Quote:
Originally Posted by Whitley
Sincere question. IF; Matter can neither be created nor destroyed; all of the H2O that has ever existed on planet Earth currently exists; Fill a glass of water and ice cubes to the brim and as the ice melts going from solid to liquid the level remains the same; then -Must we worry about rising seas from melting glaciers? Perhaps the melting of frozen snow/ice that covers land would lead to sea level rise. Does melting glaciers floating in the seas contribute to significant water level rise?
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A little more complicated than that, but essentially makes the point. It is only ice that is on land and melts that will substantially increase ocean levels---ie: melting glaciers and ice on Antarctic land mass. There are about 130,000 known glaciers on Earth---some are melting, others are growing. For the next 30-50,000 years there will be much more melting, AS HAS BEEN THE CASE DOZENS OF TIMES IN THE LAST 4.5 MILLION YEARS, ALL WITHOUT HUMAN INFLENCE.