I have noticed a common misunderstanding among many people, particularly in conversation with many children during the workshops and also with those who have only recently brought to environment conservation cause. The misunderstanding is about ice and the question of what happens around the world when it thaws. Many people believe that when icebergs melt in the ocean, the sea level rises immediately. This isn’t exactly how it works. For example, when a glass is about ¾ full with both water and ice cubes and the ice cubes melt, the water doesn’t pour over the sides of the glass. And when the ice in a pond melts at the end of winter, the pond won’t be fuller than the previous autumn. However, if we also lay a big block of ice at the edge of the pond, when it melts it could very well make the water level in the pond higher than before.

It’s the same situation with the ice that lies “stored away” in the glaciers on each continent. When the glaciers melt, as a result of global warming, the water flows down into the ocean, raising the sea level and flooding coasts and the coastal cities.

The largest amount of continental ice on earth (the ice that is stored away) is in Antarctica and Greenland. There are also large quantities in South America and in glaciers in various mountain ranges around the world.

Does this mean that the ice already in the sea doesn’t have an effect on the climate? No! Ice melting in the oceans actually has a powerful effect on the global climate. It is particularly noticeable when seas that are frozen throughout the year or over many months of the year lose their ice coating. This is because snow and ice reflects sunlight like a giant sheet of aluminum foil: sending up to 90 percent of the sun rays directly back into space. Without this, the likelihood that the earth’s atmosphere will grow warmer is further increased.

If these giant mirrors (the floating ice sheets around the poles) melt, then the earth will lose its most effective refrigerator. When the sun shines on water instead of ice, it absorbs up to 90 percent of the heat and energy. This continually adds more heat to the earth’s already warming climate, and ends up melting the continental ice and raising the sea level even faster than before.