19 - Melting Ice Sheets

previous card
thumbnailsfull sizefreskquiz ?
next card
Melting Ice Sheets 19 + 7 m + 54 m Source: IPCC
Set 3 www.climatefresk.org 19 Greenland and Antarctica are ice sheets (or continental glaciers). If they were to completely melt, they would cause the sea level to rise by 7 meters for Greenland and 54 meters for Antarctica. During the last ice age, ice sheets were so much larger that the sea level was 120 meters lower than today.
previous card
thumbnailsfull sizefreskquiz ?
next card

1
Cause

Energy Budget

Energy Budget

2
Consequences

Rising Sea Levels

Melting Ice Sheets

Weakening Gulf Stream

Melting Ice Sheets

Freshwater coming from the melting of Greenland may threaten the thermohaline circulation.

1
Other possible cause

Disruption of the Water Cycle

Disruption of the Water Cycle

It's a bit technical, but the blue part of the map of Antarctica on card 19 represents a gain in mass due to an increase of precipitations. The red part represents a loss in mass. In total, Antarctica is losing mass.
previous card
thumbnailsfull sizefreskquiz ?
next card
↩ Back