# How long will it take for the poles to melt and kill us all? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 27, 2001, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-will-it-take-for-the-poles-to-melt-and-kill-us-all/95417 "2001-11-27T01:49:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Psycho\_Aquarius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@Psycho\_Aquarius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Psycho_Aquarius)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-will-it-take-for-the-poles-to-melt-and-kill-us-all/95417/1 "2001-11-27T01:49:24Z")
will it happen? and if it does? what will the result be? will there be evolution? monkeys? dinosaurs? Tell me!!! ---
**Author:** ![bbs2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e495f1/32.png) [@bbs2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbs2k)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-will-it-take-for-the-poles-to-melt-and-kill-us-all/95417/2 "2001-11-27T02:01:53Z")
This is one of my favorite theories: What if we are already going through the saturated level of global warming, and it’s actually SAVING our lives? How? Well, we have documented many ice ages throughout the existence of our planet. And although we don’t know when exactly to predeict them, the only thing we know is that there will be more. What if all this global warming is actually protecting us against an ice age, therefore saving our lives. Keep on driving baby. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-will-it-take-for-the-poles-to-melt-and-kill-us-all/95417/3 "2001-11-27T02:05:52Z")
> [@](#): > > will it happen? Sure, eventually. When the Sun goes red giant if not before. > [@](#): > > and if it does? Not “if.” “When.” > [@](#): > > what will the result be? Less ice, higher water levels, a return to the shallow seas and temperate climate typical of the Mesozoic (as opposed to the extreme temperature differentials we have been seeing through the Tertiary), penguins will move into the Appalachians. > [@](#): > > will there be evolution? Sure. But nothing much will change fast enough for you to see it directly, just like now. > [@](#): > > monkeys? Sure. It’s tough to kill off all the individuals in some 300-odd species. If nothing else the higher altitude species in the Andes or the Himalayas should hardly notice if the lowlands flood. What do you expect the monkeys to do, exactly? > [@](#): > > dinosaurs? Highly unlikely. Things don’t come back from the dead. Usually. > [@](#): > > Tell me!!! The use of more than one exclamation point is a sign of instability. ---
**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-will-it-take-for-the-poles-to-melt-and-kill-us-all/95417/4 "2001-11-27T02:08:18Z")
I think we’ll be dead by then, probably by a killer virus… ---
**Author:** ![Psycho\_Aquarius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@Psycho\_Aquarius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Psycho_Aquarius)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-will-it-take-for-the-poles-to-melt-and-kill-us-all/95417/5 "2001-11-27T02:33:28Z")
I wondered if evolution would start all over again. bacteria to fish, fish to dinos, dinos to birds, stuff like that I don’t know what I’m talking About! Just a question ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-will-it-take-for-the-poles-to-melt-and-kill-us-all/95417/6 "2001-11-27T02:44:27Z")
There have been times when there were no ice caps. There have been times when the ice caps covered a much greater percentage of the Earth’s surface than now. Neither situation caused a die-off of everything more fragile than bacteria. Life is tough and adaptable. Are you in high school yet? Your school library may have resources (by that I mean books) that could help you define your interests and develop more focused questions. ---
**Author:** ![Psycho\_Aquarius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@Psycho\_Aquarius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Psycho_Aquarius)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-will-it-take-for-the-poles-to-melt-and-kill-us-all/95417/7 "2001-11-27T03:03:02Z")
I’m not in high school yet ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-will-it-take-for-the-poles-to-melt-and-kill-us-all/95417/8 "2001-11-27T03:18:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Psycho\_Aquarius \* > \*\*I don’t know what I’m talking About! \*\* No kiddin’? ---
**Author:** ![Psycho\_Aquarius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@Psycho\_Aquarius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Psycho_Aquarius)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-will-it-take-for-the-poles-to-melt-and-kill-us-all/95417/9 "2001-11-27T03:20:44Z")
You don’t have to be a jerk about it ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-will-it-take-for-the-poles-to-melt-and-kill-us-all/95417/10 "2001-11-27T03:41:15Z")
Okay, Psycho Aquarius, now you see what I’m talking about, over in your “CANADA ANSWER ME” thread. People around here get really snotty, really fast, when they get irritated by seeming incompetence. They don’t like having their time wasted by non-serious people, or their chains jerked. We do sometimes have trolls that come in here and think it’s funny to pretend to be stupid junior high school kids. 😉 Dr. F. is being most awfully polite when he asks, “Are you in high school yet?” Bless him. 🙂 You’re coming across as “too young to be here”, Psycho. Like I said, start considering what you’re about to type much more carefully, or suffer the consequences, like third-degree burns on your derriere. And definitely put your age in your sig, for your own protection. 😉 BTW, folks, Psycho is 14, and since the answer to the question, “Are you in high school yet?” was “no”, I’m assuming the presence in our midst of an Eighth Grader. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-will-it-take-for-the-poles-to-melt-and-kill-us-all/95417/11 "2001-11-27T03:42:38Z")
And since Psycho’s AOL IM handle is “Soul Sistah”, I’m assuming the presence of an Eighth Grade girl. ---
**Author:** ![drewbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drewbert/32/15890_2.png) [@drewbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewbert)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-will-it-take-for-the-poles-to-melt-and-kill-us-all/95417/12 "2001-11-27T05:35:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Duck Duck Goose \* > \*\*And since Psycho’s AOL IM handle is “Soul Sistah”, I’m assuming the presence of an Eighth Grade girl. \*\* The name “Michelle” in the sig might be a dead giveaway, too 😃 Anyway, if nearly all life on the Earth were wiped out (and I don’t think just the ice caps melting would do this - lots of things can swim!) and life had to more or less start all over again, there’s no doubt that evolution would take a different course than from before. You might eventually see some of the same big important themes all over again - digestion, reproduction, sense organs (eyes, ears, and so on), but you wouldn’t get dinosaurs and trees and lions and wombats and people the second time around. You’d get… well, something else. ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-will-it-take-for-the-poles-to-melt-and-kill-us-all/95417/13 "2001-11-27T05:54:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Duck Duck Goose \* > BTW, folks, Psycho is 14, and since the answer to the question, “Are you in high school yet?” was “no”, I’m assuming the presence in our midst of an Eighth Grader. Crap. :: hides the beer and porno :: In any event, the amount of water in the polar ice caps is not great enough to kill us all if they melt. Species less able to pack up and move into the highlands and adapt will get screwed, humans will probably muddle through all right. ---
**Author:** ![Hanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b3f665/32.png) [@Hanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hanna)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-will-it-take-for-the-poles-to-melt-and-kill-us-all/95417/14 "2001-11-27T06:56:20Z")
What? Haven’t you guys ever seen _Waterworld_? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Genseric](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Genseric](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Genseric)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-will-it-take-for-the-poles-to-melt-and-kill-us-all/95417/15 "2001-11-27T07:10:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Boscibo \* > \*\*What? Haven’t you guys ever seen _Waterworld_? > 😃 \*\* Of course! Excellent film. [sub]Did I say that out loud?[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![reprise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@reprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/reprise)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-will-it-take-for-the-poles-to-melt-and-kill-us-all/95417/16 "2001-11-27T07:18:41Z")
I’m going to reveal my total ignorance here. Don’t the polar caps displace the same volume in their frozen form as they would in liquid form? You don’t get MORE than the toal volume you had in a glass of water when the ice cubes melt - why is it different with the polar caps? ---
**Author:** ![Coil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Coil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coil)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-will-it-take-for-the-poles-to-melt-and-kill-us-all/95417/17 "2001-11-27T07:47:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by reprise \* > \*\*I’m going to reveal my total ignorance here. Don’t the polar caps displace the same volume in their frozen form as they would in liquid form? You don’t get MORE than the toal volume you had in a glass of water when the ice cubes melt - why is it different with the polar caps? \*\* It depends on which pole you are talking about. The north pole is mostly on water with the exception of greenland and a few islands. The South pole however has quite a lot of land underneath the ice. The temperature would however have to rise pretty much for the Antarctic ice to melt. Average temperature in the Antarctic is probably around -30 to -50 C (just making a semi-educated guess here, anyone have a cite?) the temperature would have to go up quite a lot for all that ice to melt. /Coil ---
**Author:** ![PhiloVance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e19adc/32.png) [@PhiloVance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhiloVance)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-will-it-take-for-the-poles-to-melt-and-kill-us-all/95417/18 "2001-11-27T08:59:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\*How long will it take for the poles to melt and kill us all? \*\* What? All the people in a whole country melting! I’ve never heard of such a thing! OHHHHH, those **poles** :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Enuma\_Elish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5e9695/32.png) [@Enuma\_Elish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enuma_Elish)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-will-it-take-for-the-poles-to-melt-and-kill-us-all/95417/19 "2001-11-27T10:44:50Z")
Does anyone have any recent reports on the state of the Larsen Ice Shelf? I seem to recall a chunk falling off in 1995 and an even bigger chunk (11/2 miles wide by 31/2 miles long) breaking off and floating itno the sea in 1998. Have any more chunks broken off? ---
**Author:** ![zigaretten](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/91b2a8/32.png) [@zigaretten](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zigaretten)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-will-it-take-for-the-poles-to-melt-and-kill-us-all/95417/20 "2001-11-27T12:15:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Enuma Elish \* > \*\*Does anyone have any recent reports on the state of the Larsen Ice Shelf? I seem to recall a chunk falling off in 1995 and an even bigger chunk (11/2 miles wide by 31/2 miles long) breaking off and floating itno the sea in 1998. > > Have any more chunks broken off? \*\* The really big berg broke off of the Ross Ice Shelf in 2000. More are breaking off all the time, but they are small and this is normal. Actually the big berg is also nothing to worry about; see: [http://www.weather-wise.com/polar/b15.htm](http://www.weather-wise.com/polar/b15.htm) When bergs don’t break off, they call it an ice age. Ron [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-will-it-take-for-the-poles-to-melt-and-kill-us-all/95417.md?page=2)