Effects of arctic ice cap melting How does the melting of the arctic ice cap affect the earths spheres and sustainability? By: Dylan Driver

Part a 1 a large ice cap in the arctic region 2 global warming and too much co2 being put in the atmosphere ( pollution )

Part b 1 there is an estimated 90 billion dollars worth of oil beneath the ice just waiting to be taken. Once the ice melts people can get at it and extract it, once the gases and minerals are taken they can be released into the atmosphere 2 with there being less iceberg that means there's less erosion because the erosion of the iceberg is when water sneaks in the cracks of the berg and it freezes and creates a larger ice cap with larger cracks for more erosion. The melting of the ice cap will release hot and cold air effecting the weather and making colder, hotter maybe more stormy for coastal areas 3 it affects the minerals because they are hidden beneath the ice cap and after it melts the earths materials that have been trapped for so long will finally release and when the ice berg melts the sea will rise and maybe block certain minerals and gasses from the earth

Part c 1 with climate getting warm enough to fully melt the arctic ice cap this will mean that the other areas are going to get much warmer as well. With the melting means the polar region has less reflective parts so the heat is absorbed making other parts warmer. 2 the arctic ice cap is capable of sucking out carbon from the atmosphere but how ? The arctic ice cap is like a lid and underneath this lid is a carbon sink capable of absorbing and suck out carbon from the atmosphere above. One of very few good things about the ice cap melting. 3 the arctic ice caps affects the atmosphere in a few ways. Well the ice caps are melting because of global warming also because of there being too much carbon dioxide in the air, the earth is bound to get hotter due to the absorbing arctic and not the reflecting arctic so earth may become too hot.

Part d 1 as the arctic ice cap melts due to too much heat and global warming, this will greatly affect the sustainability of the hydrosphere, with the sustainability of the hydrosphere being poor this effects Greenland's ice sheet tremendously. 2 Greenland's ice sheet is melting very rapidly and is speeding up the global sea rise. The ice sheet is 684,00 cubic miles and If green lands ice sheet fully melted the sea levels would rise nearly 25 feet. 3 the sustainability of the hydrosphere is greatly affected by the arctic ice caps for a couple reasons. The obvious big one is the global sea level rise, just the Greenland ice cap alone would rise the sea 25 feet, this is not including the arctic ice cap fully melting. This will ruin many places and force people out of there homes to high ground.

Part e 1 animals are effected a lot from the melting of ice caps. The polar bears rely on the ice to liv because there whole body color and thickness of skin are made for the ice and they will soon be forced to adapt to a life without ice and many will die, seals use the ice as a way of hiding from predators like polar bear and without it they will be a much easier target. Whales use the ice to hide and lots of there prey lives by the ice and once the ice leaves and the prey leaves the whales are forced to find a new prey or migrate. 2 the aboriginal hunt for seals and certain whales using the ice to get out to where the animals live and feel safe, they also use the ice to fish and the ice gives them a place to get to the fish in deep water while being on land and not a boat. With the ice cap melting the aboriginals cant do these hunts and get to the places. 3 the sustainability of the biosphere is affected a lot by the ice melting because animals will be forced to find new habitats and many will starve to death because there prey will also have to find a new habitat.

Part f 1 I think its very obvious to see how the spheres are interconnected for a fe reasons, the first big one is that all spheres are affected by the melting of the arctic ice cap, all spheres sustainability's are also affected by the melting of the ice cap. I think that the ice cap melting starts a domino affect , first it affects the hydrosphere with sea rise then the atmosphere with new gasses in the air, then biosphere with the animal realizing there homes gone then the geosphere feels the after affect of all this. 2 I think the melting of the ice cap is a big global problem because of all the problems I've learned and wrote about, in the 1970s there were no problems really concerning the arctic ice cap and the earth was healthy you could say. But now we have learnt about the affects on all of the spheres plus if the ice caps fully melt many cities will be completely submerged in water, all it takes is the Greenland ice sheet to melt and the sea rise 25 feet, not including the arctic ice cap. So I think the melting ice cap is a VERY bad problem and we need to fix it.

Work cited https://brainly.com/question/10376835 https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14704-melting-ice-caps-could-suck- carbon-from-atmosphere/ https://www.vox.com/energy-and- environment/2017/12/14/16772722/greenland-ice-sheet-melting-sea-level-rise MS. prosper-porta