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Questions for Discussion: Mountain of Ice: If the Ice Melts

What role does the Antarctic Ice Sheet play in climate?
What might cause the ice sheets to melt?
Explain how the melting of the ice sheet in Antarctica could cause a rise in sea levels in Florida.
If sea ice (frozen salt water that is floating in the Arctic and Antarctic oceans) melts, will the sea levels rise? Why or why not?
(For Grades 9-12) Imagine that you are the President of the United States. How would you prepare the United States for the melting of the Antarctic Ice Sheet? What data would you request from scientists to help you plan? Develop a scenario for coastal cities if either the East or West ice sheets were to melt. Which industries would suffer the most adverse effects? Which would benefit the most? What would be the three most essential preparations citizens of the U.S. could make for this melting scenario? How should the United States government be involved internationally? (reference the tsunami catastrophe)