The increase of the volume of the oceans; the sea level raises.
Global change could be best understood by visualizing the level of water going up all around the island. Let’s just picture what would happen if we visualize one foot of water above the present sea level at high tide. In my mind the water would cover all the wetlands and grasses of the island. That situation will cover more than 50% of the land, and area of the island. Whatever was left behind after the sea level went up would be something like three or four very small islands with some grass sticking out of the surface of the water. There would be many rocks sticking out of the water. What do you think would happen if two or three feet of water went up?
During the last Ice Age miles and miles of ice covered the surface of the land covering New England all the way to the middle of Long Island and stretching as far as the Ohio and Missouri Rivers. This happened all around the globe. The ice that built up for thousands of years eventually went away by melting and leaving behind debris brought from the north. This cold fresh water turned into lakes and rivers that eventually gave the characteristics of the land today. The level of the oceans in the world went up.
We are going to recreate some of the effects of the melting of the ice. We are going to measure the level of the water before and after the ice melts.
Materials
Ice cubes or an ice block
A container large enough to hold a block of ice or many ice cubes.
A ruler
A heat lamp (to speed up the process)
Procedure
Place some water in the container. Measure the level of the water. After this, place the ice in the container until it melts. Measure the level of the water now. How do you think this compares to sea level going up after the last ice age?
