Okay... Now i am getting worried.

[Artemicion]

No but the weight in that region shifts. When you shift that much weight it might well have a big effect on the crust of the earth it is lying on.

Perhaps if the plate was small and covered only Antarctica. As it happens:

The plate extends way beyond the edge of Antarctica. No amount of water pressure increase due to ice melt is going to have an effect on that area. None.

 

[fursplodage]

Nah, it's just the apocalypse. Nothing to worry about.

 

[fursplodage]

be worried the locust horde is coming

Havn't it already been here? in ninja outfit, ofc.

 

[Slaanax]

Weight=Gravitic Force=F(g)

F(g)=m*a

m=mass(Kg)

a=9.8(m.s^-2) Which is pretty much a constant on earth surface for any macroscopic calculations.

If you have more ice packed into a smaller volume then you have more mass. You have to remember that the earth is a closed system, we only exchange energy with the outside, not matter(except for the occasional satellite or meteor. So the whole idea of there being more or less mass over the Earth's crust based on the state of the matter is well... silly.

The location of the mass could effect the earth. If the Ice on the poles was enough to squish the earth slightly removing some of the weight and moving it about the earth could cause a reaction.

 

[major28]

as sure as i am that the wirld is ending i dont think that we r rlly having mor eearthquakes than we ever had the technology for detecting them has gotten better and more prevelant and the news media has gotten more story hungry and earthquakes that rlly get ur emotions running are good stories so they are being publicized more

 

[cuddly_tomato]

No but the weight in that region shifts. When you shift that much weight it might well have a big effect on the crust of the earth it is lying on.

Perhaps if the plate was small and covered only Antarctica. As it happens:

The plate extends way beyond the edge of Antarctica. No amount of water pressure increase due to ice melt is going to have an effect on that area. None.

I think you are underestimating the weight of the sea ice. Take a butchers [http://www.articlesbase.com/environment-articles/will-global-warming-unleash-more-seismic-activity-77891.html]. Some of the ice in Antarctica is miles deep, and it is as heavy as rock. If all that melted it would be effectively like lifting a mountain range off the place.

There is no doubt that geological activity has increased recently. There have been more than a few earthquakes (there was even one in England 2 years ago that measured above a 5), and much volcanism has been going on (look at Iceland for example). I am not saying this is because of global warming or anything. Just that the theory need not be dismissed quite yet.

 

[Xanadu84]

I think a lot of people are overlooking the obvious here: Ice does weigh more heavily on certain areas then water would. Take, for example, a person picking up a giant block with there hands. Very, very heavy. What happens when the ice melts? Is he carrying the same weight? No, because all the water just fell through his fingers, onto the ground.

Hahaha, what? Mass doesn't change when the state of matter changes. Ice does not weigh more heavily than water anywhere. There's a reason ice floats in water, you guys. It's called density, and no, that doesn't make it heavier either.

...That COMPLETELY went over your head.

Tell you what. Go freeze a gallon of water, and balance it on your hand. Then, take a gallon of liquid water (NO containers, just a big blob of water) and try to balance that on your hand. As you're holding up the giant block of ice, and the few droplets of water still remaining on your hand, and your staring down at your wet shoes and the soaking kitchen floor, tell me which one is heavier. Get it?

 

[cuddly_tomato]

I think a lot of people are overlooking the obvious here: Ice does weigh more heavily on certain areas then water would. Take, for example, a person picking up a giant block with there hands. Very, very heavy. What happens when the ice melts? Is he carrying the same weight? No, because all the water just fell through his fingers, onto the ground.

Hahaha, what? Mass doesn't change when the state of matter changes. Ice does not weigh more heavily than water anywhere. There's a reason ice floats in water, you guys. It's called density, and no, that doesn't make it heavier either.

...That COMPLETELY went over your head.

Tell you what. Go freeze a gallon of water, and balance it on your hand. Then, take a gallon of liquid water (NO containers, just a big blob of water) and try to balance that on your hand. As you're holding up the giant block of ice, and the few droplets of water still remaining on your hand, and your staring down at your wet shoes and the soaking kitchen floor, tell me which one is heavier. Get it?

Yep. It isn't all that simple because some of the water would stay in the southern oceans. However...

Spoiler

...Antarctica, and by extension its ice sheet, covers over a quarter of its area. According to wiki "It is estimated that the volume of the Antarctic ice sheet is about 25.4 million km3, and the WAIS contains just under 10% of this, or 2.2 million km3. The weight of the ice has caused the underlying rock to sink by between 0.5 and 1 kilometres in a process known as isostatic depression."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Antarctic_Ice_Sheet

To make a continent sink between 500 metres to 1000 metres requires massive pressure. Remove that pressure and the world will feel it.

 

[Calgetorix]

I think you are underestimating the weight of the sea ice. Take a butchers [http://www.articlesbase.com/environment-articles/will-global-warming-unleash-more-seismic-activity-77891.html]. Some of the ice in Antarctica is miles deep, and it is as heavy as rock. If all that melted it would be effectively like lifting a mountain range off the place.

There is no doubt that geological activity has increased recently. There have been more than a few earthquakes (there was even one in England 2 years ago that measured above a 5), and much volcanism has been going on (look at Iceland for example). I am not saying this is because of global warming or anything. Just that the theory need not be dismissed quite yet.

I read much of the article and it describes glacial ice. That is ice on land which is a lot different than ice in the sea. When it melts, we can assume much of the water will run out to the sea. That also means the pressure on that local area will decrease. I think it's fair to assume that will lead to an increased risk of earthquakes and volcanism (given there is magma near the surface under pressure) but I'm no expert.

 

[Reapd]

All of the large earthquakes have been well predicted. We just didn't DO anything about it. Like the Chile earthquake. And it will die down in the west coast.

 

[Calgetorix]

...That COMPLETELY went over your head.

Tell you what. Go freeze a gallon of water, and balance it on your hand. Then, take a gallon of liquid water (NO containers, just a big blob of water) and try to balance that on your hand. As you're holding up the giant block of ice, and the few droplets of water still remaining on your hand, and your staring down at your wet shoes and the soaking kitchen floor, tell me which one is heavier. Get it?

Obviously you're going to see a decrease in mass if you lose some of it underway. I can't see how that is relevant though but please tell me if I just missed your point.

 

[Xanadu84]

...That COMPLETELY went over your head.

Tell you what. Go freeze a gallon of water, and balance it on your hand. Then, take a gallon of liquid water (NO containers, just a big blob of water) and try to balance that on your hand. As you're holding up the giant block of ice, and the few droplets of water still remaining on your hand, and your staring down at your wet shoes and the soaking kitchen floor, tell me which one is heavier. Get it?

Obviously you're going to see a decrease in mass if you lose some of it underway. I can't see how that is relevant though but please tell me if I just missed your point.

When Ice becomes water, it moves. When water moves, its no longer pressing down on the same spot. If a glacier is pressing down on one spot, and the glacier melts, and the water moves away from that spot, there is no more pressure on that spot.

 

[Calgetorix]

When Ice becomes water, it moves. When water moves, its no longer pressing down on the same spot. If a glacier is pressing down on one spot, and the glacier melts, and the water moves away from that spot, there is no more pressure on that spot.

Ah, right. That's basically what I tried to say in my previous post (110) so we agree : )

 

[Daffy F]

I'm not particularly worried, no. I don't have any justification for this, I'm just not worried.

 

[OtherSideofSky]

It's gotta be Violence Jack, just going around making earthquakes for no adequately explained reason as usual.

Can't be! Old Violence Jack only comes out on leap years. (Unless this really is a leap year, and the Mayans tricked us again...)

Really? I thought he pretty much just screamed and killed everything all the time with his vast and poorly defined powers and then sometimes turns into a bird and flies off at the end. Or is it always a leap year in the post apocalypse?

 

[JEBWrench]

It's gotta be Violence Jack, just going around making earthquakes for no adequately explained reason as usual.

Can't be! Old Violence Jack only comes out on leap years. (Unless this really is a leap year, and the Mayans tricked us again...)

Really? I thought he pretty much just screamed and killed everything all the time with his vast and poorly defined powers and then sometimes turns into a bird and flies off at the end. Or is it always a leap year in the post apocalypse?

Post-apocalypse, all bets are off. Including bets about leap years.