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Global warming?

Some friends and I were at a local bistro the other evening and the discussion turned to global warming. One of them, a structural engineer, stated he had read that if only the ice floating in the ocean were to melt, the water level of the seas would rise three to five feet, flooding vast areas of land. This really bothered me since I would then have to wade to my favorite watering hole. :-(
That night, I took a glass of water and put it in the freezer. The next morning the water level had increased. Conversely, when I took it out of the freezer and set it on the counter, it melted and the water level dropped.
Am I missing something here? Have the “global warming” people suspended a basic law of physics? :scratch:
 
1) Much of the ice in Antartica is sitting on land mass.

2) Fill a glass with ice than top it off with salt water. Let the ice melt and see what happens.
 
It didn't make sense at first, but he's right. I can't vouch for the number, but there would be a rise. If ice floating in a freshwater lake melts, the water level remains unchanged because the ice had displaced an equal mass of water. Ice floating in the ocean still displaces the same mass of water but, since seawater is denser than freshwater, that ice displaces a smaller volume of water. So sea level would rise if all the floating ice melted. I don't know if it's 3-5 ft. Of course that doesn't include the additional rise from any melting of grounded sea ice or continental ice. The same factors that melted the floating ice will melt some of them too.
 
The only people worried about global warming are the people that live on the beach. I say bring it on. I live in northern Kansas, the beach will be closer.

What happened at the end of the last ice age? The ice melted right? Was mankind's polution or AL Gore around to "cause" it?
 
The only people worried about global warming are the people that live on the beach. I say bring it on. I live in northern Kansas, the beach will be closer.

-sarcastic paragraph pertaining to the above removed by myself-

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I thought it was funny :)
 
Or joking about the soldiers dying in Iraq leaving more jobs for us back here.
 
Hmm... I don't think those two are remotely on the same level.

It's hard for me to care too much about global warming when I know I'm going to die before it gets bad. Yeah, typical careless American only concerned about their self. I'm not going to pretend I honestly really care when I don't.
 
  • #10
If you have ice in a bowl of water, and the ice melts, the water level does not go up!!! Think about it. If you have a glass of water with ice in it, does the glass overflow when the ice melts? Nope. If all of the ice floating in the ocean were to melt, the water level would not go up. If you physically remove the ice from the glass before it melts, then yes, the level would go down. If you add ice to a glass, then the level goes up. You are adding mass and volume to the water. If the ice is already in the water, the mass and volume are already accounted for and the water level reflects that. When the ice melts, the mass and volume of the water stays the same.

Don't believe all of the junk science. No matter how they try, the fear-mongers cannot change the laws of physics or geometry.

As a side note, what is causing the ice caps on Mars to melt? Martian SUVs? or increased solar activity?
 
  • #11
... ...Are you forgetting that the problem is that most of this ice is ABOVE water? If the ice were BELOW water then yes, you would be right. In fact, if this were the case, the sea level would DROP because the water would become denser as it melts (ice is less dense than water because its expanded). Greenland , for example, is ABOVE sea level, and if it melts then the water that's currently frozen ABOVE the sea will melt, go into the sea and raise the water level. Not only this, but it will dilute the salinity of the ocean, and that's very bad.

If you have a bowl of water with a chunk (or even a large ice cube) of ice sticking out, with part of the ice above the liquid water, then yes, when it melts the liquid water level does rise in that bowl.



I believe the ice melts on Mars yearly, then re freezes. Are aren't on Mars, we are on Earth.
 
  • #12
Yes, if the ice chunk is so big that it is sitting on the bottom of the bowl, and not floating, then the water level will rise.

Just remember that everything goes in cycles. Such as the mini ice-age in Europe during the 600s, and the extreme warm period of the 1400s. Temps were higher at that time then they are now. There are records and evidence of periods of warming and chilling throughout history. Some areas are warmer than recent history, and some areas are actually cooler than normal. Don't get your facts from one source. Research for your self. Regardless of what conclusion you reach, reach it yourself.

Until all of the global warming criers actually live the way they want us to live, then I have to conclude that they don't believe in it either. Just a way for them to crush the global economy and lower everyone's standard of living. When they quit flying in private jets, taking limos to movie premiers instead of walking the three city blocks, sell their extra mansions which have the utilities on whether they are being lived in or not ( and don't have any "green energy sources" like solar panels), then I will believe them. As for now they are all hypocrites leading their faithful sheeple.

And don't buy into that farcical "buying offsets for your carbon footprint". That money goes to an organization started by Algore. Which gets funnelled to Algore. Which can be used for his next presidential bid. Giving him money for your carbon footprint accomplishes one thing, making Algore richer.
 
  • #13
Until all of the global warming criers actually live the way they want us to live, then I have to conclude that they don't believe in it either. Just a way for them to crush the global economy and lower everyone's standard of living[/QUOTE]


My god whod be stupid enough to wish that on other people. Are you serious? That sounds more like fear mongering than prominent experts in the field in wich they study. Unless you think you know more than the experts at such places as the NOAA (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration) and the National climactic data center, wich, by the way, are the foremost authorities in this country on all things climactic, who spend their lives studying climactic phenomena. http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/globalwarming.html

I think their opinions are worth far more than Gore’s or anyone else who happens to have their own ‘opinion’ on the climate and HOW THINGS ARE, and actually have data to reach EDUCATED conclusions instead of ideological assumptions on however they think things should be.... (thats directed at people who dont have a base knowledge to reach a conclusion on climate. People who do that have absolutely no credibility on things climactic....
Regardless of what conclusion you reach, reach it yourself
) What im trying to say is that a scientist who studies climate has far greater authority on the subject than people who reach climactic conclusions by themselves.

-Of course, scientific people who make the most educated conclusions dont always agree either on much of anything, but usually a consensus can be reached, such as in this case-
 
  • #14
Those cycles you mentioned weren't caused by tons of carbon emissions.

Crush the global economy and lower the standard of living? What? I don't think asking people to use fluorescent lighting and recycle is crushing the global economy. Why do you have to live in a small house to support the environment? If you use a lot of energy in your big house, that's fine if you offset your carbon footprint in other ways. I do agree about the private jets though. That's excessive. Gore could use a commercial jet if he wanted.

You don't have to give any money to any orgs associated with Gore. I don't even know where you get that statement. Offsetting your footprint can be as easy as buying Silk soymilk because they invest in wind energy to offset theirs, switching to compact fluorescents, or carpooling.
 
  • #15
Gore may be a public face in global warming, but he, by a long shot, is not the only one. Credence should be given to scientific panels of the some of worlds foremost experts on climate and their detailed scientific results instead of a political lame horse like Gore.

The difference is that gore is swarmed by the media and gets alot of publicity while reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
do not.
 
  • #16
So, dirty air causes global warming, and according to global warming advocates the BBC, so does clean air.

I guess we can't win for losing. If we leave pollution in the air, we will fry. If we clean the air, we will fry.

Which is it guys? You can't have it both ways!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4880328.stm
 
  • #17
Personally, I suspect global warming is actually caused by all the hotair emited by politicians and others in power when they try to convince us that we really need them in charge to tell us what to do.
 
  • #18
At one point in time, the most of the scientist agreed the earth was flat.

At one point in time, the most of the scientist agreed the earth was the center of the solar system.

At one point in time, doctors thought that if you were sick, you had bad blood. Then they would bleed people. Most of the times to the point of death.

It's what killed Houdini! (comic relief :-D )

How many of the people that post on this forum are scientist? Does that mean the answers people post are complete rubbish?

I wouldn't argue that the earth is heating up. Our whole solar system is heating up. All the other planets are heating up to. But man has not caused it.

What happen at the end of the last ice age? The earth heated up and the ice melted right?
What caused it? Was it man, politics, Osama Bin Laden?
 
  • #19
You cant come to the realization that global warming is maybe caused a little bit by human error? Does the earth just start to heat up randomly i mean what about all of the gass emission that is but into our atmosphere all the heat is then forced to stay in we are turning our planet into a giant greenhouse. Maybe youll be happy then save a few dollars and you wont need a greenhouse just but your plants out :nono:


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No personally derogatory comments please. Discuss but don't attack for differences of opinions.
 
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  • #20
What caused the end of the last ice age?
 
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