What would happen if all the ice of Antarctica melted?
Teams of scientists from 12 nations recently made an on the spot probe of Antarctica’s massive icecap. Their work is vitally important to all of us, for the frigid south polar region affects much of the world’s weather, the ocean currents and the flood level of all the seas. In July, 1951, the Missouri and Kaw rivers spi11ed over into Kansas City, Mo. The water rose one and two stories high in the west bottomlands. The railroad tracks and the famous stockyards were flooded, and hundreds of cattle were drowned. Within a few days the trespassing waters had swept away to the sea, and people were scooping out their cars and homes from under soggy layers of mud. This flood was a mere puddle compared with the rising deluge that would flood the world from the me1ted ice of Antarctica. But Kansas City would not be doused in this deluge. It could, however, expect a flood of refugees from the lower ground along the coastlines. Antarctica could provide enough ice to cover Missouri with a layer 70
