What Happens When the Arctic Melts?

We don’t often see frozen sea water, but, of course, that is what the north pole is! Ever wondered what would happen if the Arctic ice cap melts? Here is a clever demonstration which shows you just that!

You will need:

A drinking glass
Ice
Marker pen
Ruler

What to do:

Fill a glass three-quarters full with water and add ice. Mark with your marker pen a line along the water level and measure the height from the bottom of the glass to the line, then wait for the ice to melt…
Once the ice melts, mark the new water level line and measure the new height from the bottom of the glass to the line. There should be a small drop in water level.

What’s happening?

Ice (unlike most other things) is actually bigger in its solid form than in its liquid form, and so it shrinks as it melts! The result of this experiment means the melting of sea ice has nothing to do with rising sea-levels - but global warming does lead to a rise in sea-level.
This is because even though water is unusual and expands when it freezes, it still expands when it warms up. The global rise in temperature has meant the water in our seas has got bigger, and so the overall global sea level has risen because of this.

Melting of land ice such as in the Antarctic also leads to a rise in sea-level!