Properties of Ice

jegs2 · Post by **jegs2** » 2003-02-23 11:37pm

I heard this recently: What would the world be like if ice could not float, but instead sank in water? Think carefully before answering.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2003-02-23 11:41pm

Lake ecosystems would be a pretty boring subject of study

Enforcer Talen · Post by **Enforcer Talen** » 2003-02-23 11:42pm

entire oceans would freeze over.

Durandal · Post by **Durandal** » 2003-02-23 11:42pm

It'd be irrevocably fucked up. Either ice would have to be more dense than water (which it isn't) or bouyancy would be granted to objects of greater density (which is isn't).

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2003-02-23 11:47pm

Titanic wouldn't have been made.

jegs2 · Post by **jegs2** » 2003-02-23 11:48pm

Durran Korr wrote:Titanic wouldn't have been made.

That's a good one!

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2003-02-23 11:51pm

Is this a sudden change?

jegs2 · Post by **jegs2** » 2003-02-23 11:54pm

neoolong wrote:Is this a sudden change?

Actually, you could make it both:

1. Ice holds the property of not floating from the beginning.

2. Ice suddenly loses the property of floating.

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2003-02-23 11:58pm

For number 1, I think that if life even happened, it wouldn't have stayed very long when ice started to form. Or it would develop differently to be able to handle the changes.

ArmorPierce · Post by **ArmorPierce** » 2003-02-24 12:02am

A lot of displaced water.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2003-02-24 12:09am

Frostbite wouldn't be as destructive, for one thing. Ice expansion ruptures cells, which is why living things don't survive freezing too well.

Exonerate · Post by **Exonerate** » 2003-02-24 12:15am

Ice skating becomes an near-obsolete past time.

kojikun · Post by **kojikun** » 2003-02-24 12:37am

not much change except somewhat lower ocean levels (denser ice means it displaces less water and sea levels drop)

Shinova · Post by **Shinova** » 2003-02-24 12:38am

The Artic Circle and Antartica would both look a lot different. And the Ice Age may have been a REAL Ice Age.

Cap'n Hector · Post by **Cap'n Hector** » 2003-02-24 03:51am

Some species of freshwater fish might go extinct...

How might this affect the extremely deep sea, where it hovers near freezing as it is? In the long run, the oceans could freeze over.

EmperorMing · Post by **EmperorMing** » 2003-02-24 04:29am

It would affect life on a far wider scale than it does now...

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2003-02-24 05:37am

The twist of lemon in your cola or alcoholic beverage would not sit atop of loads of ice for you to choke on.

Darth Yoshi · Post by **Darth Yoshi** » 2003-02-24 08:56pm

For one, it'd be impossible for life as we know it have developed if ice wasn't the way it is. If ice sank, lakes would freeze over, killing everything in it.

Howedar · Post by **Howedar** » 2003-02-24 09:14pm

No life as we know it.

Grand Admiral Thrawn · Post by **Grand Admiral Thrawn** » 2003-02-24 09:28pm

No hockey

Exonerate · Post by **Exonerate** » 2003-02-24 10:25pm

Grand Admiral Thrawn wrote:No hockey

Nah, you could still artifically produce ice. It would just probably be harder.

PainRack · Post by **PainRack** » 2003-02-25 07:32am

We all die.If it happens today,we see a massive war launched to control warm-water rivers like the River Nile.
That's before we all die from the total cessation of all life processes as we know it.

The property of ice being able to float on water is a key factor in life as we know it being capable of suriviving.If ice like any good solid was denser than water,what will happen is that ice will sink to the bottom and expose the lake surface to freezing temperatures,thus exposing it to even more freezing temperatures,meaning that all freshwater based ecosystems will be wiped out when a freeze comes.

As for oceans,if ice sinks,it will totally disrupt the oceanic currents which sustain life as we know it,Our weather,rain,fish,even oxygen will be seriously disrupted or even destroyed.That's the reason why one of the doomsday scenario was an atomic bomb launched at the North and South Pole.The resulting breaking off of ice and the cooling of the oceans from both fallout and ice melting was supposed to disrupt the ocean currents and thus wipe out life.After all,a mere reversal of a single ocean current in the Pacific Ocean results in El Nino and El Nina.Two events that resulted in great loss of life in both ancient and modern times.Drought in India,Firestorms in Australia and Indonesia,Floods in California and parts of South America,etc etc etc.

Darth Fanboy · Post by **Darth Fanboy** » 2003-02-25 09:19am

The Earth would be a helluva lot warmer.

Cold air circulated from the poles is what keeps the earth more temperate.