What happens if all the world's ice melted due to climate change?

The nice cold breeze that wraps the Philippines during the holiday season? That is actually the result of air passing through the regions of the earth with a lot of ice. It's also one small but very nice thing we stand to lose when climate change persists and the world continues to warm.

According to a Need to Know video, about 10% of Planet Earth is wrapped in ice. There's the Arctic Circle in the North, the Antarctic region in the South Pole, and in the majestic Himalayan region in Asia. Because of their abundant glaciers and sea ice, about 68% of fresh water is also found in these regions.

It is this Cryosphere Ecosystem, or the parts of the world abundant with ice, snow, and glaciers, that helps keep Planet Earth cool, said Dr. Heidi Sevestre, a French glaciologist.

She likens the cryosphere to a mirror reflecting the sun's heat back to space. "The whiter [its surface] it is, the more they can send all the heat we get from the sun away. These white surfaces are the best air-conditioning we have on earth," she explains.

It is through these regions that air passes through before gliding into the Philippines around December as cool and nippy and nice. 

With climate change and global warming — Planet Earth has already warmed 1.1C, a hair away from the 1.5C limit set by the Paris Agreement of 2015 — imagine what would happen when all the world's ice will melt away?

For the Philippines, apart from losing that cool Christmas air, we also stand to lose a lot of ground — literally.

In a Generation Restoration video released earlier this year, Sevestre explained melting glaciers would also mean sea level rise, a bigger danger for an archipelagic country like the Philippines.

"The more the ice is melting in the arctic, the more the Philippines will experience sea level rise. This is the direct relation between the two," she said, explaining at sea level rise is at 3 millimeters per year.

That number could go up to 40 centimeters if mountain glaciers disappeared, Sevestre explained in the Need to Know video.

Now "if Greenland were to disappear, sea level rise around the world would increase by 6-7 meters. Bearing in mind that in the Philippines, the ocean is rising even faster," she continued.

And the Antarctic sea ice completely melting away — Sevestre said they've never seen so little Antarctice sea ice as they did this year — that would mean sea level may rise to 58 meters or equivalent to a 15-floor building.

The National Mapping and Resource information Authority or NAMRIA is closing monitoring sea level rise in the Philippines. It has has set up 60 monitoring stations across the Philippines, including Cebu and Davado. According to Need to Know, 13 of these stations have seen consistent and continuous sea level rise, including Manila. 

In Bohol, three islands may already be deemed inhabitable because of the slow-onset of sea level rise brought on by climate change. 

But that's just, well, the tip of the iceberg. A melting cryosphere would also mean less fresh water, changed migration patterns among birds and whales, and a direct impact to inhabitants of these environments.

"Certain species are specific about salinity of water, the temperature of water and the fact that ice sheets and sea ice are disappearing rapidly is directly impacting them," Sevestre said.

So why is the world warming? There are plenty of reasons but chief of this is our dependence on fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas. For instance, choosing to drive your own car means you're consuming more gas than if you choose to take the bus or if you carpool with your friend. 

Not finishing your food instead of sharing with others — or indeed enjoying them as leftovers — means contributing to food waste, which produces methane, which is 80 times more potent at warming than carbon dioxide.

If it's too hot already and you need your air conditioner switched on all day, why not invest in solar panels? You can keep your AC switched on all day long, and save money in the long rung.  

There is really so many things we can do to help curb the warming.  

"If we do not invest in fighting the climate crisis, we are investing in a future that will be very very difficult for all of us," Sevestre said.

"If we fight the climate crisis together, then our future can be better," she added.

And then we can keep enjoying that nice nippy weather come December. — LA, GMA Integrated News