The icecaps are melting round the edges
as Vipros says. But they aren't going to contribute all that much to the predicted rise in sea level.

Most of the rise is simply due to thermal expansion of the water. As the sea warms up, the water takes up more room. Given that a lot of the world's inhabited land is close to (or sometimes below) sea level, this could cause a bit of a bother.
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Tue 9 Jun 2009, 9:06, 2 replies, latest was 16 years ago)

well if that's the case, doesn't it follow logically that the desalinisation of seawater for home use and drinking water is acceptable?
I mean - it's not going to make much difference either way except that we'll actually have water!
(Poppet some assembly required., Tue 9 Jun 2009, 9:14, Reply)

I quite agree, VC
I was just going off at a tangent!
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Tue 9 Jun 2009, 9:17, Reply)

oh okay then. :)
tangent lines are hideous in maths.
I burned my maths book last year after the exam. I didn't even care that it was in such good nick it could be resold. I poured kerosene over it and lit it.

It was a strangely satisfying feeling.
/back on topic - it's hailing now. :D
(Poppet some assembly required., Tue 9 Jun 2009, 9:21, Reply)

Actually, since the Greenland Ice is all on land,
as this melts it is predicted to cause a significant rise in water levels. (Thermal expansion is huge though).
(MichaelS wasn't picked again, Tue 9 Jun 2009, 12:58, Reply)