ATM S 111 Lecture 4: Sea Ice and Land Ice
7 Feb 2019
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Forms from frozen ocean water: not the same as icebergs, which break off of land ice. Floats on the ocean surface: grows over the winter, melts in the summer. Sea ice is key for polar bears to find food: they hunt for seals on the ice. Shorter season with ice connected to land means less time for feeding: ringed seal nests, need 50cm of snow drifts to build nests for young. Land ice loss causes sea level rise: there are two ice sheets in the world, greenland - 7 meters sea level equivalent, antarctica - 61 meters sea level equivalent, predictions of sea level rise vs. past changes. Last time the temperature was 3 degrees warmer, sea level was 30 meters higher. Sea levels have varied a huge amount in the past: this is not even close to what"s predicted though.
