Polar Ice Caps
A polar ice cap is a high-altitude area that is covered by ice. There are no requirements to be considered a polar ice cap beyond the region being at a planet geographic pole. It does not matter if the polar ice cap covers land or water.
A polar ice cap is not, however, actually an ice cap. Ice caps are dome-shaped masses of glacier ice that are less than 12 million acres and must be over land. Anything larger than that and it is an ice sheet, which is what covers nearly all of Antarctica.
The Earth’s polar ice caps are composed of water ice. As a result, both of them, but particularly the polar ice cap at the North Pole, have become central sites in demonstrating the dangers of climate change. This includes concerns over rising sea levels, the loss of animal habitats and the potential release of methane into the atmosphere.
(Photo: NASA)
(Text by Noel Kirkpatrick)
Articles about Polar Ice Caps
Tue, May 01 2012 at 6:24 PM EST
Thanks to the combined technology of satellites and weather stations scattered around the Antarctic Peninsula, researchers can now keep tabs on the region's shifting landscape.Tue, Dec 13 2011 at 8:36 AM EST
Arctic sea ice always grows and shrinks with the seasons, but thanks to global warming, it's been doing a lot more of the latter lately. Here's a graphical look at just how quickly this sea change is happening.Wed, Dec 07 2011 at 9:54 AM EST
Polar bears have ruled the Arctic for 100,000 years, but now they're struggling to keep up as the region undergoes a dramatic transformation.Wed, Nov 30 2011 at 12:55 PM EST
Four years in the making, the Discovery Channel/BBC co-production is a groundbreaking look at the Earth's polar regions.
Fri, Nov 18 2011 at 3:14 PM EST
Check out 2 webcams from Churchill, Manitoba, where polar bears wait for the Hudson Bay to freeze so they can reach their seal-hunting grounds. Thu, Nov 03 2011 at 9:06 AM EST
Glacier is of particular interest to scientists because it is big, unstable and one of the largest sources of uncertainty in global sea level rise projections.Wed, Oct 26 2011 at 12:15 PM EST
The new white Coca-Cola cans are part of a fundraising campaign to protect the Arctic.Thu, Oct 20 2011 at 1:15 PM EST
An environmental group predicts that annual sea ice is expected to shrink between 10 and 50 percent by 2100, leaving polar bears less habitable areas.Wed, Sep 14 2011 at 5:38 AM EST
The 5 biggest melts in a 32-year record have all happened in the past 5 years, likely a result of both man-made climate change and natural weather patterns.Wed, Sep 07 2011 at 7:35 AM EST
The Arctic landscape is forecast to disappear within decades and be replaced by open sea, perhaps for the first time in 7,000 years or more. - 1. Solar Storm
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