If all the icebergs melted, why would the seas rise as claimed?

Question

surely the melted water would only replace the area left by the melted bergs, therefore leaving the sea level the same as before...

Answer 1

Water wouldn't be replacing the water, it would be adding to the water. Try this in your kitchen: Get a glass, fill it 1/2 way with water, add ice cubes, and see if the water level rises. It should and it will.

Answer 2

The icebergs that you speak of, are taller than the water. This makes the water rise before the entire iceberg is melted. The iceberg is not completely melted, but the part of it that did so far, is water. The water has to go someswhere and the entire iceberg is not melted yet. This causes the water level to rise. The top part of the iceberg is not in the water. When it melts, it has to go somewhere, and this makes the water level rise. Think about it.

Answer 3

For something that is "simple science", two of you got it really wrong.

First off, if you fill a glass with ice and water, and the ice melts, the glass WILL NOT overflow. Second, although almost everything is more compact in it's solid state than in its liquid state, this is quite the opposite in the case of water. When water freezes, the solid form is less dense than its liquid form. This allows ice to FLOAT. This is also what is responsible for burst water pipes when they freeze.

However the second responder was correct. The problem with melting ice is not that floating bergs will melt, but rather that glaciers that are up on the land will melt and and the water will flow into the sea.

Imagine that glass again, filled with ice and water. But now imagine that there is a block of ice perched above it. When all the ice melts, the cubes in the glass melting will actually lower the water level slightly, but when the ice above the glass (glaciers) melts the glass will overflow.

Answer 4

As mentioned by other posters, melting ice would be a problem because so much of the ice that is currently on the earth's surface is just that -- on the EARTH'S SURFACE. Not all of it is bobbing in an ocean somewhere. So much of it is sitting on top of mountains, or on top of flat land masses. It melts, and that water runs down the mountains, into the rivers, into the seas, and this change will affect seaside towns and cities all over the world.

That's not the worst problem global warming has to offer, though. If that were it, then we could (theoretically) just move all of our seaside towns and cities back about a mile or so to accomodate the rising water. The real threat of global warming lies in the temperature change in the water. If that water rises in temperature by one or two percent, it causes all sorts of tumultuous storms and natural catastrophes that make Katrina and Rita look like spring showers.

Answer 5

The problem is ice on land, like Greenland and the Antarctic Peninsula, both of which are melting.

In addition about half the sea level rise is due to the simple fact that warm water expands.

This is not a "liberals" thing, it's a science thing:

"Former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich challenged fellow conservatives Tuesday to stop resisting scientific evidence of global warming"

"Pat Robertson (very conservative Christian leader) “It is getting hotter and the ice caps are melting and there is a build up of carbon dioxide in the air. We really need to do something on fossil fuels.”

Answer 6

melting icebergs aren't the problem, it is the ice sheets that are many feet above the surface of the oceans, that are the problems people are discussing.
the only problem the icebergs cause is the fact that many of them are breaking away from habitats of animals that live in polar regions carrying the animals with them.

a bit more realitistic example than Tete's, would be to fill a glass full of water, clear to the rim, and suspend an icecube above it until it melts. watch what happens to the water level in the glass. do you think it will spill over the sides or not?

Answer 7

Well, you have to remember that the large ice sheets in Antarctica, Greenland, etc. are sitting on land, not floating around in the water. When the melting occurs, the water runs into the sea. Scientist estimate that if the sheets sittng on land in Antarctica and Greenland melted, it would raise sea levels about 215 feet or about 65 meters. Better get you a boat.

Answer 8

Maggie,

Think of all the ice that is now above the level of the ocean. As that ice melts, it will be added to the ocean.

Considering how much ice remains out of the water now, this shows that IF the icecaps melt (or any substantial amount of ice) it would add to the ocean levels. The actual amount of melting, and actual rise of ocean levels is of course highly debatable - and it is (appropriately) highly debated! :-)

Answer 9

This is true for icebergs as well as for the Arctic ice fields. The melting of land based ice fields (for example in Antarctica) would, however, raise the sea level.

Answer 10

The water is held in frozen form in the icebergs. When they melt, the water is released and the sea level rises. Glaciers melt and reform, and their scouring effect has sculpted many areas throughout the world.

Answer 11

Many of those ice sheets such as in Anartica cover the land. More ice sheets are at the top of high mountain ranges. When it melts it flows by gravity down, down, down. It doesn't stop until it reaches the ocean. Like a giant bowl the ocean rises as more water is poured into it.