Sea ice plays an important role maintaining the Earth’s energy balance while helping keep polar regions cool due to its ability to reflect more sunlight back to space. Sea ice also keeps air cool by forming an insulating barrier between the cold air above it and the warmer water below it.

These ice ages are triggered and ended by slow changes in the Earth’s orbit. There is a real risk that, if emissions continue to rise, the world warms more this century than it did between the middle of the last ice age 20,000 years ago and today.

While sea ice exists primarily in the polar regions, it influences the global climate. This begins a cycle of warming and melting. Warmer water temperatures delay ice growth in the fall and winter, and the ice melts faster the following spring, exposing dark ocean waters for a longer period the following summer.

The bottom layer of ocean water is formed in POLAR seas. Breakers are formed by the action of FRICTION between the waves and the ocean bottom. The depth to which a wave disturbs the water is called the WAVE HEIGHT.

Rising seas endanger coastal cities and small island nations by exacerbating coastal flooding and storm surge, making dangerous weather events even more so. Glacial melt of the Greenland ice sheet is a major predictor of future sea level rise; if it melts entirely, global sea levels could rise 20 feet.

Solutions to poverty to get us to 2030

1. Equality and representation for all.
2. 5 Ways Concern Works for Gender Equality Around the World.
3. Building resilience — climate and otherwise…
4. 3. …
5. Increase access to education.
6. Improve food security and access to clean water.
7. End war and conflict.
8. Embrace cash and microfinance.

5 Ways to Reduce the Drivers of Climate Change

1. Put a price on carbon. Cutting emissions starts with clear policy signals.
2. End fossil fuel subsidies.
3. Build low-carbon, resilient cities.
4. Increase energy efficiency and use of renewable energy.
5. Implement climate-smart agriculture and nurture forest landscapes.

Reducing short-lived climate pollutants can have immediate economic benefits from job creation and increased household income – as well as lasting ancillary benefits from improved public health, reduced poverty and inequality, and lessened climate change impacts.

Large bodies of water, such as oceans, seas and large lakes, can affect the climate of an area. Water heats and cools more slowly than landmasses. Therefore, the coastal regions will stay cooler in summer and warmer in winter, thus creating a more moderate climate with a narrower temperature range.

Rivers not only provide the nutrients for our agriculture and the water for us to drink, but they also provide one of the main ways of moderating climate. Altering the chemistry and the course of rivers may have profound impacts on how they transport carbon. Wherever we live, we all live downstream.