Remember as a child when you broke the ice on a frozen surface. Just like when a ship plows through the ice cap on our planet does it speed up the melting of the ice cap?
2007-11-20 01:12:21 · 6 answers · asked by bear5521 2 in Environment ➔ Global Warming
bill w
Does not ice when broken melt faster?
2007-11-20 01:50:59 · update #1
Dr Jello
When you break ice it floats out to sea where the temp is above freezing. Then there is that the ice where it has been broken is thinner when it refreezes & does not take as long to melt during the warm season.
My ears sure are a burning someones talking about me.
Bob's point about it exposing darker water and speeding up the warming might have some merit.
Mark G
I'm not worried though concern might be a better word. If the ice that is in the ocean is melting then that means the ice that is on land is melting.
2007-11-20 05:44:02 · update #2
Dr Jello
When you break ice it floats out to sea where the temp is above freezing. Then there is that the ice where it has been broken is thinner when it refreezes & does not take as long to melt during the warm season.
My ears sure are a burning someones talking about me.
Bob's point about it exposing darker water and speeding up the warming might have some merit.
Mark G
I'm not worried though concern might be a better word. If the ice that is in the ocean is melting then that means the ice that is on land is melting.
2007-11-20 05:44:17 · update #3
Dr Jello
When you break ice it floats out to sea where the temp is above freezing. Then there is that the ice where it has been broken is thinner when it refreezes & does not take as long to melt during the warm season.
Bob's point about it exposing darker water and speeding up the warming might have some merit.
Mark G
I'm not worried though concern might be a better word. If the ice that is in the ocean is melting then that means the ice that is on land is melting.
2007-11-20 05:45:44 · update #4
Dr Jello
When you break ice it floats out to sea where the temp is above freezing. Then there is that the ice where it has been broken is thinner when it refreezes & does not take as long to melt during the warm season.
Bob's point about it exposing darker water and speeding up the warming might have some merit.
Mark G
I'm not worried though concern might be a better word. If the ice that is in the ocean is melting then that means the ice that is on land is melting.
2007-11-20 05:45:46 · update #5
Dr Jello
When you break ice it floats out to sea where the temp is above freezing. Then there is that the ice where it has been broken is thinner when it refreezes & does not take as long to melt during the warm season.
Bob's point about it exposing darker water and speeding up the warming might have some merit.
Mark G
I'm not worried though concern might be a better word. If the ice that is in the ocean is melting then that means the ice that is on land is melting.
2007-11-20 05:46:53 · update #6
Dr Jello
When you break ice it floats out to sea where the temp is above freezing. Then there is that the ice where it has been broken is thinner when it refreezes & does not take as long to melt during the warm season.
Bob's point about it exposing darker water and speeding up the warming might have some merit.
Mark G
I'm not worried though concern might be a better word. If the ice that is in the ocean is melting then that means the ice that is on land is melting.
2007-11-20 05:47:23 · update #7
Dr Jello
When you break ice it floats out to sea where the temp is above freezing. Then there is that the ice where it has been broken is thinner when it refreezes & does not take as long to melt during the warm season.
Bob's point about it exposing darker water and speeding up the warming might have some merit.
Mark G
I'm not worried though concern might be a better word. If the ice that is in the ocean is melting then that means the ice that is on land is melting.
2007-11-20 05:47:25 · update #8
Dr Jello
When you break ice it floats out to sea where the temp is above freezing. Then there is that the ice where it has been broken is thinner when it refreezes & does not take as long to melt during the warm season.
Bob's point about it exposing darker water and speeding up the warming might have some merit.
Mark G
I'm not worried though concern might be a better word. If the ice that is in the ocean is melting then that means the ice that is on land is melting.
2007-11-20 05:47:26 · update #9
Dr Jello
When you break ice it floats out to sea where the temp is above freezing. Then there is that the ice where it has been broken is thinner when it refreezes & does not take as long to melt during the warm season.
Bob's point about it exposing darker water and speeding up the warming might have some merit.
Mark G
I'm not worried though concern might be a better word. If the ice that is in the ocean is melting then that means the ice that is on land is melting.
2007-11-20 05:47:27 · update #10
Dr Jello
When you break ice it floats out to sea where the temp is above freezing. Then there is that the ice where it has been broken is thinner when it refreezes & does not take as long to melt during the warm season.
Bob's point about it exposing darker water and speeding up the warming might have some merit.
Mark G
I'm not worried though concern might be a better word. If the ice that is in the ocean is melting then that means the ice that is on land is melting.
2007-11-20 05:47:28 · update #11
Dr Jello
When you break ice it floats out to sea where the temp is above freezing. Then there is that the ice where it has been broken is thinner when it refreezes & does not take as long to melt during the warm season.
Bob's point about it exposing darker water and speeding up the warming might have some merit.
Mark G
I'm not worried though concern might be a better word. If the ice that is in the ocean is melting then that means the ice that is on land is melting.
2007-11-20 05:47:30 · update #12
Hey whats going on it keep saying it had not posted. lol
2007-11-20 05:49:50 · update #13
Are you saying that icebreakers crossing the Arctic Ocean are making it thaw out?
2007-11-20 01:39:19 · answer #1 · answered by Bill W 【ツ】 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
If the temperatures are above freezing and you break the ice then yes it will speed the process up a bit. But like Mr Jello states that if the air is below freezing the ice will not melt. Also I wouldn't worry about the ice in the ocean it will not cause sea levels to change all that much. It's the glaciers on land that will cause the sea level to rise. Take a cup fill it with ice and water set the cup outside and let all the ice melt and you will see that the water will not overflow the cup. Now fill the cup up with water put ice in a separate bowl, let the ice melt and then place the melted ice water into the cup of water and the cup will overflow. So don't sweat the ice in the ocean..
Bob: You have a point there that I never even thought about. Your right it is complicated but that's what I love about it!!
2007-11-20 10:58:59 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
It absolutely speeds it up - by a tiny amount. You couldn't measure it, compared to what global warming is doing.
Global warming is hugely powerful. If we wanted to try to come up with a way to affect climate, we couldn't do anything more powerful than burning a lot of fossil fuel. In a (horrible) way, it's very efficient.
Mark G - You have a point, but there's an important side effect. Melting sea ice exposes much darker water and speeds up warming, speeding up the melting of land based ice. So, it still is a problem.
This stuff is complicated.
2007-11-20 09:56:34 · answer #3 · answered by Bob 7 · 0⤊ 3⤋
No. The ice caps are on land, not on water. The sea ice you are referring to--yes. However, it would not be enough to make a difference. Remember, there used to be millions of square kilometers of pack ice in the Artic. There were never enough ships to make a significant difference.
2007-11-20 10:20:15 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
It has to be above freezing for ice to melt no matter how many times you break it.
Anyone who tells you that just breaking ice absolutly causes ice to melt doesn't know what they are talking about.
2007-11-20 10:00:47 · answer #5 · answered by Dr Jello 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
keeps my drink cold !
2007-11-20 10:58:54 · answer #6 · answered by roadrunner 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋