How much would Water Really Rise?

Question

The question struck me recently, If you float an ice cube in a glas and it melts, the water level is the same.
Earth's water supply is only 1.6% Ice and Most of Earth's Ice is currently under Sea Level.
So if all the ice on Earth melted...how much would Ocean levels Actually rise?
It takes half a Million Cubic kilometers of water added to the ocean to raise it 1 meter, not accounting for any lowering due to ice no longer floating in it, So I'm thinking Gore predictions of it rising 100 meters is ridiculous.
So what would the real Net impact be?

Answer 1

Most of the ice in the world occurs in one of three places - the Arctic, Antarctica and Greenland. Antarctica is divided into three areas - the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, the East AIC and the Antarctic Peninsular.

The Arctic differs from the other places in that the ice here is already floating and as such it's displacing it's own mass of water. Rather like the ice cubes in a glass of water it could melt completely and sea levels would be unaffected.

The Greenland ice is nealy all on land and the continent of Antarctica is a land mass with just the peripheral ice being over the sea. When the ice on the land melts the runoff eventually makes it's way to the seas and oceans adding to the water aleady there and causing the levels to rise. Here's the actual figures...

East Antarctic Ice Sheet
26,039,200km³, 64.90m

West Antarctic Ice Sheet
3,262,000km³, 8.06m

Greenland
2,620,000km³, 6.55m

Antarctic Peninsular
227,100km³, 0.46

Glaciers, snow fields and other sources
180,000km³, 0.45

Totals
32,328,300km³, 80.32m

So if everything melted sea levels would rise by 80.32 metres. However, for everything to melt there would have to be a massive increase in temperatures. In parts of Antarctica the average annual temperature is -45°C, there's going to need to be an awful lot of warming before the ice here melts (what would primarily happen is that the Antarctic ice would be eroded away from the edges by the warmer seas but even in the very worst case scenaio this would take many thousands of years).

The Arctic ice is melting rapidly, it averages only a few metres thick and the annual net loss of ice is 220km³, at this rate it could melt completely within 40 to 50 years, it would partially reform each winter but melt again each summer. Greenland is melting at the rate of 80km³ per year and Antarctica by 12km³ a year.

To put the whole lot into context, global average sea level rises in the past few decades have been 3mm a year, double what they were a century ago and about half what they're expected to be in 50 years time. By the end of the century we could be looking at average sea level rises in the order of 750mm - partly from melting ice and partly through expansion due to warming of the seas and oceans.

Answer 2

That is correct, as far as the ice cube goes. Here's the catch: most of the Earth's melting ice isn't in the water; it's on land. Here's what will happen: salt water ice will eventually raise the water level by significant proportions. Glacier ice, however, is much more dangerous. As it is less saline than sea water, it will not sink, which will bring the Earth's water conveyor to a halt. Think of it this way. If the top band on an escalator didn't fit through the grating at either end, the escalator wouldn't function. This stop would mean warm air would stay at the equator and not travel, and a new Ice Age would befall us.

Answer 3

It will rise until the salinity of the ocean becomes so much that the thermohaline conveyor shuts down, causing a drop in temperature for the North Atlantic region, particularly western Europe, and causing a rise in natural disasters elsewhere in the world. The drop in temperature will cause the glaciers to re-freeze until the conveyor starts again, thus beginning a new cycle.

You also might want to check out the discovery by NASA that ice in the Antaractic is actually increasing. And yes, Gore probably did exaggerate. That film was not meant to be a supreme scientific authority you know.

Answer 4

They each have their pros and cons. None is better than the other. It all depends on the purpose you are trying to serve. Air risings are better for social connections and ideas, whereas an earth rising will give you an air of responsibility, etc. Also, it's not just about the element itself, but the sign and its aspects. A Scorpio rising will project itself differently than a Pisces or Cancer rising, for example, and a Scorpio rising with Venus conjunct Ascendant will project itself differently than a Scorpio rising with a different aspect. People usually compensate, and if you find yourself weaker in a certain area, then you cultivate that weakness and make up for it. It's all about surviving, and using what you have to better what you don't have.

Answer 5

That's pretty uncertain. The joker is Antarctica. Right now only the Antarctic Peninsula is melting. If that continues we're just talking a 1-5 feet by 2100. If all of Antarctica goes, we're talking tens of feet and utter disaster. Gore was talking about that worst case scenario. On the high side, but not silly.

Mind you, it doesn't have to go up much to cause havoc. Bangladesh is a prime example. Just a foot rise and much Bangladesh farmland is in danger. It doesn't need to be flooded, salt water intrusion during a storm would kill the farmland dead. And then many in Bangladesh die of starvation.

Answer 6

Ok you dolt! Here is your main fallacy. The ICE they are talking about does not float in water,dunce. Antartica is covered by a two mile thick ice sheet. It's been there for at least 100,000 years before there were humans. That ICE sheet sits on land. Do you get the picture now moron?

Answer 7

Most of Earth's ice sits on top of Greenland and Antarctica above the ocean surface.

Answer 8

The ocean is sooo big that the scare that if all the ice melted coastal cities would sink is a big joke.
But then so is Al.

Answer 9

http://wps.prenhall.com/esm_thurman_introocean_9/0,7305,348099-,00.html

http://environment.newscientist.com/channel/earth/climate-change