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Originally Posted by WI Crippler  An ice free North Pole doesn't really mean anything drastic. You have to think, all that ice that has already melted, and where is the catastrophe? If there is only a scant few inches left, then why, after the melting of all the other inches or feet, is there not a considerable change in anything really? If the last few inches melt off this summer, nothing bad will happen. |
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Originally Posted by UtahBill Yes, as it is floating ice. If all of it worldwide melted, sea levels would not increase much. The more serious ice melt issue is when a glacier melts. |
Both of you are thinking only of the immediate effects of the ice melting - which in this case I assume you are relating to rising sea levels.
However that is not the problem. The problem is with radiation absorption and the feedback of such absorption.
Ice and snow reflect radiation back into space where as deep water ocean will take it all in. This feeds back onto itself and contributes then to dramatic changes in weather patterns as well as ocean currents.
That is the cause of concern that is where the big problem lays with a melted arctic as well as the very fact that the arctic melting correlates well with predicted models of precisely what would happen as a result of global warming.
This is but the prequel of what's to come.