The Melting Poles

We’ve been hearing for a while that global warming is melting the ice at both the north and south poles. But now there’s evidence that the melting may be happening faster than anyone thought. In Antarctica, scientists say the glaciers in both the Western and Eastern parts of the continent are collapsing and melting. That’s also true of the ice shelves that run around the outside of Antarctica and act as plugs that stop the giant ice sheets from sliding into the ocean and melting even faster. In the Arctic, not only is the area covered by ice getting a lot smaller, but the ice itself is getting thinner. And, of course as all this ice melts, sea levels rise, which means flooding and other problems on land.