"Actually, if some of the science channels I watch are correct, we're worrying about the loss of ice for the wrong reasons. It doesn't necessarily predict a global warming trend but possibly the beginning of the next Ice Age.

Seems when ice melts and the water is released, it's pure water and there's this giant underwater convection current that helps keep our global climates moderate. That convection is fueled in part by the salinity of the ocean water. There are quite a few scientists working on the theory that a massive release of pure water, lowering the salinity at a spot that intersects this global conveyor belt, can cause it to grind to a halt. "

The cooling period we have been in for last 5 to 10 million years has had many warming periods some of these warming period have melted nearly all the glacier ice- glacier ice over 1 million years is rare and difficult to find. The oldest ice is probably going to be found in Antarctic.
Glaciers in the temperate or tropical regions aren't very old- most of this ice seems to have been formed in the Little Ice age- less than 500 year ago. And probably ice in glacier in Vancouver metro area was mostly created in the Little Ice age. Though a single glacier can form or grow during global warming periods- it's that a majority of glaciers in the world which are shrinking which indicates a warming period and that majority grow during cooling period.

As for massive releases of pure water affecting the ocean's conveyor belt. There is a number of things wrong with that idea. First, glacier ice has never been significant in terms of the total volume of glacier as compared to the total volume of the Ocean. If the Earth was a perfect sphere, the ocean would be about 3000' deep everywhere on this planet. Glacier formation during Ice Age can lower the ocean by hundreds of feet, so by as much as 500' and I don't think it's *ever* been more than 1000 feet.

During the recent warming period, we had ice dams on the America continent bursting causing massive flooding, adding to sea level rise which was somewhere around 1 foot per year, and I don't think it was more than 100' per century at anytime in the last 10,000 years. But let's say in one year sea level rose by 10'. As far as 10' rise in sea level affecting the ocean's salinity, it would be like having a gallon of sea water in a bucket and adding a tablespoon of pure water to it and expecting it to have some significant result.
Currently there is about 1.4 billion cubic km of water in the world- more than 97% is in the oceans.

The global conveyor belt has something to do with the seasonal cooling and warming in the ocean arctic zones- unless you imagining the polar region are not going to get cold and freeze ocean water during the winter, the conveyor belt should continue.