i learned at physics that the ice has a larger volume than water and as i know the largest amount of ice in the polar ice caps is situated under the water so in my oppinion by melting it will result in a drop of the sea level not a rise...tell me what do you think
2007-03-01 17:33:37 · 10 answers · asked by Bogdan G 1 in Environment
It's a very good question and there is a logic to your argument but there's an important detail that is missing...
Ice is frozen water and when ice forms it expands slightly (by about 2%). The ice is less dense than water so it floats.
The amount of water displaced by floating ice is identical to the amount of water it contains. When floating ice melts the water level neither rises nor falls.
The Arctic ice cap is floating and if it melted there would be no change in sea levels.
The Antarctic ice cap isn't floating. It's a continent in it'sown right covering 14 million square kilometers - bigger than Europe.
When Antarctic ice melts it's not displacing anything so it adds to the vloume of sea water causing it to rise.
Think of it like this... Imagine a sink with some water in it. Put some ice cubes in the water, these represent the Arctic floating on the water. Also put some ice cubes on the drain board, these represent the Antarctic next to the water. When the ice cubes in the water melt the level in the sink remains the same but when the ice cubes on the drain board melt they add to the water in the sink causing the level to rise.
2007-03-02 06:18:24 · answer #1 · answered by Trevor 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Its not that simple. If you look at the volume of water contained in ice fields compared to the volume of the ocean, the oceans are several orders of magnitude larger. Sea water also has a thermal expansion coefficient. The melting ice has a major cooling effect that would eventually disappear, making the ocean warmer. So, thermal expansion of the oceans, alone, could potentially cause rising sea levels, but no one really knows.
2007-03-02 05:07:30 · answer #2 · answered by formerly_bob 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ice on land is the problem. Like Greenland or Antarctica.
When that melts it runs into the sea which raises the level. The sea also expands just because it gets warmer.
More info here:
http://www.ipcc.ch/SPM2feb07.pdf
See Page 7.
2007-03-01 18:06:09 · answer #3 · answered by Bob 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This would be true...if the majority of the ice were actually floating in the ocean. That is not the case, however (see Antarctica), and so sea levels will rise if all that ice melts.
2007-03-01 17:47:56 · answer #4 · answered by The Ry-Guy 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Nice thinking but I would like to tell you that your theory would be successful if whole of the volume of the ice was in water but you missed one thing that yes the volume of ice is more than that of water but here in case caps some of the volume is also in air.
2007-03-01 17:38:47 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
They are disconnected systems, most of the Arctic ice caps aren't floating so they do not displace any water. If they don't displace any water then the water level won't drop when they melt
2007-03-01 18:07:14 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
no it will not drop. the glaciers are mostly under water but the ice sheets arent and those hold way more water than glaciers. also the biggest concern of rising water levels isnt because of melting ice but because of thermal expansion of water itself due to warming. the expansion is significant enought to raise water 20 feet
2007-03-01 17:37:54 · answer #7 · answered by dd d 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, the sea level will rise significantly.
2007-03-01 17:42:04 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Put an icecube with water filled to the brim of a glass. When the icecube melts see what happens and you'll get your answer.
2007-03-01 17:36:53 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Well it sure would not add any.
I was thinking on that line my self.
2007-03-01 17:37:12 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋