1. The Greenland ice sheet has an area of approximately 1.8 million km2, and is
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Question
1. The Greenland ice sheet has an area of approximately 1.8 million km2, and is approximately 1.6 km thick on average. To answer this and the remaining questions, you will need several quantities, in addition to the area and thickness of the Greenland ice sheet. Please note that this question is only designed to help you understand the volume of water locked up in the GIS and how that would impact global sea level. Models do not currently predict sa level rise of this level in coming decades based on normal thermal expansion and land-ice melting.
-The density of ice at 0°C is 0.9167 g/cm^3
-The density of water at 0°C is 0.9998 g/cm^3
-The surface area of the ocean is approximately 361 million km^2
-Conversion factor A: 1 km^3 = 10^15 cm^3 (use to convert cubic kilometers to cubic centimeters)
-Conversion factor B: 1 km2 = 10^10 cm^2 (use to convert square kilometers to square centimeters)
-Conversion factor C: 1 cm = 0.0328 ft (use to convert cm to feet)
Given this numbers, what is the approximate volume of the Greenland ice sheet in km3? [Hint: multiply the area of the ice sheet by its thickness]. For all calculation questions remember to give your answer to the correct number of significant figures and include units.
2. What is the mass of this amount of ice in grams? [Hint: convert the volume of the ice sheet to cm3 by multiplying by Conversion factor A in question 1 and then multiply the volume of the ice sheet expressed in cm^3 by the density of ice give in question 1].
3. What volume of liquid water does this mass of ice represent in cm3? [Hint: divide the mass of ice determined in question 2 by the density of water given in question 1].
4. Assume this amount of water spread out evenly over the ocean surface and that there is no change in area of the ocean as water is added or removed. How much will the sea level rise? [Hint: first convert eh area of the ocean given in km^2 to cm^2 by multiplying by Conversion Factor B; then divide the volume of water found in question 3 by the area of the ocean expressed in cm^2]. Express your results in cm.
5. How many feet does this level of sea level rise represent? [Hint: convert from cm to feet by multiplying the sea level rise found in question 4 by Conversion Factor C]
6. An interactive map that illustrates the effect of sea level rise on various US cities, published in the New York Times Sunday Review Opinion Pages on 24 November 2012 by Baden Copeland, Josh Keller, and Bill Marsh based on data from Climate Central, the USGS, NOAA, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The images show the area of land that will be flooded in New York City for various levels of sea level rise: a 5 foot rise, a 12 foot rise, and 25 foot rise.
Using the number of feet determined in question 5, about how much of New York City would be flooded if the entire Greenland ice cap melted?
Explanation / Answer
1. vol of ice = 1.8 * 106 km2 * 1.6 km = 2.88 * 106 km3
2. mass of ice = 2.88 * 106 km3 * 1015 * 0.9167 = 2679.69744 grams
3. vol of water = 2679.69744 grams / 0.9998 = 2680.233 cm3
4. sea level rise = 2680.23 / 1818*106 = 1.4743*10-6 cm
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