WEBVTT 00:00:00.008 --> 00:00:04.031 Waterworld is one of my favorite movies… okay to be fair I haven’t seen it since 00:00:04.031 --> 00:00:08.130 I was like ten. But besides Kevin Costner with gills, what would that kind of a world 00:00:09.003 --> 00:00:16.032 look like? What happens when all the ice melts? 00:00:16.059 --> 00:00:17.838 Hi everyone Julia here for Dnews 00:00:18.369 --> 00:00:22.570 Lots of headlines warn about melting ice. It’s like a doomsday fanatics fantasy. I 00:00:22.057 --> 00:00:26.125 mean, did you see Day After Tomorrow? But calm down Hollywood, how bad will it be if 00:00:27.025 --> 00:00:27.107 the ice melts? 00:00:28.007 --> 00:00:32.007 Well, most of it’s not good. Weather might look a little different around the world. 00:00:32.007 --> 00:00:35.079 As more of the sun’s energy gets absorbed into the oceans, it could change the way air 00:00:35.079 --> 00:00:38.155 moves around in the atmosphere in the arctic and could even change the position of the 00:00:39.055 --> 00:00:40.058 jet stream. 00:00:40.058 --> 00:00:43.112 One study published in the journal Environmental Research Letters found that if the Arctic 00:00:44.012 --> 00:00:48.089 sea ice melts, England will get a little rainier. And a study published in the journal Nature 00:00:48.089 --> 00:00:52.143 suggests that the Northern jet stream will shift southward, bringing cold polar air, 00:00:53.043 --> 00:00:55.049 making winters colder and snowier in North America. 00:00:56.003 --> 00:01:00.094 We could lose wildlife too. And as the ice melts at a rate of more than 86,000 square 00:01:00.094 --> 00:01:05.158 kilometers per year, wildlife is losing critical habitat. Lots of arctic species like whales, 00:01:06.058 --> 00:01:10.139 walrus and seals depend on the ice for protection and hunting. Some are already changing their 00:01:11.039 --> 00:01:12.096 feeding and migration patterns. 00:01:12.096 --> 00:01:15.180 Okay, I know what you really want to hear about. How will all this melting sink our 00:01:16.008 --> 00:01:16.065 cities? 00:01:17.037 --> 00:01:20.100 When talking about ice melting, it’s important to make a distinction. Ice caps, like the 00:01:21.000 --> 00:01:25.057 Arctic ice cap already sits on top of the water, so if even it melts, while still sucking, 00:01:25.057 --> 00:01:26.156 wouldn’t contribute to sea level rise. 00:01:27.056 --> 00:01:30.111 But if you’re worried about a future water world, you should be worried about ice sheets 00:01:31.011 --> 00:01:34.088 melting. Ice sheets sit on top of land and form when snow that falls during the winter 00:01:34.088 --> 00:01:38.175 doesn’t melt, and with enough time and enough snow, these layers stack up and form a big 00:01:39.075 --> 00:01:42.163 thick sheet. The two main ice sheets are the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets, which 00:01:43.063 --> 00:01:46.079 together contain more than 99 percent of the freshwater ice on Earth. 00:01:46.079 --> 00:01:49.174 In the Antarctic, a large ice shelf that’s existed for 12,000 years is on the brink of 00:01:50.074 --> 00:01:54.083 collapse. Another study published in the journal Science found that over the past 20 years, 00:01:55.064 --> 00:01:59.068 Antarctica's floating ice shelves shrank 18%. And this melting is speeding up. 00:01:59.068 --> 00:02:03.147 New research from Princeton University shows that it’s melting faster than we thought. 00:02:04.047 --> 00:02:07.866 Researchers found that in Antarctica, ice melting increased by 6 billion tons per year 00:02:08.289 --> 00:02:11.680 each year during the 11-year period the researchers examined. 00:02:11.068 --> 00:02:15.073 Scientists believe that if these ice sheets melt, sea levels will rise, devastating coastal 00:02:15.073 --> 00:02:18.145 cities around the globe. According to a study published in the journal Climate Dynamics, 00:02:19.045 --> 00:02:23.045 if all the ice in the Greenland Ice Sheet melts, global sea level would rise by about 00:02:23.045 --> 00:02:23.054 24 feet. 00:02:24.035 --> 00:02:29.073 If all of Antarctica melts, sea levels would rise by 200 feet! The entire Eastern Seaboard 00:02:29.073 --> 00:02:31.109 of the US would be underwater, and Florida would vanish. 00:02:32.009 --> 00:02:37.012 That’s a worst case, extreme scenario. But we should still be concerned about this trend. 00:02:37.012 --> 00:02:40.081 These icy regions heat up faster than the rest of the world. To get a sense of how the 00:02:40.081 --> 00:02:43.165 Earth is warming, it’s important to keep an eye on the icy parts of the world. If the 00:02:44.065 --> 00:02:48.734 ice is melting…like a canary in a coalmine, it could signal a global warming trend. 00:02:49.319 --> 00:02:53.420 And speaking of, a recent study published in the journal Nature Climate Change found 00:02:53.042 --> 00:02:57.109 that it’s a positive feedback loop. As the ice melts, climate change will get worse. 00:02:58.009 --> 00:03:02.064 The ice acts as a giant reflector. Bouncing sunlight back into space. But as the ice melts, 00:03:02.064 --> 00:03:05.147 more of the sun’s energy will be absorbed rather than reflecting, heating up the Earth 00:03:06.047 --> 00:03:09.115 more, which in turn will melt more ice.. It’s a vicious cycle. 00:03:10.015 --> 00:03:13.024 And one country in particular is hoping that the world acts on this problem soon. Check 00:03:14.005 --> 00:03:32.914 out this video from our sister channel Seeker, on how the Maldives is dealing with 00:03:32.959 --> 00:03:38.820 rising sea levels.