Hi, I read that in Antarctica, water under ice is warmer than the atmosphere above the ice, and many animals hide underwater to stay warm. Sea lions and what not. Why is that? Thanks!
In: Planetary Science
ELI5: Antarctica is extremely cold, right? Lots of cold air, like at -50°F.
The water under ice is water. And water can’t be colder than 32°F. If it was, it would be ice.
In the past, some water became ice and floated to the surface of the water, and the ice protects the water from the extremely cold air. So water can continue to stay liquid water under sheets of ice.
“Why doesn’t all the water turn to ice?”
A small glass of water completely freezes faster than a bucket of water right?
The more water you have, the more cold it takes to cool it down. And the ocean is enormous, so it would take a heck of a lot of cold. The earth is warm enough for water to be water and not ice.
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