Ice cap meltdown

Ice Cap Meltdown

(By Simon, Benoit, Roy)

If you read on you will never be the same, you will never take a plane again without thinking of the consequences that this aeroplane has on the environnement. In other words your vision of the 21st century and of human progress  WILL CHANGE. Regarding the ice-cap meltdown, why will it have an impact on the world and on the environment? We will firstly explain to you why do theses caps melt. Secondly we will explain to you what happens after theses caps melt. Finally we will explain the impacts on the environment and on the world after theses caps will melt, and simple daily things that you can do to reduce your ecological footprint.

First of all, an ice cap is a mass of ice that covers land, it is less than 50,000 square metres. If it covers more land that that it is called an ice sheet. There are two caps in our world. The poles are the centers of theses two caps. Today the polar ice caps are melting much faster than in the last 20 years. The principal cause is Global Warming, this scourge is increasing the temperature of the Earth and causing theses caps to melt. What is causing Global Warming is that humans reject a lot of Carbon Dioxyde (CO2) and a few other greenhouse gases. In doing so we are increasing our Ecological Footprint. We can see that Global Warming is the main reason but it is also realised by polluting seas this will kill many species. We must take responsability for what we have done and try to find solutions because pollution was created by us. This is a serious matter and we need to find solutions. Some causes cannot be stopped such as high temperatures because of the sun, or earthquakes and tsunamies that makes the ice crack and fall in the oceans. These factors cannot be stopped but they are quite rare and we can still prevent theses caps to melt completely. The melting of the north polar ice caps has gone from 45% to 97%  from 2005 to nowadays. Scientists have mesured that in 2008 the superficy of the north polar ice cap has decreased to 33% relative to the superficy mesured between 1973 and 2000. Concerning the temperature of the polar ice caps, it would increase between 1 and 5°C until 2050.

We will now explain to you what happen after theses caps will melt. The caps should melt sooner than specialists had predicted. At the rate of the melting today, the Arctic should have completely disapeared by 2030. After this some species will die out, such as seals and penguins, because they need to dig into the ice to give birth. When the caps will have completely melted theses species will be eradicated from our planet. As to polar bears they can swim but they will not be able to adapt to life in other regions. We can also see that the locals such as the Inuits will have to move to other regions and adapt to urban life. They will not be able to hunt anymore, hunting is how they have fed themselves since they were born. This will be shocking because they have lived on the caps for many years and many centuries.  Moreover the worst consequence is the rise of the sea level. This will open new communication routes. Moreover this will destroy new ecosystems, this will be a huge problem because some countries like the Netherlands and Bangladesh will loose at least half of their territoryMother Earth can be very dangerous whenshe is not respected. These consequences will have a huge impact on both the environment and the inhabitants of the planet.

We can now conclude that the main reason of the meltdown is due to Global Warming. The meltdown will have a dramatic effect on the landscape of our planet because some countries might disappear and some tiny islands will be sucked into the oceans. It will have an impact on the environment with the next endangered species, we can see that it is a serious matter. Now we will give you some actions you can do at home to reduse your ecological footprint :

- Take public transport instead of your car.

- Use a bicycle or walk.

- Do not use too much water (in the shower, or don’t flush your toilet too often.)

- Do not keep the water on when you brush your teeth.

- Try to convince other people in doing the methods above.

Furthermore to theses actions, countries like Quatar, Oman and China must take responsability for what they are doing (China have claimed the right to pollute and Quatar have projects such as creating cities in the desert.) This is not intelligent because  why would you wan’t to create  things if you are going to destroy the Earth in a few centuries?

Bibliography :

• DW. Polar ice is sheets melting faster than ever. [online] Page consulted on the 09/04 /2013. No recent update. URL: www.dw.de/polar-ice-sheets-melting-faster-than-ever/a-16432199

• CNRS (Centre National de Recherche Scientifique). Climat, une enquête en pôles. [online] Consulted on the 17/04/2013. Updated on the 25th of January 2013. URL: http://www.cnrs.fr/cw/dossiers/dospoles/alternative13.html

• McKle, Robin. Meltdown in the Artic is speeding up. [online] Consulted on the 14/04/2013. Updated on the 10th of August 2010. URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/aug/10/climatechange.arctic

• EHOW. How do ice caps melt ? [online] Consulted on the 19/04/2013. No recent update. URL: http://www.ehow.com/how-does_5486320_do-ice-caps-melt.html

Act now ! Save endangered species !!

Reduce your emission of CO2, take the bus !

Hotter temperatures cause this !!!

CO2 and greenhouse gases cause this !!

REDUCE YOUR ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT !

STOP GLOBAL WARMING, START GLOBAL WARNING !

STOP POLLUTING !

CURE THE EARTH !

POLAR BEARS ARE ENDANGERED TODAY, MANKIND WILL BE ENDANGERED TOMORROW.