How Melting Ice Caps Impact the Environment

In 1980, there were approximately 8 million square kilometres of ice caps in the permanent ice biome. Recently in 2012, the amount of ice has plunged immensely, with only 3.4 million square km of ice caps remaining. Temperatures in the arctic have risen 50 % faster when compared to the rest of the world.

Greenhouse Effect

Gases are needed in our atmosphere help regulate our climate. Greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide trap heat in the atmosphere and prevent cold temperatures. This is referred as the greenhouse effect. The ground heats up from the sun's rays and releases the part of the energy in the form of infrared radiation. The greenhouse gases trap this released energy in the atmosphere to warm the Earth. However, humans are adding more greenhouse gases by burning fossil fuels which produces extra carbon dioxide. Therefore, the added greenhouse gases trap more heat and increases the temperature of the Earth. This leads to the melting of ice glaciers and drastically affects the environment.

Feedback Loop

-As temperature increases, more ice will melt, leaving a greater area of ocean exposed.

-The dark ocean waters have a low albedo, therefore absorbing more radiation and sunlight.

-This will cause more ice to melt.

-The ice provides a habitat for feeding, resting, and reproducing for many organisms.

Polar bears need the ice ground for hunting seals, and they build dens on thick snow for winter.

-Seals use sea ice for nursing ground and resting habitat. They also require stable sea ice for creating lairs. These animals cannot rely on land for giving birth, as that will expose their pups to a wider range of predators.

-Further, arctic animals do not have a broad niche and as the environment drastically changes, they will not be able to adapt to the warming temperature.

Studies have also shown that the population of arctic cod are lowering due to the shrinking of ice. Animals higher on the food web, such as seals, rely immensely on arctic cod as a food source. As a result, the numbers of seals will also be negatively affected as food is becoming scarce. This will create a domino effect and polar bears that depend on seals as a food source will be impacted greatly.

Ice caps are composed of fresh water, and as icebergs break off, freshwater is constantly being introduced into saltwater ocean. Therefore, this causes the decrease of salinity of ocean water. In turn, it decreases the density of water and this less dense water is unable sink and circulates through the deep depths of the ocean. So it can disrupt the ocean currents and circulation. As a result, the warmth that is carried from the tropics is slowed down, causing the temperatures to be cooler.

• Melting of ice caps will result in higher sea levels. Scientists predict sea levels will have rise to 2 feet by 2100. Though it is not at high measures, this will affect the islands such as the Caribbeans and low lying areas. Erosion and flooding could harm buildings and other services. These areas are also more vulnerable from storms, hurricanes and other extreme weather conditions.

• Global warming and the melting of glaciers changes the water and wind currents. This carries the pollutants from around the world to the Earth’s poles. This is because of the “conveyer belt” nature where it drives the pollutants to the poles and accumulates in the ice caps.
• As ice is melting at a fast rate, the contaminants that are stored in the ice will be released into the ocean. This will affect the aquatic plants and animals that interact with it. These will biomagnify higher into the food chain at higher concentrations as other animals consume the contaminated aquatic organisms.
• DDT, PCB, and POP’s are the most common pollutants found in arctic environment. Others may include acid rain, heavy metals and radioactive isotopes. Since the Inuit hunt arctic animals for survival, they are considered highest in trophic levels. Their health has also been greatly affected by consuming the pollutants in their contaminated prey.

• Vast amounts of carbon are stored as organic matter in the permafrost layer that is underneath the Arctic ice. As the warming climate thaws the layer of frozen soil, methane and carbon dioxide is released into the environment.

• Due to the thinning of ice, more sunlight can penetrate into the deep oceans. Phytoplankton require sunlight to produce energy, thus their population is increasing as they receive more sunlight. Large amounts of phytoplankton can help absorb carbon dioxide in the environment, which can remove carbon and minimize the effect of warming.

Humans burn fossil fuels, such as coal, oil, and gas to run electricity and power vehicles. As a result, we release more carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that traps more heat in the atmosphere.

-We can improve by saving energy

-drive cars that use less gas (hybrid)

-utilize solar and wind energy (solar panels, windmills)

-drive less (public transportation, biking, walking)

-buy energy efficient appliances which have energy star labels

-Have factories that should have more advance machinery and technology that emits less greenhouse gases

-minimize waste that ends up landfills to reduce the emission of carbon dioxide (by recycle, reduce & reuse)

-people are attempting to replace internal combustion engines in cars with fuel cells. Fuels cells run on pressurized hydrogen gas instead of gasoline. Instead of releasing harmful gases while driving, the waste product is only water. However, the project is still developing to improve and make it more reliable.

If the ice continues to melt, sea levels will rise and cover land on Earth, which will cause flooding. It has been predicted that melting ice from Antarctica can push sea levels 2 meters higher worldwide in the next century or two. Animals that depend on ice ground will lose their habitat and eventually become rarer. The continuous increase in temperature can cause more droughts, forest fires and heat exhaustion.

Celebrity drama tends to generate more interest from viewers. People are drawn into other people’s personal lives to escape reality, and not have to face the problems that will directly affect them. News companies are aware of this trend, and in order to earn more money from their journalism, they give the viewers what they want. People refuse to realize the state of our environment, because we feel incapable to stop it. Instead we ignore the truth and simply bury ourselves in celebrity news.

How Melting Ice Caps Impact the Environment

By: Olivia Wong

Impact on Food Web

Overview

Effect on Arctic Organisms

Effect on Environment

Water Currents:

Causes

Cause 2

Rising Water Level

How to Mitigate Effects

Arctic Food Web

Climate Change

Bioaccumulation & Biomagnification

What will the future bring?

Affects on Carbon Cycles

Phytoplankton bloom by Iceland

Why doesn't the news focus on environmental concerns?

Sources

http://www.neaq.org/conservation_and_research/climate_change/climate_change_and_the_oceans.php

http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/blogs/7-reasons-why-arctic-sea-ice-matters

http://www.greenfacts.org/en/arctic-climate-change/l-2/5-arctic-animals.htm

http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2012/12/06/how-the-warming-arctic-affects-us-all/

http://scied.ucar.edu/longcontent/melting-arctic-sea-ice-and-ocean-circulation

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/arctic-sea-ice-what-why-and-what-next/

http://www.epa.gov/climatestudents/basics/today/greenhouse-effect.html

http://www.ecology.com/2011/09/11/earth-warms-thinning-arctic-ice/

http://polardiscovery.whoi.edu/arctic/ecosystem.html

http://eatgreen.foodandwaterinstitute.org/?p=947

http://www.nrdc.org/globalwarming/qthinice.asp

http://www.carbonbrief.org/blog/2013/03/climate-impacts-of-nearly-ice-free-arctic-summers/

http://www.brighthub.com/environment/science-environmental/articles/9433.aspx