If we accept that the ice has already melted by 20%?

Question

I have read of predictions from the science community that say we should expect our sea levels to rise by around 6 meters, due to global warming causing the melting of ice in places like the Polar Caps resulting in this water going into the seas.

Some claims say already about 20% of the ice from the polar caps has melted.


For discussion in here lets just say that 6 meters was a bit of an excessive claim and the true rise will be say maybe 3 meters.

If we have already melted 20% of the ice should we have already seen a rise of see level of 600mm.

20% of 3 meters = 600mm.

If no rise I have to ask where did that that melted 20% water go?

Maybe we got the numbers wrong. Maybe its not Polar Caps 20% already melted. Maybe its 10% melted. In that case why is the sea water not 300mm higher than we would normally describe as the norm?

Is there any place on Earth that has seen sea levels risen by just a few cm?

Answer 1

The United Nations just published a report formulated and agreed by an international panel of scientists that says sea level is likely to rise by 27 inches by the end of the century. That is less than a meter!

The term 'Global Warming' has virtually stopped being used because it's proponents made such widely exaggerated claims. One pundit claimed sea level could rise by 30 meter - There simply is not that amount of ice and water on the planet!!

So nowadays the term used and accepted by science and politicians alike is 'Climate Change'. That recognises that the weather patterns are changing, some areas are getting warmer, others are actually getting colder. The weather particularly the winds are moving Westward as are the super haline currents deep in the oceans.

There are very many reasons why climate change is happening and mankind is responsible for some of it. The trouble is the Global Warmers want to blame it entirely on man and that is wrong.

What is urgently needed is good scientific research, open and honest debate, good scientific figures rather than exaggeration or worse case scenarios, Examination of some of the pros and offsets that effect many predictions. In short we need honesty and common sense above all else!!!

Answer 2

Has the ice caps melted by 20%. Or has it melted much more since the end of the last ice age? Or have they grown when compared to the Carboniferous period. Don't get me started on sea level rise!
to answer you last question, Yes. try Darwin Australia. And Townsville Australia there is actually a sea level drop. Its called plate tectonics. Just because that's how it is today doesn't mean that that's how it was in the past or how it will be in the future.

Answer 3

In recent years, the global average sea level has been rising 0.25 to 0.5 inches, or 1 to 2 centimeters, a year.

Your estimates for the percentage of ice melted on the Polar Caps seems extremely high, even if it is for areal extent and not for total volume.

The USGS has quite a bit of information on this, as they are one of the agencies on the front line of this issue. Here's a breif article you might be interested in: http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/fs2-00/

That link has a table part way down the page with the "estimated potential maximum sea-level rise from the total melting of present-day glaciers" broken down by major ice source.

Answer 4

Sea ice or land ice?
Sea ice melting will NOT cause any significant rise, because its volume in the water remains the same, as a solid or a liquid.
The only effect sea ice would have is water expands as it warms.
Land ice as on Greenland and Antarctica is a different story, and that is where the rise in the oceans will come from.

Answer 5

That's correct, the sea levels will rise only due to the melting of land ice, and one item that is not getting a lot of press is the fact that the ice over the central area of Antarctica is getting THICKER.

Answer 6

ought to you grant me with the reference that backs up your fact that warming is at a cost 20x > than organic? is this warming value whilst in comparison with all previous ice a while or in simple terms the main up-tp-date? As for the IPCC being off (the two ice soften and CO2), properly that would propose issues are accelerating. OR it ought to propose that the IPCC has a topic with the fashions they used for their projections. it truly is it? record ice soften lifted sea ranges 2 hundredths of an inch? there is not any mechanism presented for the 7 degree upward thrust in temps over Greenland. Is it truly CO2, or is it another mechanism? no longer responded in that article.

Answer 7

It isn't the ice caps that are melting; it is Al Gore's breath (hot air) that is melting the brain function of all the people that think he is God's gift to planet earth.

Answer 8

I guess we could all go soak our heads - or maybe we couldn't? Holy crap that would suck!