How Melting Ice Causes Sea Levels To Rise

Science

Why are Glaciers Important?

Ice acts like a protective cover over the Earth and our oceans. These bright white
spots reflect excess heat back into space and keep the planet cooler. In theory,
the Arctic remains colder than the equator because more of the heat from the
sun is reflected off the ice, back into space. Glaciers around the world can range
from ice that is several hundred to several thousand years old and provide a
scientific record of how climate has changed over time. Through the study of
glaciers, we gain valuable information about the extent to which the planet is
rapidly warming. They provide scientists a record of how climate has changed
over time.

Today, about 10% of land area on Earth is covered with glacial ice. Almost 90% is
in Antarctica, while the remaining 10% is in the Greenland ice cap. Rapid glacial
melt in Antarctica and Greenland also influences ocean currents, as massive
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amounts of very cold glacial-melt water entering warmer ocean waters is slowing
ocean currents. And as ice on land melts, sea levels will continue to rise.

Why are Glaciers Melting?

Since the early 1900s, many glaciers around the world have been rapidly
melting. Human activities are at the root of this phenomenon. Specifically, since
the industrial revolution, carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions
have raised temperatures, even higher in the poles, and as a result, glaciers are
rapidly melting, calving off into the sea and retreating on land.

Even if we significantly curb emissions in the coming decades, more than a third
of the world’s remaining glaciers will melt before the year 2100. When it comes to
sea ice, 95% of the oldest and thickest ice in the Arctic is already gone.
Scientists project that if emissions continue to rise unchecked, the Arctic could be
ice free in the summer as soon as the year 2040 as ocean and air temperatures
continue to rise rapidly.
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Think About Ice

Consider where on Earth ice naturally occurs. Make a list of a few places where
you might find ice in nature, and sort it into two categories: ice that is on land and
ice that is in the sea.

Land Ice Sea Ice

Question: What is causing sea levels to rise? Circle your prediction.

Land ice or sea ice

Research: What information do you already know to support your

answer?
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Hypothesis: Make a prediction that supports your answer to the

question.

Experiment:

How Melting Ice Causes Sea Levels to Rise

You might have heard that melting ice contributes to sea level rise. But it makes a
difference whether that melting ice is on land or in the sea. Build a model to
compare what you predicted to what you observe.

Materials:

● 2 Clear Containers
● Clay
● Tray of Ice Cubes
● Ruler
● Cold Water
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● Blue and Red Pencil

Step 1: Press equal amounts of clay into one side of both plastic
containers, making a smooth, flat surface of at least 1 inch, representing
land rising out of the ocean.

Step 2: In one container, place 6 ice cubes on the

flat clay. This represents land ice. Put a label next to
it or write it on the container. This is the “Land Ice”
container.

Step 3: In the other container, place 6 ice cubes on

the bottom of the container next to the clay. This
represents sea ice. Put a label next to it or write it on
the container. This is the “Sea Ice” container.
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Step 4: Pour cold water into the sea ice container until the ice floats. Be
sure no ice is resting on the bottom of the container and that the water isn't
higher than the land level. Then, without disturbing the ice cubes, pour
water into the land ice container until the water level is about equal to the
water level in the sea-ice container. You want the water levels to be equal,
so the sea ice container will have less water due to the ice already in the
container.

Equal water levels.

Step 5: Using the ruler, measure the water level in millimeters in each
container and record the data on your data sheet. Record the time that you
measured the water. For example, I measured the land ice at 10 minutes
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and it was 10 millimeters, where the sea ice was 12 centimeters. Record
this data on page 7.

Step 6: Every 5 minutes, measure the water level in each container and
record it on the data sheet on page 7. Make sure to take an initial
measurement of 0 minutes as soon as you put water in both containers.

Step 7: At the end of the day, take one final measurement after all of the
ice in both containers has melted. Record on the data sheet on page 7.
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Ice in both containers has melted after 1 hour and 30 minutes.

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Analyze Data:

Time Measurements Land Ice - Water Depth in Sea Ice - Water Depth in
Millimeters Millimeters

0 minutes

5 minutes

10 minutes

15 minutes

20 minutes

25 minutes

30 minutes

35 minutes

40 minutes

Final measurement after all ice

has melted: _______________

Conclusion: After conducting this experiment, how do your results compare

to your hypothesis? What is truly causing sea levels to rise? Land ice or sea ice?
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Onto the Mathematical Challenge!

Let’s take all the data you collected and organize it mathematically into the
following tables!

Land Ice Table

Let the variable x represent time and let y represent the water level from the
land ice data collection. Put your data together into ordered pairs, (x, y).
Time Land Ice - Water level (x, y)
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Sea Ice Table

Let the variable x represent time and let y represent the water level from the
sea ice data collection. Put your data together into ordered pairs, (x, y).
Time Sea Ice - Water level (x, y)
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Now, let’s visualize the data in a graph! Plot the ordered pairs from both tables
above on the graph below. Use RED for the land ice points and BLUE for the
sea ice points.

Questions to Consider:

1) What units are you using, label the x and the y-axes?

2) What scale should you use on the x and the y-axes?

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Remember that the unit rate is a special kind of rate because it is for one unit.
It can be calculated by dividing the water level by the time.

Compute the unit rate for each the land ice and sea ice from the
tables/graphs.

Unit Rate for Land Ice:

Unit Rate Calculations:

Interpret the unit rate by writing a sentence to describe what is happen in the
context of this experiment:

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________
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Unit Rate for Sea Ice:

Unit Rate Calculations:

Interpret the unit rate by writing a sentence to describe what is happen in the
context of this experiment:

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________
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Questions to consider for each set of data (land ice and sea ice):

1) Between which data points is the unit rate the most steep? What does this
mean?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

2) Between which data points is the unit rate the most flat? What does this
mean?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

For Extra Fun...

Try the experiment again using different sized ice cubes! Does this change the
results and your data?