How Is the Climate Influencing the Polar Ice Caps and How Has the Change with Polar Ice Caps Influenced the Global Climate?

The planet we live in, the earth is a tiny composition in this huge universe. It has diversities ranging from highly variant temperature and pressure belts as well as various ecosystem types. One such remarkable feature of the earth is the polar ice caps. There are three major prominent features, the Antarctic ice on the South Pole, the Arctic ice on the North Pole and Greenland on the north between North America and Europe. Antarctica consist about 90 percent of the world's ice (and 70 percent of its fresh water). It is covered with ice an average of 2,133 meters (7,000 feet) thick. If all of the Antarctic ice melted, sea levels around the world would rise about 61 meters (200 feet). The Arctic ice is not so thick in comparison and it mostly floats in the Arctic Ocean. Greenland, on the other hand would add another 7 meters (20 feet) to the oceans if it melted because Greenland is closer to the equator than Antarctica, the temperatures there are higher, so the ice is more likely to melt. Scientists from the Universities of London and Edinburgh say that ice loss in Antarctica and Greenland together contribute approximately 12 percent of the rise in sea levels. The melting of these enormous ice bodies can significantly impact the global changes in climate and reversely, this climate changes also impact the melting of the ice bodies. It is a two way process and the causes are mostly anthropogenic.

Recent studies based on satellite monitoring by NASA reveals that melting ice from both the poles has been responsible for a fifth of the global rising sea levels since 1992 (11 mm). Antarctica and Greenland are now contributing three times as much ice to sea levels as they were 20 years ago. Although the Greenland ice sheet is only about...

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...arth has always varied from time to time, since the time the earth was formed and it is one of the most unpredictable processes. Though it is a natural process, anthropogenic contributions are also accounted upon heavily these days. According to studies, although the earth is supposed to be experiencing a cooling phase at this time, it is evident from the polar ice caps melting that the earth is warming. The polar ecosystem is hence going through a phase of dynamism more due to external disturbances such as rising temperature and ocean thermal expansion. Therefore the need of the hour is to be aware about the changes in the ecosystem that is occurring and to come together to either prevent or adapt to the changing conditions. Only then can a ecosystem function in a healthy manner with its species diversity and good interaction among themselves and their environment.