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Glaciers and Ice Caps : The Melting

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The change from a solid state, snow and ice, to a liquid state, water, makes the Arctic sensitive to climate change and introduces many dangerous positive feedback loops that can drive sudden detrimental climate shifts. Detrimental climate shifts that can affect the whole planet and human civilization. Includes interviews with leading glacial experts from around the country. Chapters: Introduction - Experts describe the dangerous impacts of global warming on the cryosphere, the world of ice; The Arctic and Antarctica - Presents the locations of the world's great ice sheets and polar caps; The Warming of the Arctic - Tells why the Arctic is especially sensitive to global warming; The Melting Ice Caps - the shrinking of the ice caps speeds up global warming; Thawing of the Permafrost - the melting of permafrost puts additional carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, further accelerating global warming; Melting of Glaciers and Ice Sheets - Predicts how the melting of glaciers will raise sea levels dramatically by 2050.

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