Allan Letwin, age 12, of Fort William, On ., or his question;

Why don’t polar ice caps melt?

Oceans of water are trapped in the polar icecaps. If all this glacial ice should melt, this extra water would ,join the sea and much of the dry land become swamped. So it is lucky for us that the polar ice caps do not melt away. This way, all that surplus water is kept frozen solid instead of slopping over the land.

To remain frozen, an icecap needs a fairly cool climate all year round. Winter must be cold enough to produce snow instead of rain. The ground must be cold enough to keep the snow from melting so that layer upon layer packs the ice hard, Summer may be warm enough to melt some, though not all of the frozen snow. Whis way, the ground is still covered with ice when winter returns,

The tops of high mountains are sometimes cool enough to keep glaciers all year round. In the polar regions, the year round average temperature is around 10 degrees Fahrenheit. A few summer days may be warm enough to thaw the surface of the icefields. But there is never a warm spell of weather long enough to melt all the ice.

In  recent years we have been experiencing global warming.  This  means that each year world climate is getting slightly warmer.  The warmer temperature will cause the polar ice to melt at a faster rate.