How does the melting of the Arctic ice

How does the melting of the Arctic ice cap affect the Earth's spheres and sustainability? By Kieran

Introduction What is the Arctic ice cap? The artic ice cap is a high-latitude region of a planet that is covered in ice. Why is the Arctic ice cap melting? The ice cap is melting because of oceans release more moisture which cause the circulation of water to cause the ice cap to melt. The ice cap has lost 1 million square feet in the last 48 years. Also majority of the sun is always on the ice cap. Some of the human activities such as burning fossil fuels , driving automobiles and factories might be the reason the pollution is so high and the ice is melting.

Effects of the melting of the Arctic ice cap on the GEOSPHERE How does the melting ice cap affect the extraction of oil, natural gas and minerals? It affects it because when there is less ice the companies can find "treasure chests" full of oil, natural and minerals. These things have been underneath the ice for many of years and the companies want the oil, gas and minerals to make more money because the lose of gas and oil in the world. As the sea level rises it will also make it much harder to get the oil. When all the ice melts there will be lots of disscusion on which country gets the oil. How does the melting ice cap affect the rate of erosion and weathering in coastal areas? The sun shines on rocks during the day and the rock is heated and inflated. At night the rocks cool and shrink. After a long period of time the rocks develop cracks, the cracks continue to widen with water. The rock will crack into pieces eventually the layer of rocks at our surface will go through that process and the layers will continue to crack. How is the sustainability of the geosphere affected by the melting of the Arctic ice cap? The geosphere will become harder to live on because of the rising of the sea level. Some of the countries will present a lot more floods because the melting and a lot of water coming out. Some countries may not be able to live on such as the island countries because the sea level is higher than the country. Some of these countries are Maldives and Seychelles.

Effects of the melting of the Arctic ice cap on the ATMOSPHERE How could the melting of the Arctic ice cap affect climate in other parts of the world? The planet has warmed about 0. 8˚ C but the Arctic has been warming much faster due to the ice cap melting. With recent studies the ice caps should be gone by 2030 or earlier as of hotter temperatures every year. The rest of the world with get impacted because the countries that get floods more often will move to that country. The climate will become hotter and hotter every year. Eventually the earth will be too hot to live on. How could the melting of the Arctic ice cap contribute to carbon in the atmosphere? The amount of carbon in the water that is trapped is very high. When it is released the carbon will be sitting I places for a long time due to too much. You will see temperature rise lots. The temperature will rise because the carbon will create a "wall" and make the earth very hot. When the earth becomes hotter unexpected things will happen to earth. How is the sustainability of the atmosphere affected by the melting of the Arctic ice cap? The melting of the ice cap will make it harder for every thing to live in the atmosphere and affect all organisms. The earth will become much hotter each year and climates will continue to climb even higher. The Ice cap will make the surroundings of earth much hotter and harder to live because of drought with no clean water left on earth.

Effects of the melting of the Arctic ice cap on the HYDROSPHERE How will Greenland's ice sheet be affected by the Arctic ice cap melt? The changes of the sea level will rise, about 20 feet and some places may get flooded. The water circulation will be affected because more water added will make the pattern harder. The climate will also get affected because the weather will become hotter. What effects will the changes to Greenland's ice sheet have on the hydrosphere? When the permafrost melts it will release lots of gases up into the Atmosphere and the earth with trap it in causing the water to heat up and expand. Water expands when becomes warmer. This will happen when the gases get released from the ice cap. How is the sustainability of the hydrosphere affected by the melting of the Arctic ice cap? All the houses in Greenland are gradually sinking as of the water level rising and eventually they will be gone in a few years. The 2 mile deep ice cap when melts slowly it releases water into the oceans. So far the water has been rising 3 -4 millimeters a year.

Effects of the melting of the Arctic ice cap on the BIOSPHERE How have animals such as polar bears, whales, walruses and seals been affected? The animals in the artic will lose their home slowly because of the melting of the ice cap. Without the ice Polar bears will not have a hunting around. They will have to migrate or go extinct. All the other animals will have to migrate of go extinct because of home loss and food loss. How does the melting ice cap affect hunting and fishing by Aboriginal people? The aboriginal will lose their territory and will have to find a new spot quickly. They will lose their hunting space and will not be able to get food from fishing as of no ice to have their home on. How is the sustainability of the biosphere affected by the melting of the Arctic ice cap? Lots of homes that are a few feet above the sea level or below sea level will be seeing a lot of floods or will be. underneath the sea level and sink. Lots of people will have to move inland because of risk of floods and under sea level. For example Miami, Florida has been seeing a lot of floods and now the sea level is rising it will be going underneath the sea level a few feet every year. Florida now has been doing construction to raise the ground a few feet.

Analyze and Interpret How does the melting of the Arctic ice cap show that the Earth's spheres are interconnected? The spheres are all connected because of similar problems. For example they all include of sea level rise and heating of the earth. lots of the problems make the people in risk make them move in land. For example the geosphere would become even more populated and crowded and many family’s will need to abandon there home and move inland.