#4 Refine Your Research Topic/Question/Problem (freewrite, 10 minutes)

1. How much of the sea level will rise if all the ice in Greenland and Antarctica melts?

The concern of global warming is that the surface, air, and ocean temperature will continue to rise as the percentage of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere increases, therefore melts ice sheets, ice shelves, glaciers off Greenland and Antarctica. The reason for this concern is that if the greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) builds up in the atmosphere, it will cause the temperature to rise. The gases absorb the heat and emit its energy in all directions, rather than heat radiating outward away from the surface. If the melting does occur, how much of the world’s sea level will rise? Taken into account that Antarctica and Greenland holds almost 90% and 10% of world’s total ice masses, respectively.

My hypothesis is that the melting of both Antarctica and Greenland will be responsible for worldwide sea level rising, flooding coastal areas and other regions at or near sea level. These regions may include the state of Florida, the Amazon Basin, and parts of Europe maybe be submerged under water. The melting of the ice masses will cause approximately a rise of 200 ft above current sea level. That is why prominent scientists and respectable scientific community is racing against time to understand global warming and its consequences before it is too late. Unfortunately, this process may or may not be stopped because at a global scale, one cannot foresee any solution to reverse the process – in other words – you cannot really stop Mother Nature.