You would be right, if all the ice was floating on top of the water. Actually, the volume of ice is larger than the volume of water (ice has a lower density, which is why it floats), so the water level should theoretically decrease if all the ice floating on water melts.
The reason that the sea level would rise if all the ice at the North Pole melted is because a large portion of that ice is actually on top of land. Currently, this ice does not contribute to sea level because it is water that has been removed from the oceans. If all of this ice were to melt, however, a lot of water would be added into the oceans, causing sea level to rise.
No comments:
Post a Comment