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What if all the ice melted?

Sea level would rise 216 feet and create new shorelines and inland seas.

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American


A couple of weeks ago I shared a project by Andrew David Thaler called Drown Your Town that used Google Earth to show what cities around the world would look like under water. You could (and still can!) submit your favorite city and desired sea level rise and see how close to Waterworld you can get. And last week I shared a real life Drown Your Town in Austin, Texas after a massive rainstorm that flooded many parts of the city.

But what if all the ice on our planet melted? Coastal cities would be flooded. Millions upon millions of people would be displaced. We would expect inland seas and new passageways where there were none. And we would need new maps.

As these new maps from National Geographic show, our planet would look a little different:


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The maps here show the world as it is now, with only one difference: All the ice on land has melted and drained into the sea, raising it 216 feet and creating new shorelines for our continents and inland seas.

There are more than five million cubic miles of ice on Earth, and some scientists say it would take more than 5,000 years to melt it all. If we continue adding carbon to the atmosphere, we’ll very likely create an ice-free planet, with an average temperature of perhaps 80 degrees Fahrenheit instead of the current 58.

Here is Asia with 216 feet (65 meters) of sea level rise:

In Asia alone, nearly three-quarters of a billion peple would be displaced by flooding. Cambodia's Cardamom Mountains would become islands.

Visit National Geographic's website for more regions. Australia's new inland sea is particularly striking.

 

David Wogan is an engineer and policy researcher who writes about energy, technology, and policy.

David's academic and professional background includes a unique blend of technology and policy in the field of energy systems. Most recently, David worked at Austin Energy, a Texas municipal utility, implementing a Department of Energy stimulus grant related to energy efficiency. Previously, David was a member of the Energy & Climate Change team at the White House Council on Environmental Quality for the Obama Administration.

David holds two Master's degrees from The University of Texas at Austin in Mechanical Engineering and Public Affairs. While at UT, David was a researcher in the Webber Energy Group, where his research focused on advanced biofuel production to offset petroleum use in the transportation sector. David holds a Bachelor's of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin, where he researched nuclear non-proliferation measurement technology.

David is a 2013 Aspen Institute Journalism Scholar, joining a select group of journalists from Slate, ABC News, and The New York Times.

David lives in Austin, Texas. Follow along on Twitter or email him at david.wogan@me.com.

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