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[Rose]

Then again, antarctica becoming temperate again would be kinda neat. (trees used to grow there)

[Cthulhu]

Elder Things used to grow there too.  You don't want it to melt.

[sonerohi]

If the world becomes a mite colder, fusion will be looking even better. I'm 100% sure they will figure out a way to store any excess heat (leftovers once all the water in the vats/tanks is boiled.

[Luke_Prowler]

So, in short, we're pretty much boned?

[WorkerDrone]

Correction. *We're* not boned. Greenland is boned.

Well unless you live on the coast. But otherwise, you should be fine...ish...worry about war more than drowning. And food shortage. And drought.

Those three things are going to be more bothersome than all the water.

[Rose]

*checks wikipedia*

apparently, the sea won't rise more than 2 meters over the next century. I'm fine with that.

it'll take a 10 meter rise to effect me.

[Kagus]

Missed point regarding glaciers vs. water level:

If the chunk of ice *is* floating, then it will be displacing water equal to its mass.  Doesn't matter if it's above or below the water line when it does that, and melting will change even less than it might have otherwise.


My opinion on global warming is that there are too many differing views from too many supposedly reputable sources.  As such, it is folly to wholeheartedly believe any position.  I've got less important but more enjoyable things to do, thanks.

But I must admit, I do love those "Global warming will cause the next ice age!" comments.  Regardless of how supported they may be, they're still hilarious.

[Vester]

If the chunk of ice *is* floating, then it will be displacing water equal to its mass.  Doesn't matter if it's above or below the water line when it does that, and melting will change even less than it might have otherwise.

I hate having arguments with people about this. They're always like "if the ice caps melt, there'll be more water in the ocean!" and I'm all like "they're in the bloody ocean already, how is there gonna be 'more'?"

That aside, isn't the actual problem of the ice caps melting the sudden desalinization of normally salty water? As far as I know, that would seriously wreck ocean life.

[Frelock]

Do you realize how little water is bound up in the ice caps?  Off the top of my head, I believe that it's something like 5% of the earth's total water.  The desalinization won't decrease salt levels that significantly.  However, it will increase sea levels; just look at how much of Laurentia (the craton which forms most of modern day North America) was covered by shallow seas from the Late Cambrian to the Silurian.  Also, I've heard the statistic quoted that 80% of the world's population lives within 50 miles of a coast.  Whether that's accurate or not, I'm not at liberty to say.

However, one argument I like to bring up when discussing global warming is this. 
"Alright, so what's causing global warming?"
"Humans have put too much CO₂ in the atmosphere, causing a greenhouse effect, which warms the Earth."
"Where did all that CO₂ in the atmosphere come from?"
"Why, from the fossil fuels we've burnt, of course!"
"And where did the fossil fuels come from?"
"They're the compacted remains of ancient plants from swamps that disappeared millions of years ago."
"And where did the plants get their carbon from?"
"Ummm, don't plants get their carbon from the CO₂ in the atmosphere?"
"Where did you say we were dumping CO₂ again?"

Not that I don't think that global warming won't have wide-spread effects.  Heck, the opening of the drake passage, a simple channel of water, led to Antarctica's current frozen state.  There's all sorts of havoc that can be played when you start messing with global currents.  However, I don't think that we're going to be creating an environment where humans can't survive.  Honestly, the hole in the ozone layer is a much bigger threat to human survival than global warming is.

[Vester]

I personally prefer to think that we humans are simply too hardcore to get taken out by environmental change.

Do you realize how little water is bound up in the ice caps?  Off the top of my head, I believe that it's something like 5% of the earth's total water.  The desalinization won't decrease salt levels that significantly.

Are you sure about this? My high school science is sketchy, so I was just repeating something I'd read somewhere. 5% seems a bit low, though.

[SniHjen]

That aside, isn't the actual problem of the ice caps melting the sudden desalinization of normally salty water? As far as I know, that would seriously wreck ocean life.

the greatest problem is the gulf stream, because it is powered by the salty cold water sinking to the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean.

Northen europa would hardest hit by this.

also: it stopped for 10 days in december 2004.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_Stream#Formation_and_behavior

[JoshuaFH]

Isn't 5% of anything on a macro-scale like... alot? A 1/20 increase isn't miniscule...

What I want to know is, isn't like, 95%~ of the world's fresh water being held up in those glaciers? If those hunks of ice were always in the ocean, how come they're made of fresh water and not salt water? That's a question I should've asked my teachers.

[Vester]

Isn't 5% of anything on a macro-scale like... alot? A 1/20 increase isn't miniscule...

What I want to know is, isn't like, 95%~ of the world's fresh water being held up in those glaciers? If those hunks of ice were always in the ocean, how come they're made of fresh water and not salt water? That's a question I should've asked my teachers.

Does saltwater freeze at the same temperature as fresh water? Because if not, that would explain it.

[SniHjen]

Does saltwater freeze at the same temperature as fresh water? Because if not, that would explain it.

Nope.

Water saturateed with salt, the tempeture can go as low as -4 degree Celcius before freezing.

[Frelock]

Most of the freshwater in the polar caps comes from the packing of snow into dense ice sheets.  This is why we take ice core samples to determine the atmospheric composition of bygone years.

And Josh, of course 5% on such a macro scale means much more than we could comprehend.  However, assume that seawater is pretty much so of even salinity.  Then there is little difference if you mix around 5% more freshwater to the overall salinity content.  In other words, adding 5ml to 1L of 1M salt water does exactly the same as adding 5L to 1kL of 1M salt water.  The ending concentrations are the same, and differ from the original concentrations by the same, very small, fraction.  However, if you add in 5% more sea water on an objective scale, such as the sea level, which is dependent on the volume of the ocean and not its content, then we do see large increases.