18 - Melting of Sea Ice

18 Melting Sea Ice
Set 1 www.climatefresk.org 18 Sea ice melting does not make the sea level rise (just as a melting ice cube does not make a glass overflow). However, when it melts, it gives way to the darker surfaces of the water which absorb the sun's rays.

1
Cause

Energy Budget

Energy Budget


3
Other possible consequences

Radiative Forcing

Melting of Sea Ice

When the ice pack melts, a white surface is replaced by a dark blue surface, which has a lower albedo and therefore absorbs more energy. This relationship is not essential but it does allow another feedback loop of the game to be put forward.
Terrestrial Biodiversity

Melting of Sea Ice

The poor polar bear is a powerful symbol of the climat. If players make this connection, suggest they draw a bear!
Marine Biodiversity

Melting of Sea Ice

There's probably some sort of link here...

3
Wrong consequences

Additional Greenhouse Effect

Melting of Sea Ice

This link would mark confusion with the amplifying effect due to albedo. The white sea ice melts to reveal a darker surface underneath and the extra energy absorbed warms the Earth. This mechanism is called albedo and has nothing to do with the greenhouse effect. It belongs to the orange arrows on card 13, not to the red arrows.
Disruption of the Water Cycle

Melting of Sea Ice

The melting of the Arctic ice pack, but also the melting of Greenland's glaciers may lead, in the distant future, to a disruption of the thermohaline circulation (which gives rise to the Gulf Stream). But beware, the "Water Cycle" card does not refer at all to the thermohaline circulation.
Sea Level Rise

Melting of Sea Ice

This it the trap in which participants can fall while playing with cards set n1. Therefore, do not ask them to read the cards from the beginning. Once they have put them in place, ask them to read the texts.
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