Since warmer oceans EVAPORATE more , won't there be MORE snow & ice at the poles NOT less?

Question

It is hard to find anything about global warming hysteria that does NOT make you laugh out loud. But how about this one: Snow & ice is caused by water vapor in the atmosphere that comes into contact with cold. So as warmer oceans evaporate more easily, water vapor in the air hitting the polar regions will cause MORE SNOW & SLEET & RAIN leading to a net INCREASE in the polar ice packs. RIGHT? If there is global warming we should be seeing the ice packs GROWING, shouldn't we?

To visualize this, remember what happens when water condenses on the outside of a cool glass of lemonade on a summer day or water condenses on a cold window in the winter.

Answer 1

You are a conspiracy theorists, aren't you?

Answer 2

A good an accurate point that you made.

Globally there has been increased precipitation for the reasons you mentioned and in cold climates this falls as snow. The Antarctic and Arctic interiors along with the higher mountains have been receiving more snow than in the past.

If it weren't for the increased melting then there would be a net increase in ice volume in these areas. However, the ice is melting faster than it's been replaced. Largely because of global warming but partly because an increase in ice mass on a glacial plain or mountain top accelerates glacial creep and pushes the glacier down the mountain or towards the edges of the ice sheets that bit quicker.

The Antarctic interior and for much of the year, large parts of the Arctic as well, are bitterly cold, too cold for there to be any appreciable snowfall. For snow to form the water has to evapourate from somehwere where temps are above freezing point. As the moist warm air mixes with colder air or cools due to the lapse rate it reaches saturation vapour point and the water vapour is dissipated out as pecipitation or dew. By the time the air mass reaches deep into Antarctica there's little moisture left in it, it's for this reason that the Dry Valleys of Antractica are amongst the driest places on Earth.

So yes, there has been increased precipitation but for the reasons outlined above, it's not been as much as the global average increase.

All factors taken into consideration, the annual average volume of ice lost is close to one trillion tons, the majority of this coming from the Arctic and Greenland. Antarctica is relatively stable for the time being and the annual loss of ice here is a minute amount compared to the total volume.

Answer 3

What good would extra atmospheric water vapor do when it isn't cold enough for it to freeze? What good would it do if snow did reach the ground but the ground was too warm to keep it frozen?

The reason the ice caps are melting is because it's too warm. More water vapor isn't going to make the north and south pole any colder.

Answer 4

Yes warmer oceans will evaporate more... but your assuming that all of the evaporation will collect at the poles and drop ice down. Global warming is only funny when you don't look at the facts and don't fully understand it. If you look at it now, the poles are melting faster than they are building up. So even if more snow ect. fall at the poles, it will just melt continually faster due to warmer temperatures.

Answer 5

Yes, the ice caps, particularly the Antarctic ice cap, does not necessarily respond in a simple way to GW. It may be that extra ice will accumulate for a time, mitigating the rise in sea level. Under the worst-case GW scenarios, however, the ice caps will eventually melt over thousands of years (as they have in the past), leading to a 100 m increase in sea levels.