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Homework - How is the Recent Warming Trend Affecting Earth’s Ice?

Last updated 11 months ago
13 questions
A change in climate can present serious problems for the environment and its organisms. Global warming has already had observable effects on Earth's natural systems. Let's take a look closer.
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What has happened to the glacier over time?

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Why do you think this has occurred?

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What consequences might arise because of phenomena such as this?

Melting Ice

One of the most recent signs if climate change is the retreat of glaciers around the world. Since 1980, glaciers with the longest, most reliable records decreased by an amount equivalent to 15.1m (50 ft) of water. Glacier National Park, which had 150 glaciers in 1910, now has fewer than 30 glaciers left.
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What is this a graph of?
* What are the variables

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What patterns do you see in the data?

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What is this a graph of?
* What are the variables

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What patterns do you see in the data?


A glacier that spreads over land in all directions is called an ice sheet. Increased temperatures can also cause ice sheets to melt. For example, data form NASA's GRACE satellites show that the Greenland ice sheet has been losing an estimated 286 billion metric tons per year. Land ice sheets in both Greenland and Antarctica have seen an acceleration of ice land loss since 2009.
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Find an attach a picture of an ice sheet.

Sea ice in the Arctic Ocean is also shrinking, as shown in the images below. The white surface of the sea ice reflects up to 80% of incoming sunlight. With less sea ice present, the dark surface of the ocean absorbs much more of the Sun's energy, leading to further warming of the atmosphere. This leads to more melting of ice, which leads to further warming.
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How do you think warming temperatures and melting ice impacts Earth's oceans?