GENERAL KNOWLEDGE

Detailed explanation-1: -As ice sheets extend to the coast and over the ocean, they become ice shelves. A mass of glacial ice covering less area than an ice sheet is called an ice cap. A series of connected ice caps is called an ice field. Making up ice fields, ice caps, and eventually ice sheets are individual glaciers.

Detailed explanation-2: -Ultimately, as the ice sheets shrink, the water they add to the ocean raises sea level around the world (see the Sea Level indicator). Melting of Greenland and Antarctica’s ice sheets accounted for about one-third of observed global sea level rise between 2006 and 2015.

Detailed explanation-3: -An ice sheet is a mass of glacial land ice extending more than 50, 000 square kilometers (19, 300 square miles). The two ice sheets on Earth today cover most of Greenland and Antarctica. During the last ice age, ice sheets also covered much of North America and Scandinavia.

Detailed explanation-4: -Arctic ice and permafrost-ground that is permanently frozen-store large amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. When it thaws, that methane is released, increasing the rate of warming.