Maps: What the world would look like if all ice melted

[Harvey Specter]

If all of the ice in the world melted, sea levels would raise some 216 feet. But what exactly would that look like? And more specifically, what would such a worse-case scenario mean for the Earth’s population?

National Geographic has created a fascinating visual representation of this thought experiment and provided an analysis of how each continent would be affected by such a catastrophic change.

First off, this is not a blanket statement about climate change. As National Geographic notes, even scientists tracking the melting of ice around the world say it would take some 5,000 years for all the world’s ice to melt.

Still, it’s interesting to look at exactly what would happen if this scenario was taken to its most extreme conclusion.

As a result of the drastic rise in sea levels, the average temperature around the Earth would rise from 58 degrees to 80 degrees.

In North America, the entire Atlantic seaboard would vanish beneath the waves, including Florida and the Gulf Coast. Much of California would be underwater. Millions of Americans would be permanently dislocated from their homes to say nothing of the potentially insurmountable impact on natural wildlife.

And again, this scenario is only based on current population figures. Who knows what the Earth will look like in 5,000 years and how many people will be living here?

In South America, Buenos Aires, coastal Uruguay and most of Paraguay would be submerged.

Africa would technically be largely untouched but much of its would become inhabitable because of the increased temperature. In Egypt, Alexandria and Cairo would be “swamped” by flooding waters from the Mediterranean.

Many of Europe’s greatest landmarks would be destroyed: London would disappear, Venice, gone. The Netherlands and most of Denmark would also be entirely underwater.

In Asia, National Geographic says land currently inhabited by 600 million Chinese would be underwater, as would all of Bangladesh and coastal India.

As for Australia, they would gain a new sea in the center of the continent, but lose the coastal strip where more than 80 percent of the population lives.

And Antarctica? Virtually unrecognizable. After all, that’s where the vast majority of the Earth’s ice resides today.

The Environmental Protection Agency says that overall ice reduction will depend on several factors, including: The rate at which levels of greenhouse gas concentrations in our atmosphere continue to increase, how strongly features of the climate (e.g., temperature, precipitation, and sea level) respond to the expected increase in greenhouse gas concentrations and natural influences on climate (e.g., from volcanic activity and changes in the sun's intensity) and natural processes within the climate system (e.g., changes in ocean circulation patterns)

(Photo credit: Jason Treat, Matthew Twombly, Web Barr, Maggie Smith, NGM Staff; Art: Kees Veenenbos. Sources: Philippe Huybrechts, Vrije Universiteit Brussel; Richard S. Williams Jr., Woods Hole Research Center; James C. Zachos, University of California Santa Cruz; USGS, NOAA, ETOPO1 Bedrock; 1 Arc-Minute Global Relief Model)

What the world would look like if all ice melted

[Qmx323]

time to move out to the mountains

[dat_steve]

this movie scared the crap out of me when i was a kid.

[dangonay]

Awesome. Florida has completely vanished.

And now you can cruise right across Panama. "I don't need no stinkin' canal."

[pastarocket]

That's a frightening scenario. What it will take for governments and corporations to get their heads out of their asses to realize that climate change will threaten humanity's survival?

[JaPoola]

Originally Posted by pastarocket

That's a frightening scenario. What it will take for governments and corporations to get their heads out of their asses to realize that climate change will threaten humanity's survival?

lolool cool your jets young blood. as if it's that easy, as if government and corporations are to blame. the problem is the earth population being at 7 billion and quickly rising. This scenario won't happen in our lifetime, hell it won't happen for 1000s of years. I'm sure eventually we will come up with something to save the planet, after all, the oil is going to run out way sooner than that.

[SupraTTturbo2jz]

realistically, by that time, we are gonna probably be in starships like star trek and star wars crossing new worlds. Look at our technology 100 years ago, compare it with today..shits growing fast. Imagine what we are going to have 100-200 years from now. Too bad can't go into cryo and wake up to see the future

[twitchyzero]

Australia, they would gain a new sea in the center of the continent

does the map account for rivers/lakes swelling up? No mention of it in the text besides the indication in that statement.

I'm sure if we zoom in Richmond and Delta would be gone

[Acura604]

we and our offspring and our offsprings offspring offspring offspring will be LONG dead and gone by the time this happens.

[tool001]

that will cause more problems..specially oceans ,, weather patterns will change etc.. as melting ice cools down ocean .

^ this is already happening to an extent,,,






its funny most of the people still dont know that the oxygen we breath , most of it comes from the oceans,, not trees.

[mos_skeeto]

Half of Pitbull's songs will be irrelevant

[Verdasco]

we be all dead when this happens, yolo..... literally

[Lomac]

No more Florida?

That's like a dream come true.

[Anjew]

hmmm more land in Antarctica? i wonder if there will be wars over that new continent like the Americas.