...Polar ice caps are sheets of ice close to the North and South poles. They are formed because they are in high-latitude regions, which results in less exposure to the heat from the sun, causing the temperatures to be very cold. Average temperatures at the North and South poles have begun to get hotter because of environmental changes, like global warming and gas emissions, causing ice caps to melt and often times, break apart. (What is a Polar Ice Cap, 2015) Why did I choose this topic? This topic is interesting for me because it proves that we, as humans, have destroyed our earth. It shows that even though we talked as a whole about fixing the global issues of our earth that we created, we didn't act fast enough to fix it, and now we are facing those consequences....
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...Melting Ice and Rising Seas Sea ice is the frozen seawater which covers 20 million square kilometers of the polar, the ice is only a few meter thick. Glaciers and land ice can be up to more kilometers thick. Because of the climate change caused by CO2 emission and other natural events like volcanos, the sea ice, glaciers and land ice started to melt. Since 1980 the climate changed by 0,5Cº and continuously rises. If all the global land ice would completely melt the ocean level would raise about sixty meters. The sensitivity in the arctic is very high and responds quickly to changes, because of the climate change the acritical sea ice started to melt and where before was ice is now open sea. Ice is reflecting most of the sun heat and by this avoiding that the ice sheet is heading up too much. Instead water doesn’t have this ability the open water around the sea ice is heading up the area, which leads again to a more faster melting of the arctic sea ice. In 40 years one third of the arctic sea ice amount dropped down, which is half the size of Australia. The reduction of the sea ice leads also to a change in the golf string, which is affecting the global circulation and weather. Because of the open sea area now in the arctic new ship routs are now available, which have also an impact of the environmental in the arctic. Over the next or three decades, there will be no artic summer sea ice anymore. Not only that the reduction of the arctic sea ice have an impact on the golf stream...
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...Suggest why some groups and communities view the melting of Greenland’s ice sheet as an opportunity rather than a threat. (10) Some groups and communities view the melting of Greenland’s ice sheet as an opportunity rather than a threat because the melting ice creates some commercial advantages for the Arctic region; the Northern Sea Route, North of Canada, is the quickest way of travelling from Europe to the Pacific and Asia. This also increases the tourism opportunities because 30% of Inuit earn income from sculpture and printmaking for tourists, as the tourist ships are able to transport to the northern Canada. As the rapidly melting ice offers commercial opportunities in shipping, tourism and oil and gas extraction, the world’s largest economies are struggling but as well as trying to achieve and get hold of the region within the Arctic. A region in the Arctic thought to be contain 30% of the world’s undiscovered gas and 13%% of undiscovered oil. In addition, more oil can be used by groups of Inuit for essentials like the uses of fossil fuels. In Alaska, due to the new drilling activity, it creates new job opportunities and incomes for the local economy, which means more Inuit, get the job opportunities like this. Furthermore, there are currently four more mining operation being setting up and soon, it will provide jobs for natives in Greenland. In 2007, the Northwest Passage between Canada and Arctic melted enough to allow shipping for the first time and also allow more...
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...in the Arctic Myles Ross November 15th, 2013 Throughout the past 100 years, climate change has been a very noticeable issue worldwide. The speed of temperature excursion has been the highest it’s been since the Stone Age (Module 7). Climate Change can be considered caused through greenhouse gases, water vapor, albedo and solar radiation (Model 7). Combined, these factors cause radioactive forcing, which highly contributes to the Earth’s energy balance (Module 7). The change in Earths energy balance has had a large influence on the increase in mean global temperature (Module 7). Now that the factors of Global warming have been discussed, overviewing the causes of the issue will be beneficial to determine possible solutions for the changing climate. Scientists have determined human activity as being a significant cause of global climate change. According to Module 7, humans are responsible for 93% of the total change in climate. The source of human causation can be through an impacted on the greenhouse gas effect and land-type conversions (Module 7). As the world becomes continually warmer, the effect of climate change in the arctic regions becomes more intense. Within the past 50 years, arctic regions in Canada have experienced warming of 2 to 3 degrees Celsius (Fergal & Prowse, 2007). One of the most important areas in the Canadian arctic is the Cryosphere (Appendix A), which is the area consisting of season snow cover, permafrost glaciers, and sea ice (Fergal...
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...People against the Earth: Cycle of melting of ice caps in the environment It is very shocking to see how many people do not have the knowledge or the interest to educate themselves about one of the biggest issues of the Earth. There are many articles about the climate change in general, but this essay will answer a question what are the effects of melting ice caps on climate change? Firstly what is global warming and what is climate change? Global warming is just the Earth’s rising surface temperature and climate change is a bigger category and global warming is one part of its category. In another words global warming is one issue of a much larger problem of human caused climate change. Both of them are a commonly talked about issue among scientists since it causes many changes in the environment including the melting of ices which has an effect on all parts of the world. Because of the sea level rising there are, even if it is not a rapid increase, many devastating effects on land habitants, and also there is a threat of the next ice age. Firstly the melting of polar ice caps can affect countries, as continents. A lot of parts of the “now known” continents would totally disappear under the ocean; which would mean that people that live there now, would lose their homes and the number of people per square foot would rise rapidly. The sunk parts of the countries would affects also the fauna and flora. It is clear that many species are dying out now and also...
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...their survival is being threatened due to climate change. Their habitat is diminishing. Polar bears need ice to move around so they can easily find food to sustain life. Some areas of the Arctic provide sea ice year-round and in other areas it melts off every year. Governments and scientists have designated 19 populations of polar bears based in four different sea ice regions in the North Circumpolar Region known as the Arctic. These four regions vary greatly when it comes to sea ice, geography and climate change (Polar Bears International, September 2017). The first area is known as seasonal ice. This is the southern...
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...If the global climate were to warm significantly as a result of the greenhouse effect or other climatic change, the Arctic ice cap would start to melt. This ice cap contains the equivalent of some 680,000 cubic miles of water. More than 200 million people live on land that is less than 3 feet above sea level. In the United States several large cities have low average elevations. Three examples are Boston (14 feet), New Orleans (4 feet), and San Diego (13 feet). In this exercise you are to estimate the rise in sea level if the Arctic ice cap were to melt and to determine whether this event would have a significant impact on people living in coastal areas. Discuss the implications of your calculation. How would cities such as Boston, New Orleans, and San Diego be affected? Help is needed. This is what I came up with so if you can assist in any way please do so. Thanks I=ice 1yr=24 cubic miles 680,000 cubic miles =3,590,400,000 ft 1ft=1/3 mile 1 mile= 5,280 ft I=24x 680,000= 24x 28,333.3= x 28,333.3 years for 680,000 cubic miles of ice to melt I=24x 680,000= 24x 680,000/24= 24x/24 28333.3= x the number of years for 680,000 cubic miles Boston 14ft 14m=5,280 14m/14= 5280/14 m=377.14 New Orleans 4ft 4m= 5,280 m= 1320 San Diego 13ft 13m=5,280 13m/13= 5280/13 m=...
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...Global Warming February 21, 2011 Erreka Sheppard 6. Global Warming If the global climate were to warm significantly as a result of the greenhouse effect or other climatic change, the Arctic ice cap would start to melt. This ice cap contains the equivalent of some 680,000 cubic miles of water. More than 200 million people live on land that is less than 3 feet above sea level. In the United States several large cities have low average elevations. Three examples are Boston (14 feet), New Orleans (4 feet), and San Diego (13 feet). In this exercise you are to estimate the rise in sea level if the Arctic ice cap were to melt and to determine whether this event would have a significant impact on people living in coastal areas. (a) The surface area of a sphere is given by the formula where r is its radius. Although the shape of Earth is not exactly spherical, it has an average radius of 3960 miles. Estimate the surface area of Earth. The surface area of a sphere is found by using the following formula: s = 4r2, where s represents surface area and r represents radius. To find the approximate surface area of the Earth, the equation would be set up as follows: S = 439602 = 197060797.4 This calculation shows that the approximate surface area of the Earth 197060797.4 square miles. (b) Oceans cover approximately 71% of the total surface area of Earth. How many square miles of Earth’s surface are covered by oceans? To calculate how many square miles of Earth’s...
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...Ice melting • There are about 5, 614, 000 miles³ (24, 062, 913.678268 km³) of ice on earth. • Some scientists say it would take more than 5,000 years to melt it all. • Sea level would rise by 216 feet. • East Antarctica—the east Antarctica ice sheet is so large that it contains 4/5 of all the ice on earth. Source: www.ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/09/rising-seas/if-ice-melted-map) • The current sea-level rise is about 3mm/year Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/current_sea_level_rise Some examples of glaciers on Earth • Arctic Sea Ice › Location: Arctic Ocean › has shrunk by 6 percent since 1978 with a 14 percent loss of thicker, year-round ice. Has thinned by 40 percent in less than 30 years. • Greenland Ice Sheets › Location: Greenland › has thinned by more than a meter a year on its southern and eastern edges since 1993. • Columbia Glacier › Location: Alaska, U.S. › has retreated nearly 13 kilometres since 1982. In 1999, retreat rate increased from 25 metres per day to 35 metres. Physics SPECIFIC LATENT HEAT (L) - the specific latent heat of a material is the amount if heat required to chance the state if 1 kilogram of the material without changing its temperature. (Unit: J/kg) • Specific latent heat (L)- 334 kJ/kg • Heat required to change the state of ice to liquid (Q)- 8.037042 x 1024 J Sources: Lf – www.engineeringtoolbox.com/latent-heat-melting-solids-d_96.html Q – I calculated it. In this presentation we will be talking...
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...Out of the 5 major oceans, the Arctic is the smallest and shallowest. It is completely covered with ice during the winter, and remains mostly covered during the summer. Despite the frigid and seemingly lifeless conditions, this area holds a wealth of life, and an entire ecosystem thrives off of this body of water. While a few animals live on the land near the Arctic, the real ecosystem exists beneath the water, as many marine creatures such as jellyfish, walruses, fish, and even whales, live off of what the Arctic has to give. Despite the extremely cold conditions, a base of phytoplankton and algae, along with many species of foliage, gives the ecosystem the base energy it needs. The Arctic was largely shrouded in mystery throughout history,...
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...Composition II Research Paper Our atmosphere doesn't act as a single unit; it is made up of hundreds of different layers. Some of the energy released from Earth is stopped in each of these layers. The energy is then re-emitted in a random direction, but on average the energy is moving either "up" or "down." The atmospheres get thinner as altitude increases, so eventually the radiation will reach a layer high enough and thin enough to escape to space. If you increase the concentrations of a greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, the thin upper layers will become denser. The place where the majority of the energy finally escapes moves higher, these higher levels are much colder and so they do not radiate heat very well. The rate that radiation escapes to space is lower, and the planet will take in more than it radiates. As the higher levels emit some of the excess radiation downwards, the lower levels will warm all the way down to the surface. The imbalance will remain until the higher levels get hot enough to radiate as much energy back out as the planet is receiving. Though all natural processes, they are not always helpful. On the other side of the spectrum, we as humans are not always helpful to the processes. Because of this, we find ourselves at a time of question. What are we doing to our planet and how will it affect us? Many are attempting to take action now, others try to not believe. Eventually, however, we are all going to see what we have truly been doing. Global warming...
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...Sea Ice Explain the trends and why they occur The overall concept of global warming has rapidly influenced the world’s awareness of how our uses of fossil fuels are destroying the natural world. From 1979 to 2000, the sea ice conditions were generally stable. Since then, year by year there has slowly been a decline in Arctic sea ice, most obviously seen from 2008 to present. Year after year scientists are seeing a lower starting measurement of sea ice coverage, though the pattern remains relatively similar, it’s obvious that the amount of sea ice is declining at a rapid rate, nearly half a million square kilometers within just two years. Scientists have also noticed a drastic drop in the thickness of the ice. Since 1972 there has been a consistent decline of about 3% every decade, but a steak of low ice years from 2002 – 2004 brought the decline average to 7.7% per decade. Based on the patterns that we’ve been seeing, it can only be expected that this will continue to decline rapidly as long as the Earth’s temperature continues to rise. So why is this happening? There is still plenty of cold weather that we all have to bare, but if there is so much cold and snow that we experience, why is the Arctic sea ice melting? The answer unfortunately lies in the hands of humanity. Although the current loss of ice seems small, it’s going to make a very quick decline due to something referred to as “albedo”. Albedo is the polar reflectivity, so when the ice melts, we lose this and leave...
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...2012). The healthy breeding of Polar bears relies greatly on the Arctic’s ice covered waters and cultivate Arctic Wildlife, as well. Polar bears are the most precious habitats of Arctic wildlife, Not only because they are limited in numbers but also on the grounds that the specie have now endangered for conservation. According to authentic information(Michelle Allsopp, 2012), a female Polar bears can only give birth to 1 to 3 cubs with in life time. Also, the mortality rate of infant cubs exceed from 70 %. Hence, there are less chances that the individuals of the Polar bears can be replaced by new generations. Furthermore, the other factors of climate change and global warming have intensified the threat to the species conservation due to climate changes in Arctic Wildlife. The projected claim can be justified with supporting observations presented below for reference. * Comprised survival rates of sub adult due to poor nutritions resulted from the sea ice breakup. * Inefficient reproduction cycle due to early spring ice breakup. * Deprived access to prey for sufficient...
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...“Climate change and global warming talk about to an increase of usual global temperature. Natural disasters and human actions are believe to be the main reasons for the happening of average global temperatures increase. This is happen because of increase in ‘greenhouse’ gases such as Carbon Dioxide. A warming planet therefore leads to a revolution in climate which can affect weather in different behaviours.” Climate change mostly happens by the natural cycle of earth however as of now human exercises are still significant wellspring of environmental change. Expanding level of greenhouse gasses including carbon dioxide conveys more warmth to the earth as they have capacity to ingest and discharge heat in the environment and hence keep earth warm. A few of the human activities that contribute to the greenhouse gasses to the atmosphere are deforestation, burning fossil fuel and invention of new technology. All the greenhouse gasses make temperature of earth to increment at higher rate which is not in the support of life of people, animal and plants. A gigantic level of environmental change bothers the equalization of the global ecosystem will affect in increase in health risk and death. There are numerous reasons of environmental change including natural cycle of earth however the significant supporters of the environmental change is global warming. Some human exercises and the advancement of technology are forcing the greenhouse gasses to grow and also, getting gathered...
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...normal intervals of warmer and colder climates. However, since the start of the industrial revolution humans have had an undeniable effect on the environment. One area of our planet that has been feeling the strain of anthropogenic causes is the Arctic. Arctic ice sheets have been gradually melting and this can have a profound effect on sea functions and sea life. The Arctic sea is made of old thick ice that forms in the Beaufort Gyre, and new thin seasonal ice. This old ice last all year round while young ice would melt out by summer. With rising temperatures, old ice is melting faster than it can be replaced, leading to the melting of the Arctic Cap (Climate.gov team, 2016). We can see ice free summers as soon as 2050...
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