Ice Cube Theory

Consider these two pictures. They seem the same when really they are very different. The glass on the left has ice stacked on top of each other all the way down to the bottom of the glass. This means that when the ice melts the water level will rise. However the glass on the right has ice cubes floating in it, meaning that when those melt, the water level will stay basically at the same level. This is true because when ice cubes displace as much water as they produce when melted. Anything floating in water pushes the H2O out to the sides. These floating ice cubes represent floating ice caps. When these melt the sea level will not rise. The glass with the ice cubes on the bottom of the glass on the other hand, will raise the water level because they are not displacing water by floating. These ice cubes represent snow melting into the ocean from icy places such as Greenland. If Greenland were to melt the water level would rise dramatically. This could be dangerous to natural cycles. It could even go as far
as causing another ice age says Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth.

Below is a link for a good website that has environmental news and articles written about melting ice in Greenland and various other environmental topics.
Science Daily