The Melting of the Polar Ice Caps - Research Paper Example

The melting of the polar ice caps Despite the conflicting resolutions made by environmental experts and scientists on the causes and extent of global warming, the sad reality is that global warming has been occurring and it keeps getting worse each day. The global warming phenomenon is not a virgin subject in the eyes of many. Various articles, reports and studies get carried out to try and establish its existence, progression over the years and its extent. Whereas these different studies conducted by different environmental organizations and experts all give somewhat conflicting information, they remain unanimous that global warming exists and that it keeps spiraling out of proportion each day (Littlefield 26). Without a doubt, the earth’s climate has changed over the years. Though most of these changes could be attributed to variations in the orbit of the earth which lead to changes in energy from the sun that reaches the earth’s surface, current trends suggest that most of these effects are as a result of anthropogenic activities and processes over time. With the advent of technology, data collection and analysis are rarely inconclusive. This becomes possible through the use of satellites that go round the earth’s orbit in successions collecting a wide array of information on the earth and the ever dynamic climate. The study and analysis of this climatic data has always given evidence to the occurrence of global warming (Patterson 19). Rapid increase of temperature over time is an example. Temperature increase has mostly been experienced in the 1970s. The warmest 20 years got recorded to have occurred after 1981, while the warmest 10 years got recorded in the past 12 years. Though the 2000s experienced a stint of solar output reduction that led to a sharp solar minimum especially between 2007 and 2009, surface temperature kept rising. Most of this unprecedented heat gets absorbed by the water bodies. Lakes and oceans take up most of this energy with the upmost 700 meters of ocean water indicating warming of about 0.302 degree Fahrenheit in 20 years (Vardiman 12). Ocean acidification is also an indication of global warming to some extent. Due to the Industrial Revolution, the acidity of the surface water has risen by over 30 percent. This becomes largely attributed to the rampant emission of green house gases like methane and carbon dioxide into the air, which gets later taken up by the surface water. Recent trends have shown that the amount of carbon dioxide absorbed by the topmost layer of surface waters is increasing by over 2 billion tons each year. The concept of how green house gases cause global warming gets largely misunderstood. The largest bulk of green house gases gets taken up by carbon dioxide. These gases do not prevent radiation from getting to the earth’s surface due to the short wavelength of light. Upon reaching the surface of the earth, some of the radiation gets absorbed by the earth’s surface and surface water bodies. What gets left of the radiation gets reflected back to the atmosphere. When solar radiation gets radiated back to the surface, it usually has a longer wavelength. As a result, it cannot penetrate the green house gases in the atmosphere thereby getting trapped. This leads to increase in atmospheric temperature (Maslin 99). Carbon dioxide atmospheric concentration levels have risen from an average of 270 parts per million (ppm) to the current 380 parts per million (ppm), a sharp increase of 30 percent. Methane gas also contributes to global warming. It is much lethal compared to other green house gases and exists in lower concentrations in the atmosphere. The melting of glaciers gets directly attributed to global warming. Though melting of glaciers is a natural process, the rate of glacial melt has been increasing rapidly. The fresh snow that gets formed is not adequate enough to replace the rapidly melting snow. The size of the glaciers keeps reducing. As surface temperatures keep increasing, it is only natural that the glaciers melt faster. Sheets if ice in Greenland and Antarctica keep decreasing in mass. Data collected by NASA shows that Antarctica lost 152 cubic kilometers of ice each year between 2002 and 2005. Greenland lost 150-250 cubic kilometers of ice each year between 2002 and 2006. Reduced ice cover on the surface of the earth makes global warming even worse as temperatures rise even faster. Ice glaciers absorb 20 percent of heat from the sun and deflect 80 percent of it. Melting of glaciers exposes the earth surface to direct solar radiation. 80 percent of the sun heat gets taken up by the earth surface, and 20 percent gets deflected (Avery 87). Data collected from the Arctic region reveal the grim truth. Average temperatures in this part of the world are increasing two fold as fast as in other parts of the globe. The ice in the arctic region keeps getting thinner each day before it eventually melts and ruptures. The largest ice block in the Arctic, known as the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf that dates back over 3000 years ago began cracking in 2000.Within a period of two years, this ice block had split all through and is currently disintegrating into small pieces. NASA satellites that tower above the polar ice cap show the rapid rate of shrinking that is currently occurring. The region of permanent ice cover is receding at a rate of nine percent per decade. Scientists estimate that if this goes unchecked the Arctic region could experience iceless summers in a few years. The World watch Institute estimates that an ice mass the size of Denmark disappears after every two years as a result of global warming. The ice that gets left is usually less than half its original thickness. Estimates form data collected show that about 40 percent of the total ice volume melted in the past 30 years (Houghton 126). Increasing surface temperatures cause sea and ocean water temperatures to rise. Surface water expands due to the increase in temperatures and causes the water level rise. The melting water from the glaciers drains into the sea and oceans leading to a rise in sea levels. Melting of ice caps and glaciers has negative environmental impacts. It destroys the ecosystems on which flora and fauna depend on. This leads to massive loss of bio diversity in the Polar Regions and the surface water. Decrease salinization of surface water in these regions also occurs (Singer 111). Skeptic scientist are of the idea that the melting of the idea that global warming does not cause melting of the ice caps stating that this in a perfectly natural process. By measuring the annual changes in glacial activity, they have been able to notice regions where ice formation is actually increasing. This is because there are pockets in which glaciers lose or gain ice more than the expected average. This view is not wholesome because the calculation of the glacial mass index would indicate massive reduction in levels if ice caps compared to past years. Though some areas experience increased snow fall and ice formation, this ice does not get formed rapidly to replace the rapidly melting ice. Changes in glaciers are not only subject to temperature variations. Precipitation also affects glaciers. This means that there will be times in which temperature increase leads to increased precipitation. This leads to ice accumulation after cooling such as is the case in South Western Norway especially in the late 1990s. Though glacier variations are subject to localized conditions, the common trend and sequence of events in most of the glacial region indicate rapidly diminishing glacial volumes (Roux 37). A serious misconception that exists among environmental scientist circles is the climate change characterized by global warming has the same residual effect across the board. This is a fallacy because evidence collected shows that this is hardly the case. Though most of the ice caps and glaciers are rapidly diminishing due to global warming, ice caps and glacial deposits are actually increasing in some regions. Not all glaciers on earth get affected by global warming. The Perito Merino Glacier in Argentina, is an example of a stable glacier that has not been subject to temperature changes outside the Antarctica (Littlefield 112) The hoax theory came as a result of the declaration that the globe needs to put measures to stop rapid climate change. The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change made the announcement that the whole world needed to change its ways. However, some scientists questioned the way this conclusion got met. Upon going through the data collected, they realized massive discrepancies in the data collected and the data represented. They thought it was largely exaggerated and based on hyperbole rather than the reality on the ground. The UN panel predicted that the Himalayan glaciers would melt by 2035. Scientist found these claims unfounded and highly unlikely. The reasoning behind this was that the data got doctored to give biased results intended to attract funding. Most members of the panel including its Chairman, had no training whatsoever, and got found to be in no position to make such pronouncements (Vardiman 12) Whereas some of these counter claims are true, the whole study should not be casually written off. Some of the issues that got captured in the study are a representation of the current state of affairs. It is true that the earth is losing most of its glacial deposits in alarming rates. Though ice melting is a natural phenomenon that is self replenishing, recent studies have shown that there exists a large gap between the rate of glacial loss and glacial formation. There is need to keenly look into the topic of climate change and in particular global warming with a view of trying to mitigate its negative effects. The ice caps and glacial deposits need to be protected in order to conserve the larger environment and the ecosystem. Global governments need to pass resolutions that get aimed at reducing green house gas emissions that lead to global warming (Littlefield 69) Works Cited Dennis T. Avery, Siegfried Fred Singer. Unstoppable Global Warming. Chicago: Rowman & Littlefield, 2007. Houghton, John Theodore. Global Warming: The Complete Briefing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Maslin, Mark. Global Warming: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford Univesity Press, 2009. Global Warming:Causes, Effects, and the Future. Stanford: MBI Publishing Company, 2007. Patterson, Matt. "Meltdown of the climate 'consensus'." Green Watch 11th September 2011: 19. Publishing, Britannica Educational. Climate and Climate Change. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, 2011. Roux, Marcel. Global Warming: Myth or Reality: The Erring Ways of Climatology. New York: Springer Publishers, 2005. Vardiman, L. "Evidence for Global Warming. Acts & Fact." The Climate 22 5 2007: 12. Read More