A Hostile Planet

A 20-foot sea level rise is likely if either the Greenland Ice Shelf or the East Antarctic Ice Shelf were to melt and slip into the sea. You may think a 20-foot rise in sea level is unlikely, but even a relatively small rise in sea levels could have an enormous impact on people around the world. For example, in Bangladesh, 15 million people live within 1 meter of sea level and in India, the number of people at a similar elevation is 8 million.

The changes have been extreme, developing far faster than anyone foresaw, despite the fact that scientists have been predicting that significant rises in sea level could only happen decades or centuries in the future. In the summer of 2007, the ice in the Arctic receded further than any of the climate models had predicted.

This is significant, because as white arctic ice is replaced by dark water (or land, in the case of tundra), our planet absorbs more heat. The reason for this is ice reflects more light and heat than do water and land, something scientists refer to as the “albedo effect.” The albedo effect of ice is believed to have had a major impact on Earth’s climate over the eons and the loss of albedo could accelerate the warming of the Earth significantly. All of this means an ever more dangerous future for your kids.  from: The Effects of Global Warming.