The Importance of Ice: Glaciers, Ice Caps and Global Warming

Ice - one of the most underrated things in all of history. As each winter comes, the citizens of the world, and particularly the colder regions, prepare to deal with ice and snow. For us, it is an annoyance, and generally makes our lives more difficult. We are unable to drive, and the ice beneath our feet creates a slippery environment that we are unaccustomed to. However, the ice sheaths that cover most of Greenland and Antarctica provide a vital role in our everyday lives. The glacier systems, one of our world's most complex, have an ebb and flow that we don't usually notice, but we do depend on their system to survive. PBS's program titled Extreme Ice explains where we see the effects of ice melting, and why.

Places like Florida, and other low-lying regions should be especially concerned. Even for those who don't believe in the idea of global warming cannot deny that the sea levels are rising, and that our areas of land that lie on the ocean's coast are at risk. Scientists predict that sea levels will rise three to four feet by 2100. Though it doesn't sound like much, it will effect over 100,000,000 people throughout the world, and island nations will be completely annihilated. As with everything else, each aspect of the global environment plays a crucial role to the state of the world. As melt-water lakes disappear and create a lubricating effect on massive glaciers, we see more ice melt off. Similarly, the rising temperature of the Earth (and subsequent carbon dioxide levels), create a bad environment for the ice. We are finding out over time that the ice is much more sensitive than we initially thought. In fact, the rate of melting ice is twice the amount it was just one decade ago.

But what does this all mean? Besides the fact that we may never see a live penguin again, the sea levels could create an environment we have never known before. Aside from rising temperatures and increased air toxicity, our nations will be unfamiliar, and the rising number of population will be forced into even smaller portions of land that we will have left. Scary as it seems, it is in fact a reality. Scientists can directly attribute one foot of the estimated rise in sea levels directly to fossil fuel usage - the idea of global warming due to human activity. Each year, species must evolve, and if they don't, they are likely to become extinct. What three to four feet could do to our world is almost unfathomable - the land animals are likely to face new food challenges, and the marine life may change entirely. As the glaciers melt, the fresh water from the ice combines with the ocean water, which is full of salt. Each type of fish (ocean water or fresh) needs to maintain their level of homeostasis, and the mixture of fresh and salt water can create an incredibly hostile environment for fish which must maintain either a hypertonic or hypotonic solution.

Inevitably, the glaciers will melt. Not completely, but enough for us to take notice. The study of ice and snow may seem frivolous now, but it will prove to be important in the future. As we creep into the uncharted territory, scientists can no longer predict how quickly or how much ice we will lose - and thereby, how much ocean water we will gain. All that is known is that the level of snowfall each year has no effect on the level of ice that is lost from northern and southern glaciers; we are constantly in a deficit. The level of fossil fuels and carbon dioxide released does make a difference, and it is possible to slow the progression of glacial melting. But at what rate is completely unknown...all that we are able to do is cross our fingers and do what we can to monitor the movements in the northern areas of the world (primarily Greenland), and the famously frozen Antarctica.

Source:
Extreme Ice by Nova Programming, Originally aired on PBS