When atoms get hot, they move quicker and push other atoms away, making more space between each atom, therefore taking up a larger body of space. A detrimental effect of anthropogenic caused global warming is thermal expansion, the increase of volume of bodies of water because of heat. Half of the past century rise in sea level is due to warmer oceans simply occupying more space. Glacial and icecap melting occurs when there is net loss of water from the body of snow and ice; meaning, if more water melts off of the glacier or icecap during the summer than is taken through snow during the winter. This water then expands from heat and one of the key factors that attributes to the sea level rising eight inches since 1880 which is the same time the Industrial Revolution started in America.
A street in Southern Florida