Above is a video of part of Sheridan Glacier as it drips away into a large pool in front of it. The water itself is full of silt and becomes very cloudy. Due to global warming retreating glaciers are unfortunately becoming more and more frequent and that is raising water levels worldwide. The rising of global sea levels is referred to as “Eustacy”. Eustacy however works on two different levels. The first way that the ocean levels rise is by the number of water molecules in the ocean (such as a glacier melting and adding more water to the oceans) and the second is change in water temperature. At first I was confused in how water temperature affects the waters however I soon realized that as the water temperature rises the molecules of the water expands, forcing the water to spread more, thus raising the levels. This process specifically is referred to as “steric change” and scientists today believe that steric change accounts for 50% of present day sea level change. With this knowledge I actually found out that it’s not the glaciers melting and increasing the volume of water on the earth but rather an increase in the temperature of that water forcing it to increase in size.
Fascinating...
Ryan Lund
06.29.2016
Citation:https://www2.usgs.gov/faq/categories/9750/3476
Bonus Shot of Glacier with mountain and reflection!