I think melting ice is the initial dramatic effect and a lot of other effects, such as sea level rise, have a delayed onset due to being directly related to melting ice. So warming initially melts ice to reveal dramatic effects but if melting continues it will initiate dramatic effects on coastal areas.
I guess it is a question of perception. Ice avalanches in the Arctic/Greenland/Antarctica have a very negative perception. But if coastal areas and major cities/countries (EG: London/Holland) that are sinking or lying at or below sea level get inundated from rising sea levels then the perception of the effect is likely to be just as, or more devastating. This is because these effects are closer to home and impacting more humans.
So I think the initial noticeable impact is melting ice but delayed onset, particularly sea level rise, will become much more noticeable in the future if ice continues to melt.
You must factor in altitude as well as latitude when you think of melting ice. Antarctica is so cold and with so much ice that it will take a lot of warming to melt out all the ice. Yet, we are beginning to see even this ice to begin to melt. It is not looking for the future of mankind ....... and many other species as well.
Well that's a very good question, not sure if it ice or the higher latitudes, I am going to have to research this one, I am not a AGW believer I'm sure it's natural cycles, solar and ocean's, as the last 16yrs show no relationship to the CO2 curve but line up nicely with solar cycles and solar magnetic flux.
However either way why at the colder places?.
I didn't know that it was noticeable at all. It isn't noticeable in Sibria where they are having record lows and deaths. It isn't noticeable in China where the same holds true. It isn't noticeable in the UK where they are having snow and high energy bills. It isn't noticeable in McMurdo where the 'saviors of the earth' had to be rescued by an Russian ice breaker to deliver fossil fuel. Where is this 'massive ice melting'? Other than in the saviors of the earths writings and imagination?
Have you tried google searches for this? I am not sure that this is a great scientific place for inquiry.
It doesn't look so noticeable here.
http://www.usap.gov/videoclipsandmaps/sp...
I know its effects are seen elsewhere especially with islands and extreme weather but it seems that the massive melting of ice is so much more dramatic than other evidence of global warming. I'd like to know if ice melts quickly in response to the same increase in heat that would not be so noticeable elsewhere. Thankyou.
