Ice Caps Essay

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“According to the EPA in the last hundred years the sea level has about risen six to eight inches” (Hohensee). The ice caps are melting at an increasing rate, this is due to the increase in the global temperature. The melting ice is causing ocean and rivers to have a rise in water. The increase in oceans is causing beaches to erode faster. Due to this many coastal cities and factories have faced issue with increased storms and flooding. Places like Bangladesh have frequent flooding and suffer damage to homes. Animals are also affected badly by the ice caps melting, polar bears who are dependent on sea ice face problems if the ice melts in the summer, and they lose their homes and have difficulty hunting for food when there is little ice. …show more content…
The increase of the global temperature is caused by the emissions of carbon dioxide gasses into the atmosphere from burning fossil fuels in cars and factories. According to the IPCC “continuing to add carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases to the atmosphere is projected to lead to significant and persistent changes in climate, including an increase in average global temperature of 1.4 to 5.8˚C over the course of this century” (Artic Climate Change). The ice is melting because of burning fossil fuels “Automobiles are a major cause along with factories. The greenhouse effect is how gases in the atmosphere, like water vapor, carbon dioxide The ice caps are also affected by the clearing of land releasing greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere causing the temperature to increase and melt the ice”(Hohensee). Melting permafrost plays a large role in the melting of the ice caps. The melted permafrost causes the ground to become soft and causes the ice above to melt and fall into the ocean. The increase in global temperature causes chunks of ice from the caps melt and fall into the ocean causing a rise in sea levels affecting buildings and …show more content…
The water from the melting ice caps causes ocean levels to rise and over the years it has risen little by little inch by inch. The rising oceans causes flooding in coastal cities and factory’s displacing people from their homes and jobs. Not only is the ocean rising but marshes and coastal plains have seen an increase of water rising. Places far away from ice caps are affected by this too “In Bangladesh over one million people have been displaced due to rising rivers and seas” (Hohensee). This also affects shipping having chunks of ice in the ocean from the caps preventing ships from easily getting from one place to another. Ice in the ocean also shows potential risk for oil spills from large tankers crossing the ocean. Not only is the ocean affected by this but permafrost is melting and causes a lot of damage .The melting permafrost causes mass damage to buildings constructed on making them collapse and have structural instability. The melting ice also has affected weather, many places have seen an increase in storms. The increase in the ocean causes beaches to erode and make beaches smaller. Not only are humans affected by the melting of the ice caps but many animals are affected by it as

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