The impact of melting icebergs on sea level

• Main Authors: Villarroel Villamor, José Domingo, Zuazagoitia Rey-Baltar, Daniel
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Spanish
• Published: Universidad de Cádiz 2014
• Subjects: Global warming; sea level; density; Archimedes principle; iceberg; Calentamiento global; nivel del mar; densidad; principio de Arquímedes; Hielo; Ice Shelves; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://revistas.uca.es/index.php/eureka/article/view/2909

The idea that the melting process of large masses of ice that drift in the oceans has zero impact on the sea level is a very widespread belief. However, the truth is that in the current global warming situation, the melting of icebergs, ice shelves and sea ice, does have a significant impact on sea level. The following is a revision of this phenomenon as well as an illustrative experiment which can be useful to understand the impact that melting of icebergs has on sea level. Contrariamente a la creencia, muy extendida, de que la fusión de las grandes masas de hielo a la deriva en el océano no repercute en un aumento del nivel del mar, lo cierto es que el deshielo de icebergs, barreras de hielo e incluso de la banquisa tiene, en el actual contexto de calentamiento global, un impacto nada despreciable en el nivel de los océanos. Se presenta a continuación una revisión de este fenómeno y se propone un experimento ilustrativo que puede resultar útil para ofrecer una experiencia directa relativa al impacto que sobre el nivel del mar tiene la fusión del hielo flotante en el océano.Palabras clave: Calentamiento global, nivel del mar, densidad, principio de Arquímedes, experimento ilustrativo.The impact of melting icebergs on sea levelThe idea that the melting process of large masses of ice that drift in the oceans has zero impact on the sea level is a very widespread belief. However, the truth is that in the current global warming situation, the melting of icebergs, ice shelves and sea ice, does have a significant impact on sea level. The following is a revision of this phenomenon as well as an illustrative experiment which can be useful to understand the impact that melting of icebergs has on sea level.Key words: Global warming, sea level, density, Archimedes principle, iceberg.