What'll happen to the earth when the ice caps melt?

Question

What'll happen to the earth when the ice caps melt?

Answer 1

possible scenario like:

inundation of large coastal and inland areas.

change in weather and climatic pattern i.e. wind, rains etc.

drying of perennial rivers at head waters

desertification of large  mountainous tracts like Himalaya.

scarcity of potable water.

change in availability of inland fresh water bodies etc.

thnks

Answer 2

When the North Pole melts, you´ll be getting all your presents wet on XMAS !!! LOL

cheers

Answer 3

Scientists have predicted that as early as 2020, cities like London and New York could be under water. Think "Waterworld"

Answer 4

nothing because the ice caps won't melt...

Answer 5

The sea levels will rise some and coastal cities will flood-like New York.

The ice has been melting for thousands of years-look at the continental shelf.

Answer 6

Sea level will rise.  

Nobody knows for sure how much, I have heard of estimates of as much as 20-30 feet.

Low lying coastal areas will be flooded.  New York and London will not be underwater.  Their seaports will certainly be flooded, but the entire cities will not disappear.

A lot of Florida might disappear, it's basically just a sand spit.  As I recall, you can drive for 20 miles on some of the highways in Florida and only get a foot or two of elevation gain.  The topography of the majority of Florida is very, very flat.  

New Orleans sits a few feet below sea level as it is now.  If you were to add 20-30 feet of water to sea level the majority of buildings would be submerged.  

Now lets think about San Fransisco.  SF sits atop 7 or 8 hills as I recall.  A rise of 20-30 feet in sea level would not be as dramatic on the west coast of the US as it would be on the gulf coast or east coast.  

A great issue here would be the mass retreating of the people who have chosen to live by coastal areas.  Lots of people live by the sea.  They will have to come inland.

So maybe what I'm saying here relates to plate tectonics as much as anything.  Where you have 2 tectonic plates colliding you will see mountain building, or lots of geographical relief so flooding would not be as pronounced..  The trailing edge of the continental plates don't have the great amounts of relief, so flooding would be more pronounced.

Weather patterns will see great amounts of change.  The mean temperature of the planet will rise.  The ocean conveyor belt system that transfers heat from the equator to the poles will probably break down.  

Life as we know it would have to adapt.

Answer 7

ocean level rise.........

Answer 8

as the ice caps melt it will cause the water level to rise.

places near the coast might submerge under the water

Answer 9

new york and vancouver islands will be an atlantis- like place. natural vegetaion will disapear and many things like the extinction and many speices of creatures

Answer 10

the world will be completely flooded especially close to Antarctica because Antarctica is big but combined with sea water and lakes it's MASSIVE enough to wipe out the world

and with the combined effect of earthquakes and global warming the effects will be widespread...and soon a super volcano may erupt which has thought to be the cause the extinction of dinosaurs....metoers might fall due to the ozone layer faltering....the world will come to an end.....one day...