Global Warming: Melting Ice Caps.

I chose to do my research paper on Global Warming and because it's such a large topic I narrowed it down to discussing the melting ice in the arctic. I've never really known much about global warming or why I should be worried, so I thought I would take this opportunity to find out. It turns out that there is definitely a lot of evidence supporting a warmer Earth, including melting ice, but there is also evidence that shows that it might not be all due to human activity.

NASA has satellite photos of the Arctic in the 1979 and 2003 showing how much the ice has melted. When the suns rays hit the ice they are reflected back up into the atmosphere, but when its rays hit the dark ocean they are absorbed. Causing warmer waters, which cause the ice to melt faster and in turn causes a warmer climate. This melting ice effects not just the weather, but also the animals. Scientists found that polar bears are being greatly affected by the lack of ice during the summer. The melting ice also causes rising sea levels, which could be disastrous.

Sunspots are another factor people tend to leave out. The sun has many dark holes on its surface that create high volumes of energy which make for a warmer Earth. However, these spots are in specific places and as the earth rotates the climate can change. For example, in the 1700's scientists discovered that there were hardly any sunspots and during that cycle England saw some of it's coldest and longest winters.