GENIUS FORUMS

I don't think the melting of the ice caps will do enough to the oceanic temperature to make a difference. Melting indicates warming, so the temperature would increase the same as the melted ice left the caps as it does now. If you have a glass of ice water that has been sitting there 5 minutes, it is not any colder after the next 5 minutes just because some of the ice melted.

If anything, the melting of the ice caps would increase the ocean temperature, at least in the regions closer (but not right next to) to the caps, because the ice:ocean ratio would decrease as the circumference of the ice caps decreases. Less ice in contact with the ocean will provide less cooling action - like when the ice cubes in your glass of water are mostly melted, they don't do as good of a job of keeping a big glass of water cool as when you had a lot of ice in there (but it does okay if there isn't much water left anyway).

It's proportion - a handfull of ice cools a glass of water, but does nearly nothing in the swimming pool - except right next to the ice itself.

No Elizabeth, glacier melt water is very cold. It is near freezing, that is why it is called glacier melt water.

Ryan Rudolph wrote:No Elizabeth, glacier melt water is very cold. It is near freezing, that is why it is called glacier melt water.

Show me where the freezing/melting temperature is different for glacier water than any other kind of ice water. As far as I can tell, 32F/0C is the freezing/melting point of water, no matter how big of a chunk it was frozen into.

Elizabeth,

What do you think we happen when freezing cold convection cells of fresh water glacier melt water comes into contact with warm oceanic currents with a high salinity?

Many scientists are suggesting that when billions of tonnes of freezing fresh water comes into contact with high salinity warm ocean currents in the temperate zones, then this could result in a changing in their trajectory or even cooling down those currents.

This would cause considerable weather changes in places like Northern North America, Europe and so on.

Fresh water glacier melt water does have cooling capacity when you consider the volume of its mass, the temperature of the warm oceanic currents and the difference in salinity.

In order for the cold water to have an effect, it must be added rapidly enough to overcome the warming effects on the water, including fast enough to compensate for the decreasing volume of cold water as the aforementioned ratio decreases.

Volume is the bigger issue. It is predicted that Florida would be totally under water, as well as changing various other parts of the coastline significantly.

Furthermore, I have not heard anyone mention the change that much fresh water would make on the saliency of the oceans overall. Much sea life depends on that particular amount of saliency to survive. We have not even explored nor discovered much of what is in the depths of the oceans (even the tsunami a few years back washed ashore many examples of sea life never before seen), and much of that may be lost if the oceans turn more into giant estuaries may simply never be discovered by mankind.

Elizabeth Isabelle wrote:In order for the cold water to have an effect, it must be added rapidly enough to overcome the warming effects on the water, including fast enough to compensate for the decreasing volume of cold water as the aforementioned ratio decreases.

Even if it happens slowly it can still happen. If we keep raising temperatures at the rate we are now we will hit a point where it is easier for the ice to melt than to not melt and it will happen fast enough. The cold water doesn't have to be there long to have an impact when built up over time.

Plus I think the issue is also the fact that it is fresh water. Fresh water floats while salt water sinks so if we get a layer of cold fresh water on top of the warm salt water that'll screw the climate too.

-Rory