepted. A long-term strategy is to exploit alternatives to fossil fuels, which are rampant polluters.

Answer 3

Someone mentioned the ozone layer disintegrating causing global warming. I'm sorry that is total misinformation. The ozone hole is getting smaller. If all the ice on earth melted the estimate is that sea level would rise by about 20 feet. It's presently rising at about 1 inch every hundred years but then again, we're still coming out of the last ice age.

Answer 4

The world is at present in danger zone. The ozone layer is having a hole.The hole is increasing. If the ozone layer decreaze the sunlight will be direct and the melting of ice will be fst. If the polar ice melts the water will come down to the land. Althrough we are covered by 90% of water we will be under water and wil be finding height to go up.

Hope this never comes. We will not suffer but our future generation will suffer. Pray God and find measures to avoid of such circumstances this is the only we people can do it.

Answer 5

More water surface area would lean toward more water vapor. Hopefully this vapor would attach to dirty air? and co2. later fall as snow.
Some sea water will try to flow underground pushing back and displacing fresh water that was barely there anyway. eventually it may filter and leech its way back into usefulness.
In any event I wouldnt think all the ice melting and all the water drying up is a good thing. I think we have reached our capacity as a population/economy for the flow of freshwater to keep up with us.

Answer 6

if polar ice cap melts then the level of water increases which may cause floods

Answer 7

. Some coastal areas will flood and some cities will be abandoned, or have their centers moved somewhat inland. When you think about it, just abandoning some buildings does not sound like such a catastrophe. According to my calculations, Alec Baldwin's house on Long Island would not be touched. Now that is regrettable.

Answer 8

look now a days due to pollution the ozone layer is getting damaged due to which the harmful AV rays are getting into our at -sphere & due to pollution (i.e harmful gases & the fog which is the combination of watervapor &dustparticalc.) which absorve the heat & don't emmit it to the atmosphere in result the temp. increas due to which the ice melts,according to scientest the ice present in the poles can sallow all the land part .

Answer 9

Well it looks like the whole world has encounter changes in climate which doesnt look gd in next generations...

If only the ppl ard the earth can united n tackled the problems impose by global warmings...

Hope we wont be another "dinosouars",gonna extincts...

Answer 10

if the ice caps melt then one place would be erased in the map because the sea would rise???...=) I'm not sure yet but it's possible