Effect on Sea Level

The volume of the ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland and the volume of water in the oceans are in delicate balance. If the global climate changes in such a 

The presence of water at the base of the ice streams accelerates their rate of flow to the coast thereby increasing the volume of icebergs that enter the oceans annually. When icebergs derived from land-based ice sheets melt in the ocean, the volume of water in the ocean basins increases and sea level rises. 

An increase of sea level is especially troubling for the stability of the West Antarctic ice sheet which rests on several subglacial islands that are separated by basins containing seawater. When sea level rises, the West Antarctic ice sheet is lifted off its foundations which may cause it to slide into the southern ocean. In that case, sea level would rise rapidly as the West Antarctic ice sheet melts. The Ross Ice Shelf, which holds the West Antarctic in its place, may also begin to deteriorate. In the worst case scenario, the entire West Antarctic ice sheet and the ice of the Ross Ice Shelf may slide into the southern ocean. 

This series of events was originally considered by Holhn (1962) and has received much attention from the scientific community ever since. Terry Hughes at the University of Maine considered the effects of a rapid collapse of the ice sheets of Greenland and West Antarctica in a paper entitled (Hughes 1987)  

Deluge II and the continent of doom Rising sea level and collapsing Antarctic ice. 

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