What Happens With Global Warming When the Ice Melts?

Disappearing Glaciers

• Every two years an area of ice equivalent to the size of Denmark disappears around the Arctic Ocean, states the Worldwatch Institute. The ice that remains is about half as thick as it once was. According the National Health Services, about 40 percent of the overall ice volume has disappeared in the last 30 years. In Antarctica, the world's coldest continent, three massive ice sheets have disappeared.

Rising Sea Levels

• Sea levels have been rising by 4 to 10 inches per year over the last century. The cause of the rise, according to NHS, is land-based ice melt and rising ocean temperatures. The ocean expands as it warms. The Himalayas constitute the largest deposit of ice outside of the polar areas. A United Nations study predicts that all the glaciers in the region will be melted by 2035; one fifth has already melted. If the Denmark ice sheet melts entirely, more than 20 feet of water would rise over coastlines throughout the world.

Ice Age

• British researchers are anticipating an ice age in the Northern Hemisphere, due to melting glacier water cooling the Atlantic Ocean. "If enough cold, fresh water coming from the melting polar ice caps and the melting glaciers of Greenland flows into the northern Atlantic, it will shut down the Gulf Stream," states Thom Hortmann on the website Common Dreams; The Gulf Stream keeps Europe and northeastern North America warm. Research from the University of East Anglia backs Hortmann's statement: Global warming could have a "paradoxical" effect when Greenland ice melts and glaciers are directed south.

Habitat

• Melting glaciers will reduce the available habitat of polar bears and other animals that live in the far north. Also, the effects of rising sea levels will be felt by birds and other animals as they migrate to adjust to the changing climate. According to the University of Wisconsin, birds that rely on food that lives in the water where melt water meets the ocean are dying. The university goes on to state that a rising sea level is decreasing the amount of light that can access coral reefs for photosynthesis.