Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris
It's a very complex calculation, because water doesn't behave like most materials when its temperature changes. Ice has a greater volume than cold water. So sea-borne ice, when it melts, takes up less room than it did when it was ice.
There is no land under the north pole - it is all sea ice. So the sea levels are not going to shoot upwards as a result of it melting. However, if the north pole becomes ice-free it presents another big problem in the reduced albedo effect (reduced reflection of solar radiation back into space). Water tends to absorb solar radiation while ice reflects it. So once the arctic ice is gone, the rate of warming will increase.
Then there are big problems from elsewhere, i.e. glaciers permafrost melting on land and flowing into the seas. This is water that wasn't in the oceans to start with, so whatever temperature it's at, its going to add to the overall volume.
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I've heard all those in the past as well - I guess we'll have to wait and see what the final effect is
---------- Post added at 15:10 ---------- Previous post was at 15:08 ----------
Quote:
Originally Posted by Maggy J
Has anyone managed to work out by how much the sea levels will rise?  |
Hopefully not too much. I think a lot depends on where you measure the initial level. Apparently because of the last Ice Age the South coast of the UK is also sinking at slow rate so that effect would need to be negated.