Sunday, September 26, 2010

Glaciers Melting!!!


I think about the effects of global warming all of the time especially since I live on a barrier island- I can see the beach being eroded. I know some is natural, barrier islands are constantly shifting, but the rate seems a bit fast- more than several feet are missing every year. I keep telling my husband that we should move to the mountains near a large water source- like a lake or spring. Of course he thinks I’m crazy and says that if it ever gets that bad, it would be horrible anywhere. Then I think that maybe Florida wouldn’t be such a bad place to be if the Gulf Stream is stopped by the glaciers & poles melting, and we go into some sort of ice age. We’ll be in one of the warmer spots! Did anyone else watch the PBS movie on the glaciers melting?

4 comments:

  1. Hi M.J.,
    Interesting perspective from you and living on a barrier island. I agree with your husband; it WOULD be horrible anywhere. I wish I knew about the PBS special, that would have been an awesome and timely show to catch. It also would have been a welcome and informative addition to our courses required viewing.

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  2. Hi,

    Did you check Dave's blog? Looks like Florida may not be the best plan... :)

    Do you think that the experiment from class is a more accurate representation of glaciers (ice on land) or icebergs (ice in water)? Amy

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  3. I was shocked- most of my seventh graders didn't get that sea levels wouldn't rise w/ sea ice melting. I had them write a hypothesis while I did the two mini experiments. They all got the sea levels will rise w/ the glaciers melting. We then got into discussions about salinity levels, what drives the currents, and what could happen if the currents are stopped- they got it! But I had to tell them everything- they have no higher level thinking skills and they are clueless about what is going on out there.

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  4. Hi M.J.,
    I agree that all of these severe events could happen with global warming. However, I believe that they are all absolute worst case scenarios. I also don't believe this process is going to happen quickly as evident by similar cycles in earth's history these changes are usually gradual.

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