Polar Ice Caps

The first question we were asked to answer is what would happen if the ice caps melted?

I am sure if I asked my second graders they would say the water would get bigger. Studies have shown that the Earth is warming up my a half degree Celsius in the past 100 years (HowStuffWorks, Inc 2010). Now I know some of us after the past winter may think that this is a lie because even Florida was cold (which hardly happens). Even if the ice caps were to melt though it would not make the oceans rise to dangerous levels. The caps disperse the amount of water that is in it. So even if they melt the water level will not be adversely effected.

Rebecca Terrell commented in her article about how researchers say there is the same amount of ice in the polar regions, but the ice is thinner. The Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI) put out a report that Terrell mentions. In that report the DMI state that within one decade all the polar ice caps will be gone during the summer. According the the research that Terrell did, she found that even if the ice caps melted they would not rise the water more than a millimeter (February 3, 2010).

So although Al Gore is on this big kick about flooding, all the research I did suggests other wise. I know that some animals may be effected because of the climate change, but overall there is no need to fear.

The second question is if we have any other questions.

I was wondering how beneficial this lesson would be if the ice was colored. The the students would be able to see how the ice and the water do mix. Also, would adding any sediments such as rocks to the ice help at all?


Resources:
HowStuffWorks, Inc. (2010). If the polar ice caps melted, how much would the oceans rise? Retrieved from: http://science.howstuffworks.com/question473.htm

Terrell, Rebecca. (February 3, 2010). Are the polar ice caps melting? Retrieved from: http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/tech-mainmenu-30/environment/2871-are-the-ice-caps-melting