Santa

North pole?

If all the ice from the north pole were to melt this summer, how will it affect us. Will the oceans rise to levels we have not seen before. It is said as the years go on there will be less and less ice. Should we be very concerned.

Public Comments

1. Well, the rising sea levels could affect sea creatures and low-lying islands in the pacific would be completely submerged. Also, because most of the biggest cities in the world are on water, it would affect millions of people.
2. The Arctic Ice melting will not cause water levels to rise at all. The arctic ice cap is free-floating ocean ice, there is not land underneath of it. When the ice melts, the water will take up the space that the ice is taking up now. Try it with a glass of ice water. Mark the water level when the ice is still ice, then let the ice melt. The water level will be the same before, during, and after the ice has melted. The antarctic ice is a different story...there is land underneath of that. When antarctic ice melts, that causes the level of the oceans to rise.
3. no actually. The earth went through a 70 million year ice age and so it is still warming up and melting away that ice. The earth will do what it wants and we can't stop the ice from melting so dont waste time worrying
4. Not really. Though cities like Manhatten are in a way built on water, they can easily learn a lesson or two from the Dutch and stop the cities from flooding with water. So it won't really make that much difference to us as far as THAT is concerned.
5. Copy and Paste: Melting of the Arctic ice cap does not contribute to sea level rise. Floating ice, like that around the North Pole, already displaces water, like ice cubes in a glass of tea. When the ice melts, sea level remains unchanged, though salinity can be altered. The major sea level rise associated with global warming would come if the massive ice sheets covering Greenland and Antarctica melt and flow into the oceans. To read the entire article, go to: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003873003_arcticice07m.html