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Rising Sea Level

As the polar ice caps melt the sea levels are predicted to rise. My question is why? When you place an ice cube in a glass of water the water level rises, but if the ice cube is already there and then it melts the water level does not rise, due to the initial displacement of the water by the ice. Surely the same principle must be true of the ice caps. Why, therefore, are melting polar ice caps leading to a rise in sea levels?
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Categories: Planet Earth.

Tags: globalwarming, Sealevels, Icecaps, melting.

 

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 Jon-Richfield says:

Ignoring various relatively small effects and a few large assumptions, bear in mind that not all the ice at the poles is floating; much, probably most of it, is on land, so it is not like an cie cube floating in a glass and melting, but an ice cube suspended above the glass and melting.

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Tags: globalwarming, Sealevels, Icecaps, melting.

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posted on 2011-01-26 08:43:55 | Report abuse

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 Gropierre says:

You also have to remember that the south pole is not floating, and that is a lot of ice.

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Tags: globalwarming, Sealevels, Icecaps, melting.

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posted on 2011-01-26 14:53:45 | Report abuse

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