Massive ice melt would be devastating

Just something interesting about our planet: The northern polar region is not an “above sea level” land area. It is just frozen water that melts and refreezes with the seasons.

However, the southern polar region of Antarctica is the fifth-largest continent. It contains 70 percent of all the fresh water and 90 percent of all the ice on our planet.

It has the highest average elevation (averaging 7,500 ft. above sea level) of any continent. This helps produce very high prevailing (gravity driven) winds. At one location the annual average wind speed was 44 mph.

Since cold air can’t hold much water, Antarctica is very dry. Only 5 or 6 inches of precipitation on average accumulates over the entire continent in the average year. There are extremely dry places in Antarctica where rain has not fallen for perhaps 2 million years.

If all the ice in Antarctica were to melt, the worldwide sea level would rise by an estimated 120 feet. You could imagine how this would devastate humanity currently living in areas up to what is now 120 feet above sea level.

Global warming is serious business.

James Peterson

Hoffman Estates