The Polar Caps
Antarctica holds about 90 percent of the world's ice (and 70 percent of its fresh water). If all of the Antarctic ice melted, sea levels around the world would rise about 61 meters (200 feet). The melting of Antarctica is happening. In 2002 a piece of ice (same size as Luxembourg) broke off from the Larsen B ice shelf and caused 50 million tons of ice to spill into the sea.
What would happen if Antarctica melted?
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- The polar caps
Source: NASA 2005
The polar caps consist of Antarctica in the south, and the North Pole and Greenland in the north.
What about the North Pole ice-sheet?
At the North Pole, the ice is not nearly as thick as at the South Pole. The ice floats on the Arctic Ocean. If it melted sea levels would not be affected.
Images from NASA satellites show that permanent ice cover is contracting at a rate of 9% each decade.
Greenland
And the ice on Greenland?
There is a significant amount of ice covering Greenland, which would add another 6 meters (18 feet) to the oceans if it melted.
Danish scientist Carl Boggild has recorded falls as dramatic as 10 metres a year - in places the ice is dropping at a rate of one metre a month.
The injection of freshwater could disrupt the ocean currents, including the Gulf Stream.
