If All the Ice Melted Maps

If all the ice on Earth melted and drained into the sea, the sea level would rise 66 meters (216 feet). It would create new shorelines for our continents and inland seas, impacting the planet and its inhabitants. The most consequential effect would be the flooding of coastal areas, displacing millions of people. Low-lying regions and small islands would be particularly vulnerable.

Europe

Many large, famous cities would disappear under the rising seas. In Europe—Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Venice, Riga, Lisbon, and even London, to name a few.

North America

The situation wouldn’t be any better on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean; it might even be worse! Florida would be no more. Most of the Eastern Coast of the United States would also disappear under the sea, including Boston, New York, Washington, D.C., and New Orleans.

Scientific Research

Melting ice from glaciers and ice sheets would disrupt global ocean currents and weather patterns. It would cause changes in precipitation and temperature. That could lead to freak weather phenomena, such as droughts, severe storms, and flooding. The ice loss in the Arctic would impact the local ecosystem and the animals that depend on it, such as polar bears and walruses. It would change freshwater systems in the mountains and disrupt millions of people’s water supplies. Not to mention the tourism industry that depends on winter sports and activities.

The melting of all ice on Earth would have catastrophic and far-reaching consequences for the planet and its inhabitants.

NASA recently revealed that Earth’s oceans are rising faster than expected. The global average rise is speeding up from 2.5mm a year in the early 1990s to 3.9mm a year over the last decade, averaging 3.4 millimeters yearly since 1993. But according to National Geographic, it would take more than 5,000 years to melt all of Earth’s ice.

Interactive map of rising sea levels

🗺️ Climate Central created an interactive map of rising sea levels. Using the map, you can explore the implications of scientific projections surrounding ice sheet loss. You can play with many potential future scenarios and settings.