When ice melts in a glass of water the overall level of water in the glass goes down because ice has a higher volume. Would this be true for the oceans then if the ice caps melt and if not why?

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When ice melts in a glass of water the overall level of water in the glass goes down because ice has a higher volume. Would this be true for the oceans then if the ice caps melt and if not why?

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7 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

the water level does NOT go down.

the amount of ice that stays above the water level is the difference in density between ice and water.

Ice caps melting are a problem because of the ice that *isnt* floating. The ice that sits on land isnt in the water so its not contributing to the water level. If that ice melts all the water it adds will cause the ocean to rise.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Yes, for floating ice like at the North Pole. Its melting would not raise sea levels at all.

But no, for land-borne ice like at the South Pole. That ice is not floating, so its melt water would contribute to increasing sea levels. Since most ice is land-borne, this could become a problem for coastal communities.

Anonymous 0 Comments

The ice in Antarctica is on land. When it melts and runs off into the ocean, it will increase the volume of water off the ocean.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Ice caps are over land, not in the oceans already. As they melt, all the runoff flows into nearby water and raises sea levels.

Anonymous 0 Comments

The water level in a glass of ice water doesn’t change when the ice melts. Because of buoyancy the ice displaces the same amount of water as it contains. If the ice caps melt the sea level rises because some of the ice is on land and not floating on the ocean.

Anonymous 0 Comments

There is a lot of ice above the water, and that is still extra, your scenario assumes all the ice is under the water surface

Anonymous 0 Comments

The north pole yeah, cause that is ice floating on the ocean, but the south pole is actually rock vovered in a thick sheet of snow and ice