Iceberg Experiment

Global Warming Experiment
For this week’s assignment, I had to conduct an experiment with ice cubes. First, I put some ice cubes into a bowl and let them sit in the freezer overnight. Then, I filled up the bowl with water, all the way to the top, and left it until the ice melted. My prediction was that the bowl would not overflow with water, since the melted water from the ice would simply replace the amount of space taken up by the ice cubes.
That being said, the world’s glaciers are not actually immersed in the water but rather rise above it; therefore, if a glacier melts, it would in fact be adding water to the oceans. Global warming can have severe repercussions for every continent, and it may not be as far in the future as people might think. “Seventy-five percent of the world's fresh water is stored in glaciers, but scientists predict climate change will cause some of the world's largest glaciers to completely melt by 2030” (NOW on PBS, 2010).
Scientists have predicted widespread flooding if the world’s icecaps melt and “even a modest rise in sea levels could cause flooding problems for low-lying coastal areas…[and] if the West Antarctic Ice Sheet were to melt and collapse into the sea, it would push sea levels up more than 32 feet” (Strickland & Grabianowski, 2005). One fact that I did not know about is that the oceans’ waters would actually expand if warmed, therefore causing more flooding on top of the glacial melting. In fact, “thermal expansion has already raised the oceans 4 to 8 inches” (Lovgren, 2004). Additionally, global warming could proceed at a faster pace because there would be less ice to reflect the sun’s rays.
As I conducted this experiment, I wondered about a couple of things related to global warming:
1 – Is global warming a natural phenomena that has been “helped along” by pollution and disregard for the environment?
2 – So many ice caps have already collapsed, and clearly it is happening at a faster and faster pace so it begs the question of if this is a problem that can be repaired, or are the wheels already in motion?
3 – Would changing variables change the outcome of the experiment, and how? For example, if I aimed a fan at the bowl of water and ice and/or increased or decreased the temperature of the water, would those actions have an effect on the experiment?
Although there are some naysayers who believe that global warming is simply overstated hysteria, it seems clear to me based on scientific research and data that we have a significant event occurring on this planet. If it is at all possible to rectify the problem, all of us are duty-bound to do whatever it takes to reverse this global warming and its catastrophic effects.

References:
Lovgren, S. (2004). Warming to Cause Catastrophic Rise in Sea Level? National Geographic News. Retrieved on May 20, 2010 from http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/04/0420_040420_earthday.html
Strickland, Jonathan, and Ed Grabianowski. "How Global Warming Works." 21 April 2005. HowStuffWorks.com. Retrieved from on May 23, 2010.