Journal des sciences de la Terre et du changement climatique

Abstrait

Ice: Sentinel of the Continents

Jeongwook Yun

In the last few decades, harmful human activities such as burning fossil fuels have caused a rapid rise in toxic
greenhouse gas emissions, trapping Earth’s surface heat which raises global temperatures. The issue of global warming
is prevalent today as temperatures on Earth are increasing at an alarming rate. This increase causes the ice caps in
the Arctic Sea and Antarctica to melt faster which is problematic because cumulative research attests that ice restrains
sea levels from reaching cataclysmic levels. The Arctic Ocean and Antarctica exhibit a balancing effect that controls
the amount of ice melted and produced as each polar region experiences its summer or winter season. Furthermore,
as vaporization levels are extremely low in Polar Regions, these regions utilize ice as a more effective alternative for
water retention. In addition, because ice’s unique qualities, major volume displacement that would detrimentally damage
coastal ports and cities can be evaded.