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How do polar ice caps affect the environment?
Polar Ice, Weather and Global Economies Arctic sea ice helps to regulate the climate by keeping it cool. As this sea ice melts, heat from the sun is absorbed by the oceans – instead of being reflected into space – contributing to warming oceans, water expansion and jet stream changes.
What are some threats to the polar ice caps?
The main threats facing Antarctica:
- Climate change / Global warming, resulting in a warming of the sea and loss of sea ice and land-based ice, this is greatest long-term threat to the region.
- Fishing, both legal and illegal.
- Invasive species.
What are the causes and dangers of the melting polar ice caps?
Causes of Melting Ice Glaciers
- Burning of fossil fuels. The burning of fossil fuels has resulted in the buildup of greenhouse gases in the environment thus influencing the warming trend because they trap heat in the atmosphere.
- Oil and gas drilling.
- Deforestation.
- Ice breaking ships.
What do the polar ice caps do?
The polar ice caps help keep Earth a nice temperature, but the melting of polar ice caps increases the rate of global warming. Maintaining the Earth’s temperature is very important to all the organisms that live in or around the polar ice caps.
How does melting ice affect humans?
The melting of this Arctic sea ice will most likely lead to further climate change. This is a problem because climate change affects almost everything important to humans, like plants, animals, the weather, and commerce. All these things, in turn, affect our food supplies.
What are ice caps and why are they important?
Ice and glaciers are part of the water cycle, even though the water in them moves very slowly. Ice caps influence the weather, too. The color white reflects sunlight (heat) more than darker colors, and as ice is so white, sunlight is reflected back out to the sky, which helps to create weather patterns.
What is a polar ice cap for kids?
An ice cap is a thick layer of snow and ice covering less than 50,000 square kilometers. Ice caps form as snow falls, melts and falls again. Snow that melts slightly becomes harder and compressed. New snow falls on top and the snow underneath becomes even denser.
How can we stop the polar ice caps from melting?
An engineer has devised a way to stop Arctic ice from melting by scattering millions of tiny glass beads to reflect sunlight away. Scientists have discovered that melting in Greenland and Antarctica is occurring much faster than they previously thought.
What are the effects of melting polar ice caps?
Melting Polar Ice Caps. The melting of the polar ice caps is caused by the overall increase in global temperature, and this melting can have serious consequences for all organisms on Earth. Besides being important for marine life, ice caps help regulate sea level and global temperatures.
How are polar ice caps different from ice caps?
There are ice caps all over the world and it should be understood that the difference between polar ice caps and ice caps is that the later are present also on lands. Melting of these ice caps causes excessive flooding which is very dangerous for the people and animals that are living in those areas as it would destroy homes, habitats, and lives.
How can we save the polar ice caps?
Therefore, we can protect ice caps by reducing our use of fossil fuel and other man-made chemicals. Tropical forest conservation and restoration. You wouldn’t think that saving the North and South Pole ice will have to do with tropical forests.
How are the ice caps changing over time?
However, the changes have been more significant in recent years. Summer decreases are hitting record lows, and the amount of accumulation in the winter is decreasing. The thickness of the ice caps is also changing. As the ice caps melt, they not only cover less area but also become thinner.