Can someone explain how I am wrong?

Question

Any ice that is "floating" in water, as most of the Arctic icecap is, upon melting will not change the water level. Do this at home - fill a glass with water and ice, mark the water level, then let the ice melt. The water level remains the same (this is high school physics). So if every bit of Arctic ice that is over water melts, there would be no change to water level. Now ice that is supported by land (antarctica has a lot of that) is different. If that melts it would effect water level. But since most of Arctic ice is supported by water, how can it be claimed that the melting arctic icecap will change sea level to the point that Florida will disappear?? Can someone explain how I am wrong?

Answer 1

IT IS VERY SIMPLE the ice in the glass thing perfectly describes why the north pole melting will not raise the sea water levels ,and nobody in his right mind would try too,

How ever the ice on Ice Land, Green land(two kilometers thick) ,Antarctica ,and the world glaziers is ice ABOVE THE WATER,and this water is running into the seas.this WILL raise the sea water levels

Answer 2

You are wrong because the ice is floating (aka not totally in the water) So when it melts the water from the iceberg will mix with the ocean water and disperse. This will raise water levels around the world. If you are wondering how this is not the same as having an ice cube in a cup and letting it melt it would be because the ice cubes are already in the water not like the ice caps that are also out of the water. btw all these other answers seem very immature, you should take this topic seriously.

Answer 3

I doubt anyone can prove you wrong.

A few points. It isn't as simple as an ice cube in a glass of water. The oceans are salt water and the Ice is fresh water.

Not all the arctic ice is floating on water. There are portions on land, like Greenland.

I'm not sure who has said melting the North Polar ice would submerge Florida. It's possible, but I'm not sure it's a Global Warming prediction. Melting the South Polar ice, and the mountain glaciers ought to be enough to submerge a lot, possibly including Florida. I say that only because of the past changes in the coastline with only partial melting. I've seen a lot of math on this, and none of it's very convincing. The geologic record says about 60 feet, which seems like a reasonable compromise value.

Answer 4

You're completely right about the Arctic ocean ice not effecting the sea level as it melts. What you do have to realize is there is a lot of water tied up in the glaciers in Canada, Greenland, Russia and Antarctica that will effect the sea level.

For example, when there were no ice caps or glaciers about 50 million years ago, the sea level is estimated to have been over 300 ft higher than it is today. Figuring that as a worst case scenario, a lot of Florida and other land would be underwater. The only thing is, that's not going to happen even if we burn every last drop of fossil fuel left on the planet. It will take significant changes to our planet (i.e. major continent shifts) for the poles to ever become warm enough for that to happen again.

So yeah, you're right and Disney World will be around for generations to come.

Answer 5

You are asking for a scientific answer to a question that has become a religion for some people. Even if all the ice in the whole world were to melt tomorrow, including the ice and snow on land masses, the sea level would not rise the 80m to 200m that some are predicting. Just the variance in the range tells you that all these people are guessing. I read a scientific analysis that showed that the sea levels could rise, at most, 6m if everything melted.

While 6m is nothing to sneeze at, it still works on the assumption that global warming is real.

Florida will not disappear. Even the worst, and most unscientific global warming prediction shows a 1 degree change in temperature over the next 75 years. The world would have to warm up by almost 15 degrees on average world wide before all the ice at the caps could melt, and since we cannot test the hypothesis, it may not all melt then.

Answer 6

The only thing you're wrong about is the claim.

The claim is not that the melting of the ice caps will raise the sea level. It will cause other problems - for example, the fact that ice reflects sunlight while dark oceans absorb it. Less ice means more heat absorption which means a warmer planet which means less ice which means more heat absorption, etc. etc.

However, the rising sea level predictions are based on the melting of land ice on places like Greenland and Antarctica.

Answer 7

a cup is a very different environment than the ocean...there is a lot less surface area, ice cubes are not apt to stick high out of the water like many of the icy structures of the arctic icecap do and its freshwater...even though the ice is floating a lot of it is not fully or even close to fully submerged in the water its floating in. if you look at pictures of the arctic ice cap you can see huge portions of the ice that are high up out of the water. imagine if you pushed a whole portion down into the water...it would definitely change the water level. so when this exposed ice that originally wasnt included in the volume of water melts to water it will then be included and it will increase the water level.

Answer 8

You are 100% correct.

All the real scientists say only that melting ice in Antarctica and Greenland will raise sea levels.

The only problem is how may yahoos cannot tell the difference between the arctic and antarctic.

Answer 9

The idea is very well portrayed in this documentary. Check out the web site or see the movie. No one knows what is real as reality is each individuals perception, but if you want an answer on the perception of ice melting and causing such catastrophic events, I highly recommend you watch this as it also explains a lot about where all these global warming nuts are getting their ideas. This way if you still feel it is a hoax, you will be better informed of your opposing team.

Answer 10

What you should also add to your cup, however, is a platform above the water and then let the ice melt on the platform. The water will rise. And yes, Artic ice is supported by water, but ice in Greenland and Antartica is supported by land.

NEXT.