PROJECT REPORT ON

‘POLAR ICE CAPS

MELTING IS LAST 50
YEARS’
Submitted By
KAJAL SONKAR
CU REGISTERATION No: 235-1211-0183-17
CU ROLL No: 171235-11-0079
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to start my project on “POLAR ICE CAPS MELTING IN

LAST 50 YEARS”. I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude
to our Principal Mausumi Singh Sengupta, for the blessings and
inspirations and providing us a good opportunity to work on such project.

I would also like to thank our Head of Department Mrs. Ananya

Kundu, who gave the valuable guidance for the assignment which was
like a golden opportunity to do the wonderful work on the topic “POLAR
ICE CAPS MELTING IN LAST 50 YEARS”.

I would also like to thank our teacher Mrs. Aparajita Mukherjee for
sharing the views and guidance and encouragement in carrying out this
project work.

Last but not the least, I would also like to thanks my parents, family
members, friends and all others who helped me in finalizing this project
within the limited time frame.

Signature of the candidate

INDEX:

1. ABSTRACT

2. INTRODUCTION

3. OBJECTIVE

4. AREA OF STUDY

5. PROJECT RELEVANCE

6. METHODOLOGY

7. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

8. CONCLUSION

9. BIBLIOGRAPHY
 ABSTRACT
Seasonal temperature variations and long-term climate change
cause melting of the polar ice caps. As of 2014, temperatures in the
Arctic are increasing at double the rate of elsewhere in the world. As a
result, ice in the Arctic is thinning and melting. Arctic ice is decreasing by
9 percent each decade, according to data derived from NASA.

Scientists say that the melting trend is part of overall global warming that
is caused by burning coal, gas and oil. The burning of fossil fuels traps
gases that causes the Earth's temperature to increase. Between 1906
and 2005, the average temperature at the Earth's surface increased by
about three-fourths of a degree Celsius. 

As global warming causes more snow and ice to melt each summer, the
ocean and land that were underneath the ice are exposed at the Earth’s
surface, this causes more global warming.

In this project my concentration would be on the melting of ice caps over

the years and its various impacts on the environment and how
governments are changing their strategies towards sustainable growth.
 INTRODUCTION
While summers are known for heat, humidity, and sunshine, there are
areas where this is not the preferred climate. Scientists predict that due
to global warming and other causes, the Arctic circle will have ice-free
summers within twenty years. The melting of the polar ice caps and
other glaciers will produce negative effects on the environment and
humans, such as habitat destruction and the disruption of Inuit lives.

Surprisingly, climate change is occurring faster in the far north than other
places in the world. This is mostly due to greenhouse gases, or gases
that trap heat in the Earth’s atmosphere. One of these greenhouse
gasses is methane. Today, polar ice caps are melting six times faster
than they did in the 1990s. Paired with the 2019 Arctic heat wave, this
melting rate may produce disastrous outcomes. Notably, the
disappearing polar ice caps will accelerate global warming, cause
widespread coastal flooding, and contribute to rising sea levels .
Scientists have confirmed that polar ice caps are melting at
unprecedented and dangerous rates. Since the 1990s, the speed of ice
loss as increased six fold — with a sevenfold increase in Greenland.In a
more proximate scale, ice loss has tripled in speed in the past five years
alone.

Attributed in part to rising average temperatures, the poles are

experiencing the brunt of global warming known as polar amplification,
the effects of increased solar radiation are most pronounced in polar
region where the average global temperature may increase slightly over
time, the poles often times experience steeper temperature spikes.

This is certainly the

case for the
Antarctic Circle.
Recent
temperatures have
reached records in
the region,
amounting to 65
degrees
Fahrenheit (18.33
°C) this winter.
The scientists found that Greenland and Antarctica lost about 6.5 trillion
tonnes of ice between 1992 and 2017, which caused global sea levels
to rise by 17.8 millimeters. Around 10.6 millimeters came from the
Greenland ice losses, while 7.2 millimeters came from Antarctic melting.

“The combined rate of ice loss has risen by a factor six in just three
decades, up from 81 billion tonnes per year in the 1990s to 475 billion
tonnes per year in the 2010s. This means that the polar ice sheets are
now responsible for a third of all sea level rise,” the report states.

 Every centimeter of sea level rise leads to coastal flooding and

coastal erosion, disrupting people’s lives around the planet,”
Andrew Shepherd of the University of Leeds, who was involved in
the study, is quoted as saying in the release.

 “These are not unlikely events with small impacts,” he said. “They
are already under way and will be devastating for coastal
communities.”

 Erik Ivins, of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who was also part
of the study, reaffirmed that the melting polar caps are palpable
proof of global warming.

Ice shelves are massive, floating platforms of ice that surround the ice-
covered continents of Antarctica and Greenland. When they melt, sea
level isn't directly affected because this ice is already in the ocean. But
scientists have learned that floating ice shelves act as dams to glaciers,
which are flowing rivers of ice. After the Larsen B Antarctic ice shelf
broke up in 2002, glaciers behind the shelf began flowing into the sea
much more quickly. Movement of ice from land into the ocean makes
sea level rise globally.

The Arctic has warmed at more than twice the global average, causing

sea ice at the top of the world to melt faster than scientists had
projected. This can be measured in

 square kilometers of ice cover, referred to as the sea ice extent. At

the end of summer in 2019, at the time when Arctic sea ice extent
reaches its annual minimum, the area covered by Arctic sea ice
shrank to its second-lowest level since satellite monitoring began
in 1979.
  The 13 years with the lowest sea-ice area have occurred in the last
13 years. As of May 13, there was 12.54 million km2 of Arctic sea
ice, or 5.7% lower than the historical average for the day .

Below are a few charts showing data from NASA’s satellites, which
measure the ebbs and flows of polar ice growth and recession.

 The data shows a long-term decline of global sea ice of about

5.5% (note this is GLOBAL sea ice, not land ice).

 What is more telling than global sea ice is the average monthly
arctic sea ice data (as Antarctic sea ice acts differently than
Arctic).

 What is most troubling is the implication of the data: that polar land
ice is melting.

There are two types of polar ice: sea ice and land ice.

1. Antarctic sea ice extent is increasing

2. Antarctic land ice mass is decreasing
3. Arctic sea ice extent is pretty much staying consistent
4. Arctic land ice mass is decreasing

The Arctic and Antarctic are both reacting differently, but both are
actually signaling that there is a problem. [9]
  In the Arctic, the land ice is melting and the sea ice is spreading
out in cold weather and retreating in warm setting record
maximums and minimums.
 In the Antarctic, land ice is melting, but sea ice is remaining
consistent.

OBJECTIVE

Determine the impacts of melting of polar ice caps on increasing

the sea levels:

If the great ice cap covering Greenland would melt:

 it would add another 7 meters (20 feet) to the world’s oceans.

 Greenland is close to the equator – closer than Antarctica; higher
temperatures make the ice more likely to melt.
 According to scientists from the Universities of London and
Edinburgh, ice loss in Greenland and Antarctica combined add
about 12 percent to sea levels.

Determining the impact of melting of polar ice caps on the increase

in temperature of the ocean:

Another effect of polar ice caps melting is that:

 Temperature of the water is also increasing.

 Water achieves the highest density at 4 degrees Celsius.

 The water’s density decreases above and below this temperature.

In other words, the same amount of water occupies more space.
Therefore, when the overall temperature of the water increases, it
naturally makes the oceans rise.

Determining the impact of melting of polar ice caps on the increase

of flood risks:

 Ice melting also affects people and places.

  For example, over one million people from Bangladesh had to be
relocated due to the rising sea and the rising Ganges and
Brahmaputra.

 With no solution or no actions, more than 13 million people will

lose their homes in the near future. Entire island nations and the
world’s largest metropolises would be extensively flooded. Among
them are New York, Miami and Los Angeles, as well as Rio de
Janeiro, Mumbai and Sydney.

AREA OF STUDY

The international scientific community has agreed that the Arctic and
Antarctic ice melting is now a proven fact. Climate change, chiefly
caused by greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, has affected many
vulnerable ecosystems.

There is evidence that the sea temperature has increased, which could

have originally triggered off the reduction of the ice cap. The Earth
surface temperature is also changing and affecting global warming. The
warmest temperatures were recorded in 2014. How does all this affect
the Poles?

Most of this warming has taken place over the past 30 years, but it has
especially increased in the last ten, making matters worse in the Arctic
and Antarctica.

The Arctic situation

40% of the Arctic area covered in sea ice was lost between 1979 and
the end of last year´s summer. This US Weather Service video captures
the striking picture of the area losing ice from 1987 to 2014. The oldest
ice caps prevailed over the region just 26 years ago and there is virtually
none of them now!

Contemporary Antarctica
Data gathered from Antarctica are also quite bleak. It has been recently
revealed that its largest glacier, the 130-km long and 30-km wide Totten,
is melting down due to the sea temperature rise. Another large glacier,
the Smith one, has been thinning at a rate of 2 km per year, until losing
35 km of its surface.

The ice melting situation which Antarctica is suffering has been

described as “irreversible”. After four decades of watching the
zone, NASA suggests that glaciers have suffered an irreversible and
relentless contraction. Furthermore, it will be Antarctica and Greenland
the most powerful propellers of a sea level rise. PIK´s Anders
Levermann suggests that if greenhouse gases keep increasing as they
did in the past, the Antarctic melting could make the global ocean
exceed an additional 1-37 centimeters high already in this century.

The effects of global warming in the Arctic, or climate change in the

Arctic include rising air and water temperatures, loss of sea ice, and
melting of the Greenland ice sheet with a related cold temperature
anomaly, observed since the 1970s. Related impacts include ocean
circulation changes, increased input of freshwater, and ocean
acidification. Indirect effects through potential climate teleconnections to
mid latitudes may result in a greater frequency of extreme weather
events (flooding, fires and drought), ecological, biological and phenology
changes, biological migrations and extinctions, natural resource stresses
and as well as human health, displacement and security issues.
Potential methane releases from the region, especially through the
thawing of permafrost and methane clathrates, may occur. Presently, the
Arctic is warming twice as fast as the rest of the world. The pronounced
warming signal, the amplified response of the Arctic to global warming, is
often seen as a leading indicator of global warming. The melting of
Greenland's ice sheet is linked to polar amplification. According to a
study published in 2016, about 0.5 °C (0.90 °F) of the warming in the
Arctic has been attributed to reductions in sulfate aerosols in Europe
since 1980.

Changes in extent and area

1870 - 2009 Northern

Hemisphere sea ice extent in million
square kilometers. Blue shading
indicates the pre-satellite era; data
then is less reliable. In particular, the
near-constant level extent in autumn
up to 1940 reflects lack of data
rather than a real lack of variation.

Reliable measurement of sea ice edges began with the satellite era in the

late 1970s. Before this time, sea ice area and extent were monitored
less precisely by a combination of ships, buoys and aircraft. The data
show a long-term negative trend in recent years, attributed to global
warming, although there is also a considerable amount of variation from
year to year. Some of this variation may be related to effects such as
the Arctic oscillation, which may itself be related to global warming.

The Arctic sea ice September minimum extent (i.e., area with at least
15% sea ice coverage) reached new record lows in 2002, 2005, 2007,
and 2012. The 2007 melt season let to a minimum 39% below the 1979–
2000 average, and for the first
time in human memory, the
fabled Northwest
Passage opened
completely. The dramatic 2007
melting surprised and
concerned scientists.

Sea ice coverage in 1980

(bottom) and 2012 (top), as
observed by passive microwave sensors on NASA's Nimbus-7 satellite
and by the Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder (SSMIS) from the
Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP). Multi-year ice is
shown in bright white, while average sea ice cover is shown in light blue
to milky white. The data shows the ice cover for the period of 1
November through 31 January in their respective years.

From 2008 to 2011, Arctic sea ice minimum extent was higher than
2007, but it did not return to the levels of previous years. In 2012
however, the 2007 record low was broken in late August with three
weeks still left in the melt season. It continued to fall, bottoming out on
16 September 2012 at 3.41 million square kilometers (1.32 million
square miles), or 760,000 square kilometers (293,000 square miles)
below the previous low set on 18 September 2007 and 50% below the
1979–2000 average.

The rate of the decline in entire Arctic ice coverage is accelerating. From
1979–1996, the average per decade decline in entire ice coverage was
a 2.2% decline in ice extent and a 3% decline in ice area. For the
decade ending 2008, these values have risen to 10.1% and 10.7%,
respectively. These are comparable to the September to September loss
rates in year-round ice (i.e., perennial ice, which survives throughout the
year), which averaged a retreat of 10.2% and 11.4% per decade,
respectively, for the period 1979–2007.

A forecasting tool reveals which cities will be affected as different

portions of the ice sheet melt, say scientists.

It looks at the Earth's spin and gravitational effects to predict how water
will be "redistributed" globally.

"This provides, for each city, a picture of which glaciers, ice sheets, [and]
ice caps are of specific importance," say the researchers.

The tool has been developed by scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion

Laboratory in California.

Their findings are published in the journal Science Advances.

Senior scientist Dr Erik Ivins said: "As cities and countries attempt to
build plans to mitigate flooding, they have to be thinking about 100 years
in the future and they want to assess risk in the same way that insurance
companies do."
And this new tool provided a way for them to work out which ice sheets
they should be "most worried about".

It suggests that in
London sea-level
rise could be
significantly
affected by
changes in the
north-western part
of the Greenland
ice sheet.

While for New York, the area of

concern is the ice sheet's entire
northern and eastern portions.

Sea level changes in

Sydney, the forecast
shows, are "very
strongly influenced" by
ice changes that occur
along the north-
northeast and north-
northwest coasts of
Antarctica.
Dr Eric Larour, the lead developer on this project from Nasa's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, explained that three key processes influenced
the "sea-level fingerprint", or pattern of sea-level change around the
world.

The first is gravity.

"These [ice sheets] are huge masses that exert an attraction on the
ocean," said Dr Larour.

"When the ice shrinks, that attraction diminishes- and the sea will move
away from that mass." As well as this "push-pull influence" of ice, the
ground under a melting ice sheet expands vertically, having previously
been compressed by the sheer weight of ice

PROJECT RELEVANCE
The Arctic hasn't been itself lately. Temperatures there are rising at
twice the global rate, sparking an array of changes unlike anything seen
in recorded history.

One of the most striking examples is the region's sea ice, which is now
declining by about 13% per decade, with the 12 lowest seasonal
minimums all recorded in the last 12 years. In September 2018, Arctic
sea ice tied for its sixth-lowest extent on record, according to the U.S.
National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC).

"This year's minimum is relatively high compared to the record low

extent we saw in 2012, but it is still low compared to what it used to be in
the 1970s, 1980s and even the 1990s," says Claire Parkinson, a climate
change senior scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, in
a statement about the 2018 minimum.

Arctic sea ice always waxes and wanes with the season, but its average
late-summer minimum is now shrinking by 13.2% per decade, according
to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). And in
its 2018 Arctic Report Card, NOAA reports the oldest Arctic sea ice —
frozen for at least four years, making it more resilient than younger,
thinner ice — is now in steep decline. This oldest ice comprised about
16% of the total ice pack in 1985, NOAA reports, but it's now less than
1%, representing a loss of 95% in 33 years.
"A decade ago, there were vast regions of the Arctic that had ice that
was several years old," NASA researcher Alek Petty tells the
Washington Post. "But now, that's a rare phenomenon."

Scientists widely agree the main catalyst is human-induced climate

change, boosted by a feedback loop known as Arctic amplification.
(Antarctic sea ice, meanwhile, is more buffered against warming.) The
basic problem has become well-known even among laypeople, thanks
largely to its compelling effect on polar bears.

But while many people realize humans are indirectly undermining sea
ice via global warming, there's often less clarity about the reverse of that
equation. We know sea ice is important to polar bears, but why is either
one important to us?

Such a question overlooks many other dangers of climate change,

from stronger storms and longer droughts to desertification and ocean
acidification. But even in a vacuum, the decline of Arctic sea ice is
disastrous — and not just for polar bears. To shed some light on why,
here are five of its lesser-known benefits:

1. It reflects sunlight:

Earth's poles are cold

mainly because they
get less direct
sunlight than lower
latitudes do. But
there's also another
reason: Sea ice is
white, so it reflects
most sunlight back to
space. This
reflectivity, known as
"albedo," helps keep the poles cold by limiting their heat
absorption. As shrinking sea ice exposes more seawater to
sunlight, the ocean absorbs more heat, which in turn melts more
ice and curbs albedo even further. This creates a positive
feedback loop, one of several ways warming begets more
warming.

2. It influences ocean currents:

 By regulating polar heat, sea
ice also affects weather
worldwide. That's because the
oceans and air act as heat
engines, moving heat to the
poles in a constant quest for
balance. One way is
atmospheric circulation, or the
large-scale movement of air.
Another, slower method occurs
underwater, where ocean
currents move heat along a "global conveyor belt" in a process
called thermohaline circulation. Fueled by local variations in warmth and
salinity, this drives weather patterns at sea and on land.

Declining sea ice has two main effects on this process. First, warming up
the poles disrupts Earth's overall heat flow by tweaking its temperature
gradient. Second, altered wind patterns push more sea ice toward the
Atlantic, where it melts into cold freshwater. (Seawater expels salt as it
freezes.) Since less salinity means the water is less dense, melted sea
ice floats rather than sinking like cold saltwater. And since thermohaline
circulation needs cold, sinking water at high latitudes, this can halt the
flow of warm, rising water from the tropics.

3. It insulates the air:

As cold as the Arctic Ocean is, it's still warmer than the air in winter. Sea
ice acts as insulation between the two, limiting how much warmth
radiates up. Along with albedo, this is another way sea ice helps
maintain the Arctic's chilly climate. But as sea ice melts and cracks, it
becomes dotted with gaps that let heat escape.

"Roughly half of the total exchange of heat between the Arctic Ocean
and the atmosphere occurs through openings in the ice," according to
the NSIDC.

4. It keeps methane at bay:

Heat isn't all that seeps through weak sea ice. Scientists have long
known Arctic tundra and marine sediments contain large, frozen deposits
of methane, posing a climate risk if they thaw and release the potent
greenhouse gas. But in 2012, researchers from NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory discovered "a surprising and potentially important" new
source of Arctic methane: the Arctic Ocean itself.
Flying north of the Chukchi and Beaufort seas, the researchers found
mysterious methane fumes that couldn't be explained by typical sources
like wetlands, geologic reservoirs or industrial facilities. Noticing the gas
was absent over solid sea ice, they finally traced its source to surface
waters exposed by broken ice.

5. It limits severe weather:

It's well-established that global warming boosts severe weather in
general, but according to the NSIDC, sea-ice loss also favors bigger
storms in the Arctic itself. Unbroken swaths of sea ice normally limit how
much moisture moves from the ocean to the atmosphere, making it
harder for strong storms to develop. As sea ice dwindles, storm
formation is easier and ocean waves can grow larger.

METHODOLOGY

In this project I have used various news and articles published by

different agencies and research center. I have taken articles from NASA
(National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and IPCC
(Intergovernmental panel on climate change). I have also taken help
from Google, Wikipedia, etc. The articles I have used are from the
websites guardian.com, www.express.co.uk,wikipedia.org, etc. Here are
the few articles published:

Data shows that the polar ice caps are melting due to both natural and
human factors. Data comes from NASA satellites and is accepted by
skeptics and climate change advocates alike.

This isn’t to say that every blip of data on sea ice and land ice spells
catastrophe, but it does indicate that when we aggregate the data we
see trends of polar ice caps melting at accelerated rates (on average
over time, especially since the 1970s; not each year). [3][4]

This melting is at least in part due to an increase in the earth’s average

temperature AKA “global warming,” which is thought to be impacted by
human Carbon Dioxide production (and the release of other
greenhouses gasses into the atmosphere from both human activity and
natural occurrences)
Largest Areas of Agreement and Disagreement About Polar Ice Caps
and Global Warming

All sides of this debate focus on the impact of climate change.

Many people believe that the ice caps are melting and that melting ice
caps have negative effects. Most also agree that humans are
contributing to the problem via global warming (the greenhouse effect
that makes the earth’s average temperature rise).

The fact that we are coming to the end of a geological ice age should
also be taken into account.

The greatest disagreement isn’t over whether or not climate change is

real or if sea ice is melting, it is over whether this is a major problem or a
modest one, and how much control we have over it.

Ultimately, all sides of the argument are based on data NASA satellite

data collected since 1979 (and ice chunks studied since the 50’s), which
show a long-term decline of global sea ice and land ice. Polar ice
naturally recedes and grows in cycles, but data suggests this is not a
purely natural decline and instead is correlating with other “climate
change” data to paint a troubling picture.

The other articles published at bloomberg.com are:

The Arctic has warmed at more than twice the global average, causing
sea ice at the top of the world to melt faster than scientists had
projected. This can be measured in square kilometers of ice cover,
referred to as the sea ice extent. At the end of summer in 2019, at the
time when Arctic sea ice extent reaches its annual minimum, the area
covered by Arctic sea ice shrank to its second-lowest level since
satellite monitoring began in 1979. The 13 years with the lowest sea-ice
area have occurred in the last 13 years. As of May. 14, there was 12.40
million km2 of Arctic sea ice, or 6.4% lower than the historical average
for the day.

Inside the Metric:

The loss of Arctic sea ice is a double whammy. Ice helps cool the Earth
by reflecting solar energy back into space. Losing reflectivity is bad
enough—the ocean around the ice becomes darker and absorbs energy,
warming the water and melting more ice. The consequences are global,
not only from faster heating, but from potential disruption to large-scale
features of weather, such as the Northern winter polar vortex.
How we know:

Since 1979, a succession of satellites have collected energy radiated

from Arctic sea ice and surrounding water, allowing scientists to
assemble maps of ice coverage. Unlike visible light, microwave radiation
given off at the surface can pass through clouds, allowing the satellites
to distinguish ice from water. The ice-extent data are produced by
the National snow and ice data center at the University of Colorado-
Boulder.

What progress looks like:

Short of artificially producing ice with water pumps or other not-yet-

feasible means, there’s no direct fix for the melting Arctic besides
arresting the overall release of heat-trapping gases. In the meantime,
nations around the Arctic rim are busy adapting to the melt. Expect to
see more shipping, fishing, fossil-fuel exploration and strategic military
activity.
 RESULTS AND
DISCUSSIONS

The melting of the polar ice

caps is not only limited to
specific parts of the world.
The rapid melting of the ice is
a global concern and its
consequences affect the
whole world in every
continent, especially when it
comes to global warming.

 Melting of these ice caps

causes excessive flooding
which is very dangerous for
the people and animals that
are living in those areas as it
would destroy homes,
habitats, and lives.

The major consequences of melting polar ice caps can be said in the
following order below:

1. Global Warming.

We are currently experiencing warmer temperatures all over the world

today as temperatures have gone high, and global warming is becoming
more alarming day by day. This rise in temperature helps polar ice caps
melt faster than it should be. Ice caps have even disappeared in certain
parts of the world due to this. The melting of the polar ice caps increases
global warming because ice glaciers deflects or bounces off about 80%
heat from the sun and retain or absorb about 20% of it. However, when
sunlight falls on earth, only 20% of the heat is deflected and 80% is
absorbed. This in turn increases sea water temperatures, melting ice
faster causing the earth to get warmer.

2. Shortage of Fresh Water.

Earth looks sort of enveloped and covered with water when seen from
space which causes people to think that we are self-sufficient with water.
However, this is just the opposite as most of the water that we can see
from space in pictures is just salt water that is not good for human use
and only 2% of it is considered as freshwater good enough for human
use in which 70% of it comes from ice caps and glaciers. People in
certain parts of the world depend on this fresh source of water for not
only drinking but for agricultural purposes as well. There are certain
areas around the Himalayas that are currently in crisis due to this
especially in dry months as populations rise.

3. Reduced Agricultural Output.

To begin with, for the areas where agriculture mainly depends on rain,
they won t be effected by melting of the ice caps. However these areas
are few around the world. Areas that are affected are those that depend
on fresh water coming from ice caps and glaciers. When ice caps keep
on melting there will be lesser fresh water for agriculture which will make
the lands dry and not suitable for agriculture thus reduce the total output
leading to a shortage in harvest.

4. Excessive Flooding.

There are ice caps all over the world and it should be understood that
the difference between polar ice caps and ice caps is that the later are
present also on lands. Melting of these ice caps causes excessive
flooding which is very dangerous for the people and animals that are
living in those areas as it would destroy homes, habitats, and lives.
Furthermore, polar ice caps and ice glaciers on higher altitudes melt
faster which form new lakes and raise river water levels as well causing
floods. This is also a cause of concern as when these river water levels
rise and lakes burst, they lead to major disasters destroying everything
crossing its path.

5. Rise In Sea Level.

As the polar ice caps melt at a faster rate, the more the sea levels rise.
The consequences of this will be of dire magnitude and people living in
coastal regions all over the world will have to relocate and live
somewhere else, thereby decreasing amount of living space, due to soil
erosion, flooding, and their fresh water being contaminated with salt
water of the sea.

It has been estimated that the sea level rising 1mm to 2mm per year. It
has also been estimated that in the U.S there will be a 3-foot rise in sea
level in the Gulf coast which will lead to the deluge of more tha 22,000
square miles of land.

6. Habitat Loss.

There are plenty of animals, birds, and even fishes that depend on the
polar ice caps and its temperatures for their survival. There are fishes
depend on food such as phytoplankton and sea-plants that are
underwater near the ice caps and there are birds such as snow owls that
depend on these fishes near the ice caps and animals and humans who
depend on certain birds for food. They are all connected. As sea water
temperatures get warmer and sea levels rise, the sea plants in which
these fishes feed off n live on will eventually die out n disappear and this
in turn will lead to the increase in the death toll of fishes and birds will
reduce due to lack of fishes to feed on, making survival for birds very
difficult, thus disturbing the whole ecosystem. Furthermore the reduction
of fishes has an impact on the polar bear as they have much less to feed
on forcing them to take long journeys away from their habitat which also
forces to eat what they don’t normally eat. This journey is a risky one as
some of the polar bear don t make it alive an die on the way as there are
many threats as starvation and threats underwater such as killer whales
and sharks.
 Most people today
have never even
heard DDT and such
pesticides as they
were banned all over
the world years ago.
These substances
were airborne and
eventually wounded
up in cooler areas
near the ice caps and
polar ice caps.
Unfortunately the story doesn’t end there as most of these harmful
airborne chemicals got trapped inside the polar ice caps and glaciers,
which later chunks of ice melt and break off, the chemicals, are then
released back into the environment in seas, rivers, and lakes containing
glaciers.

CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the consequences of the melting polar ice caps are not
only limited to specific areas of the world but rather are a global
consequence and one that has many concerns and should be dealt with
immediately because the polar ice caps are still melting and sea levels
are rising, effecting us all over the world as mentioned above.
Unfortunately nothing can be done about the rapid melting of the polar
ice caps at the moment but global warming is a major factor in the rapid
decrease of the ice caps and everyone should contribute to reduce
global warming as a first step.

The changes that have already been made by global warming are
irreversible. This means that all the melted ice cannot be frozen again.
However, the way to fix this problem is to stop what is being done that
makes the situation worse. This would mean that the climate change can
be fixed by reducing the carbon emissions, recycling, etc. This basically
applies to all proven methods of "Going Green" in response to the issue
of Global Warming. 

Most importantly, the situation shouldn't be furthered into a worser

situation. This means that the Arctic lands should be preserved by
stopping what is being done that causes the ice caps to melt. Even
though the changes from the melting ice caps are irreversible, there are
still methods that can be undertaken in order to prohibit any further
declinations to the polar bear species and the melting ice caps in the
Arctic lands.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
I have taken help from various sites:
https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/blogs/7-reasons-why-arctic-sea-ice-
matters

http://factmyth.com/factoids/the-polar-ice-caps-are-melting/

https://sputniknews.com/environment/202003121078552055-scientists-determine-polar-ice-caps-
are-melting-six-times-faster-than-in-the-1990s/

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_change_in_the_Arctic

https://www.greenandgrowing.org/polar-ice-caps-melting/

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-41986163

https://uk.life123.com/web?qo=semQuery&ad=semA&q=polar%20ice
%20melting&o=811239&ag=fw4&an=msn_s&rch=intl98&utm_source=b&utm_medium=bcpc&clid=
aj-life123-intl2

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