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#6340
Originally Posted by endsormeans View Post
What do we know about stress on plate tec. in relation to all that fixed stable ice suddenly being melted (I say "suddenly" since the current rate of speed is faster than any natural climate change in the Earths history) and putting more stress on the planet.
Absolutely nothing.

What can be expected from ...in the span of a few decades ...the release of so much frozen fixed mass and weight on the planet?
What can be expected of said fixed weight of the polar icecaps which help to stabilize the "wobble" of our planet when they overnight (in terms of the rate of speed unnaturally occurring) disappear?
What additional stresses on the planet then?
How much? and where? and their effect?
Hmm I agree; you have something there. However note that on the north pole the ice is not resting on any solid surface but instead it's floating over water; hence there won't be any pressure difference to the seabottom when it melts.
On the antarctic it is a different story; there the landmass can be expected to rise a bit when the ices melt away.


Originally Posted by endsormeans View Post
If you take a glass of water and fill it...then toss some ice cubes in and top it up...
What happens when the ice cubes melt if the glass is left untouched ?
The ice melts..and the glass overflows...
Does it actually?
The icecubes float on top of the glass, in perfect balance where you have about 90% underwater and 10% over the brim.
Ice has density which is less than water; (that's why the cubes float, right?) so when they melt the density increases, while the mass stays the same. I did not bother to google it but there are 3 possible outcomes which are very close to each other... I don't know if the glass overflows or not?

The reason melting ice raises sealevel in on the southern hemisphere, not the northern ice cap.
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