are politicians just scare mongering us with the greenhouse effect?

Question

i seen on the news last night that scientists now reckon that the polar ice cap will be gone in 13 years . my theory is that it wont affect the sea levels because the ice caps are already in the water therefore when they melt the sea level stays the same , try it with ice and a glass , half fill the glass with ice then fill it to the top with water wait for the ice to melt , do you think the water will overflow out of the glass ? no it does'nt

Answer 1

While you are absolutely correct about ice that is floating in the water, that is not the case even for both our polar ice caps.

Antarctica is, after all, one of the continents. Even if it is covered with a mile of ice. Add to that all the ice in Greenland, Canada, and on top of the mountains, and there does exist plenty of water that is currently not in the ocean in any way.

So yes, the possibility for a rise in sea levels does actually, scientifically exist. Will it really happen? We'll have to see, I guess.

Answer 2

please don't lump political retoric with peer reviewed scientific evidence.

Most politicians want to be re-elected and many are funded by fossil fuel linked organisations, so most will deny as long as they can that there is a problem with the sustainability of an infinite growth global industrial & consument society. That the IPCC has had to admit that anthropogenic climate change is real is some indication of how serious this really is.

The scientific evidence is that land based ice caps are melting at an unprecidented rate, which will cause sea level rise. The Antartic ice sheet has been held back by sea ice like the Lasen shelf which disintegrated a few years ago; now that has gone the rate of glacier flow has increased significantly. Also warmer water expands.

The northern sea ice act to reflect much heat back into space, once it starts to melt there is likely to be a run-away effect, polar bears are already drowning.
The ice cap also drives the north atlantic current which keeps Europe, especially UK, with a mild climate for its latitude. This current is slowing.
Thawing permafrost around the artic is likely to release large amounts of methane, causing a further runaway effect on climate change.

Answer 3

Maybe you think that the most important thing we got is not worth taking careof. You are tiny and insignificant in comparison to the greatness of the earth and other such great places. But, you can do significant damage to the eco system by being ignorant of the very thing that keeps your little behind alive. There is no greater thing than nature, and all it's working, the force of life. I think you have alot to learn, but I have the suspiscion that you along witha lot of people will only learn the hard way, and if you stick around abit, you just might see the answers to your question, in person. The only problem is that when that day comes, It will be too late. Global warming, followed by a big freeze is inevitable. The salinity in the oceans is vital to the ocean conveyor belt movements, which in turn is vital for the continued rain- and snowfall over the inlands. Freshening, influx of freshwater,will slowly stop the conveyor belts and they will go to sleep. Every ice age repeats itself about every ten thousand years. The last one we had, was about nine and a half thousand years ago. But, we are with our human interference, about to accelerate this process. Our biggest problem will be how to get water to the inland region. And that should right now be one of our greatest concerns, and all other countries too. We, the humans are responsible for the extinction of numerous animal,and even insect species. Right now as we speak ,there is a possibility that we are going to lose our bees. Do you know what that can do to the natural world? Go ahead, put your headphones and listen to your own music if you want, shut out reality. But, it's going to be there whether you like it or not. And whether you believe it or not, things will happen. You will learn. Believe me or not. But, if I were you, (good thing I'm not), I would get my prioritites straight. I, for myself, know what to bank on. The earth is going to clean itself. Maybe that's a good thing. Ciao!!!

Answer 4

The truth is politicians know as much as you and I, but now it has become popular to beat the green drum, which I might add has been done by the green party for years, but they were dismissed as a load of nutters by the major party's. But now it suits, they are all jumping on the band waggon.
As far as sea levels rising, yes this will happen, as most of the Ice caps are above sea level. Having said all that it is no good a single country introducing green taxes unless these taxes are used to combat the problem and done around the rest of world and not used as an excuse to raise money for the government as they are in Britain.

Answer 5

Dear, Arctic and Antartic, both are land mass and snow on top is not inside water so all that snow you see is actually on land and not floating so even if your theory about ice floats is correct your idea here is wrong.

Secondly it is not only polar ice but glaciers and ice on diffrent mountains all will start meltic and just imagine the magnitude of loss we are going to see. So much land will go under water, Floods will go up, temperature rise, climatic changes and what not.

So no one wants to scare you but every one is scared except CEO's of those big companies who have enough money to shift to new land and who fund many scientists to give contarary reports and findings.

If you are wealthy enough and can run and buy land at Arctic you are safe but look at how many living creatures will die.

So take it seriously and start leading a sustainable way of living.

Answer 6

The problem is the ice on land. When that melts the water runs into the sea and raises the level.

Answer 7

Actually, if you fill the glasss to the brim with seawater, the ice cubes being nearly pure water will melt and LOWER the liquid level as the volume of liquid displaced in the denser liquid is smaller.
However, mutatis, mutandis, the earth may be getting warmer due to an increase in insolation. This would melt massive areas of snow and ice which would increase absorption of heat. There would be a massive release of CO2 from the oceans (fact!) which would form a positive feedback loop (rate of warming proportional to concentration of CO2). (I think this explains the lag between global temps and CO2 levels observed in historical times.) In the past (Permian 250M years ago) 95% of species disappeared from the fossil record, the Earth returned to thermal equilibrium. It is possible, that with the 'puny' ouput of human CO2 from the combustion of fossil fuels that this is sufficient to send the whole system totally out of dynamic equilibrium. Is it worth the (huge) risk, if we can develop alternative fair sustainable means of sharing the planet??

Answer 8

I believe that they are over exaggerating the issue. There probably is some credence to it. At the same time, I believe man will cause the end to come way before any global warming will do it. Also, the glaciers advanced and then retreated many times before man arrived. P.S. The glass may not overflow but the water level will rise.

Answer 9

The polar ice caps shrink and grow naturally over the thousands of years theyve been around. Same as the earths temperature has been up and down like a brides nightie since time immemorial. I think its a con trick to take our minds of the big issues, like taxation, war, nuclear strategy, stealth taxes etc. After all how can we be fighting on other issues when were busy running to the recycling centre with every piece of paper we use?

Answer 10

If the glaciers on greenland melted, that would be enough to raise the level of the ocean by 23 ft.