Melting Icebergs Experiment – Week 3&4
(SCIE-6660)
With the dawning of
the Industrial age practices began to alter the global climate and environment.
Before that time, human activity didn’t release many greenhouse gases. With the
onslaught of population, deforestation, factory farming, and the use of fossil
fuels humans are creating an excess of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and contributing to global warming. How long we have till the polar icecaps
melt has been a commonly discussed question. In recent years estimates ranged
from the years 2030
to as early as 2013.
Noting that in 2007 the Norwegian ice sheet
had reached a historical low of 3m sq. km in the summer. Other questions of
concern are the effects of an increase in the amount of fresh water to salt
water. Will the fresh water increase cause changes in ocean currents which will
in turn cause a change in climate? Will the melting of the glaciers found on
land cause flooding?
Have you ever had a very full glass of something
cool to drink with ice floating at the surface? As the ice melted into the
drink did the contents overflow? That concept fuels the concern about the polar
icecaps melting. The increase in the water level should cause flooding in low
lying countries as well as along the coastline of the U.S.A., what then? This
water that was frozen on land will melt into the oceans forcing water levels to
rise, just like in our glass. If you fill a glass with ice then pour water into
the glass until it is full but not overflowing you will notice some ice
floating above the water line. As that ice begins to melt the contents will
overflow due to lack of space inside the glass. The ice on land will act the
same way as it melts. Once the extra water is added to our oceans it will
overflow onto the land surfaces.
These ideas are all centered on the theory of global
warming. I believe that it is not possible for humans to live on the planet
without having an impact. I can’t believe that with all of the construction,
farming, and deforestation, to mention a few, that an adverse effect on Earth
wouldn’t be possible. Why are the glaciers and polar icecaps melting? Why are
we experiencing more extreme weather events around the world?
References
It is a great concern, to a point that many nations have create task forces composed of scientist, politicians, and even corporate executives. When we expect this world-affecting event to happen? Like every other event prediction, many hypotheses of time and effects have been presented. Like mentioned here by colleague Peggy Kirk, scientist and researchers have been bold enough to give us dates. Some have presented 2013 and others 2030 likely to be the year ice caps in the both polar (Artic and Antarctic), possibly Greenland. To some Greenland’s ice -caps are on its way as to being the first to melt. As these ice caps melt, ocean level will rise. But, as I researched on, many others scientists say that as for now, the Antarctic ice caps are in no danger because the weather and temperature of water is constant. Which scientist is predicting correctly and which is not? Time will tell, but why take a chance and not attend to the possible threats it represents. If it came to past, would we feel that we should have been warned?
ReplyDeleteNow, with respect to the experiment on the melting iceberg, it could go both ways: 1) if a smaller container is used to fill with water and then the ice is added, as it melts because of the small amount of volume the container can hold, the ice melted will provoke a small increase in the water level. 2) if the container is large and can hold much more water, when the ice melts no effects on the volume of the water is observed. Many have stated that the melting of icebergs itself will not affect ocean water levels, the only thing that will increase the ocean level will be the melting of the previously mentioned 3 ice caps. For example, as the ice caps melted from Antarctic, the ice has a reflective property that reflects sunlight back into the atmosphere. If this ice cap melts, the sunlight will not be reflected back into the atmosphere; will be absorbed by the water increasing global warming. As the water temperature rises, the water molecules expand and thus water levels will increase. These facts make this activity a very interesting research base task. Students will have a great time putting this together and understanding the reality of global warming and its effects on mankind.