What happens when all the glaciers on Earth melt? Recently, as news stories dealing with the seriousness of global warming have increased, you may have thought about it occasionally. According to the Oxford Language, glaciers are slowly moving masses or rivers of ice formed by the accumulation and compaction of snow on mountains or near the poles.

If glaciers melt due to global warming, new viruses can emerge, or ancient viruses can be revived. For example, in 2016, anthrax was restored when reindeer carcasses, preserved frozen in permafrost, were defrosted on the Yamal Peninsula in Tundra, Siberia. In addition, scientists have succeeded in thawing and reviving the virus 32,000 years ago found in Alaska. Even in 2021, researchers at Ohio State University in the U.S. announced that they found genetic material from 33 viruses (28 new viruses) in ice samples taken from China's Tibetan Plateau. Depending on the location, the age of the virus is estimated to be about 15,000 years.

But this is not the only thing that happens when glaciers melt. If glaciers melt, many things will happen and affect the Earth. I'll deal with only three things today. 

Image source- Adobe Stock

The first is, as many people would expect, rising sea levels. Glacier ice makes up about 10 percent of the Earth's total land. In addition, glaciers function to reflect light when they are ice, and when they melt and enter the sea, they absorb sunlight and increase the temperature. Also, the higher the temperature of the sea, the more the sea expands, which naturally leads to a rise in sea level. As a result, melting all the ice in the glacier will cause sea levels to rise by about 230 feet worldwide.

The second is the migration of people. As the sea level rises and the land is submerged, people lose their residence and must immigrate. According to Cornell University researchers, about two billion people (out of the world's estimated population of 11 billion) could become climate change refugees by 2100.

Finally, an increase in carbon dioxide occurs. According to a recent article by National Geographic, the ocean absorbs one-third of human-generated carbon dioxide and prevents it from entering the atmosphere. However, as global warming becomes severe and glaciers melt, the level of marine CO2 increases, and the ability to absorb it may be lost. These outbreaks also cause significant changes in the environment of marine animals. 

Not only that, but if all the glaciers melt, there will be many other things to do, including accelerating animal extinction, extreme weather, fishing disruption, increased ocean acidification, reduced drinking water, new land discoveries, missing lands, and more profound changes in land composition. We should pay more attention to the environment to prevent such a situation.

Source- https://www.leeds.ac.uk/news-environment/news/article/4815/sea-level-rises-from-melting-ice-massively-reduced-by-limiting-global-warming

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