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# Here's something for you
I heard this the other day.

Ice is less dense than water right? If you have a glass full of ice, add water till it hits the brim, and let the ice melt, the water level will be lower.

Soooooo, if the ice caps melt, and the icebergs (of which 90% is underwater anyway) wouldn't there be like, hardly any effect on sea level?

/Probably misinterpreted science blog
(I helped save b3ta! NinjaBadger hides in the bushes and gives you TB., Thu 18 Jan 2007, 10:06, archived)
# I read it in the Newsletter
Made me think, it did
(I helped save b3ta! Dixipoos Bye Bye Blackbird, Thu 18 Jan 2007, 10:07, archived)
# Ah, that's where I got it from.
My apologies.
(I helped save b3ta! NinjaBadger hides in the bushes and gives you TB., Thu 18 Jan 2007, 10:08, archived)
# most
of the ice isn't floating. It sits on land (e.g. Antarctica, Greenland).

(haberman is singing in the changes, Thu 18 Jan 2007, 10:07, archived)
# That's what I figured
but I wondered if what ice is in the water would balance it out.
(I helped save b3ta! NinjaBadger hides in the bushes and gives you TB., Thu 18 Jan 2007, 10:08, archived)
# Well...
Ice floats on the water due to it's density. It takes some thinking about, but you SHOULD be able to convince yourself that the ONLY way this can work is that if the ammount of ice below the water is EXACTLY the volume that the ice would take if it were liquid. Otherwise it would either sink or float entirely on the water.

(ChowRiit, Thu 18 Jan 2007, 10:15, archived)
#
⇑ this ⇑
edit: what haberman said
(I helped save b3ta! swaza I'm bad, I'm bad. You know it. I'm bad., Thu 18 Jan 2007, 10:08, archived)
# Thermal Expansion is the key
As well as the fact that a large proportion of the ice is currently on land as water heats it expands. a significant amount of the rise in Sea level will be due to the heating of the water that is already liquid.
(alc http://www.cameronmusic.co.uk, Thu 18 Jan 2007, 10:16, archived)
# Yeah, i like this point.
I'll discuss this with the kids later on.
(I helped save b3ta! NinjaBadger hides in the bushes and gives you TB., Thu 18 Jan 2007, 10:20, archived)
# but it's gonna 'heat' a few degrees C
not a few dozen, i don't think water would expand THAT much as it 'heats' from global warming, is it?
i thought one of the major points of water being the 'key to life' is that it can absorb a lot of heat energy without changing very much - helps to keep biological systems at a more constant temperature.
(I helped save b3ta! Seventh is somewhat subdued, Thu 18 Jan 2007, 10:24, archived)
# well, those climate scientists are pretty dopey...
.. they wont have thought of any of these simple ideas, will they?
(haberman is singing in the changes, Thu 18 Jan 2007, 10:32, archived)
# A little knowledge is a dangerous thing
But not as dangerous as doing your flys up too quickly
(horrid, Thu 18 Jan 2007, 10:46, archived)