The Dangers Melting Polar Ice Caps Are Facing
You’ve probably seen ice melting in the heat. The ice you see melt is usually small, but now think of a piece of ice about two times the size as Chicago. That piece of ice broke off not so long ago. Just last year the Arctic Circle shrunk to its second smallest size since it was studied. This is because of global warming. In the last century, the Earth’s normal temperature has increased by about ½ degrees Celsius. It seems small but it’s actually a huge problem. In 1350–1850 there was a small “ice age” just because of a 2 degrees drop. Just think about it if there was a 2 degrees temperature rise; there might be a minor heatwave!
Sea ice is formed by water in the ice where it expands and shrinks. The ice in the water near the arctic circle helps reduce global warming. This is because the energy the sun projects on Earth is reflected back into space because of the ice causing the area around the ice to be much cooler. Since ice reflects a large amount of sunlight the water around is much cooler. Without the ice caps that reflect the light, the seas and oceans will rise in heat temperature. This would mean that there will be more natural disasters and those natural disasters will become much more intense. In the winter, the sea ice around the arctic circle would freeze and during the summer, it would melt. The water that usually freezes during the winter has dropped in considerable amounts. Most of the ice on Earth is made up of the South Pole. It is crucial that the ice at the South Pole stays intact because if a piece of the ice that makes up the South Pole melted then the sea levels would rise which causes floods. In 2020 there was a heat stroke in Siberia that was caused by global warming. The Arctic circle melted about a season earlier than it was supposed to. The temperatures during the heatwave were, “ 8–10 degrees celsius” hotter than regular temperatures. On average, the ice stretches for about 1.5 million miles, but in 2019 and 2020 the ice length went below a million. All of this ice melted. Since many busy cities have low mainland, if the water levels rise at a large amount then the cities might get flooded. NASA has said that they have researched ice caps. NASA claims that about 9% of the ice melted and that nearly 50% of the ice’s thickness melted in the last 60 years. If this speed of melting continues, all the sea’s ice will melt in just 20 years.
The ice is also melting much earlier in the season. The ice is melting, but the ice that doesn’t melt is losing its layers. This is dangerous since all the ice that is melting manipulates the sea current’s behavior. In addition, the ice in the polar region is made out of fresh water, not saltwater. This is a large problem because the ice that is getting melted is freshwater. The freshwater might cause the sea circulation to slow down. This is a problem because we need the water circulation to happen. The water circulation helps to’ “ regulate the planet’s climate”. If the sea circulation slows down, then the sea life will get damaged. Under the ice, there is cold water, but warmer water is starting to appear and it melts the ice above the water.
Humans have caused all of this damage. In the past century, we have caused most of this damage. We must take action and start living sustainably! We could all reduce this by, trying to drive less. You should also try to save more water. Small things like these can impact the Earth positively. You should try to use other energy sources like solar, wind, water, etc.
Please try to help Earth. We all only have one and we need to keep alive and well forever!!!
Resources:
https://climate.nasa.gov/news/3023/2020-arctic-sea-ice-minimum-at-second-lowest-on-record/
https://www.theworldcounts.com/stories/ice-cap-melting-facts
Kyle Lee (kylelee.earthminions@gmail.com) is a 5th grader at Bellows Spring Elementary School. He loves to learn about ecosystems and he enjoys being with animals. He is passionate about animal conservation and climate change. In his free time, he enjoys fishing, hiking, and playing with his cats. (Elkridge, MD)
