Re: University of Arizona: Arctic will likely see ice-free summers



Mac wrote:

> On Sun, 28 Aug 2005 19:56:12 -0700, Winfield Hill wrote:
>
> > "CNET reports that researchers from the University of Arizona and other
> > universities have concluded that the Arctic will likely see ice-free summers
> > within a century due to the increasing rate of global warming. The melting
> > will raise ocean levels worldwide, flooding coastal areas where a substantial
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> [snip]
>
> There is something about this that always bugged me. The arctic ice is all
> floating already, isn't it? How much higher will the sea get due to arctic
> ice melt? Does a glass of ice-water overflow when the ice in it melts?

No. That one annoys me too. It's clearly a concern if the ice sheets melt since it
shows something is affoot but it certainly doesn't affect sea levels.

> If Antarctica thaws, that's a different story. There is land there,
> holding up the ice, and if the ice melts, the water runs off into
> the sea. Actually, the ice doesn't even have to melt, it can just fall
> into the sea in chunks and it will raise the level. Maybe when they say
> "arctic ice" it is really shorthand for "polar ice?"
>
> Hopefully someone can explain this to me, although I realize this isn't
> the proper forum.

You appear to understand just fine.

Graham

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