Final answer:
The Antarctic ice sheet is extensive and deep, holding 70 percent of the earth's fresh water, while Arctic sea ice is less expansive and fluctuates more seasonally. Climate change is affecting both polar ice caps, potentially leading to sea level rise and increased global warming due to reduced surface reflectivity.
Step-by-step explanation:
The ice cover differs significantly between the Arctic and Antarctic regions. The Antarctic ice sheet is massive, enveloping about 98 percent of Antarctica with an average depth of up to a mile and in some areas extending up to three miles deep. This ice sheet holds approximately 70 percent of the earth's fresh water and is key to the global climate due to its ability to reflect radiation. In the Arctic, the ice situation is quite different. The permanent ice cap in the north never shrinks to less than 1000 kilometers in diameter and is primarily composed of water ice. It remains much larger throughout the year than the Antarctic ice and has a profoundly different impact on the global climate.
Due to climate change, there are concerns about the potential melting of the Antarctic ice sheet, which could result in significant sea level rise and potentially alter global weather patterns. Moreover, the ice in both polar regions plays a crucial role in reflecting sunlight, which helps in regulating the Earth's temperature. The disappearance of this reflective ice cover would contribute to further global warming.
Contrastingly, satellite measurements have shown that the northern polar region of Mars also contains a significant ice cap, which, if on Earth, could have a significant effect on sea levels should it melt. Light-colored surfaces such as ice and snow have high albedo, meaning they reflect most of the radiation that falls on them, thereby affecting the Earth's temperature. The reduction in ice cover in polar regions, therefore, has significant implications for the Earth's climate system.