Mother Nature laid up a store of fresh water in the polar ice caps. Perhaps she knew we would need it after reckless living made parts of the earth uninhabitable. At the current rate of loss, that resource will vanish within 5,000 years. As custodians of Earth we need to ask would happen if we lost the ice sheets. Perhaps then we will push harder for carbon neutral energy for the sake of all life.
Nat Geo’s Projection If We Lost the Ice Sheets
National Geographic posted an article showing the continents after the ocean rose 216 feet. And if the average temperature were to increase from 58 to perhaps 80 F. North America’s Atlantic seaboard would vanish together with Florida and the Gulf Coast. San Francisco’s hills would turn into islands and there would be no San Diego.
The Amazon Basin in South America would be an inland sea, obliterating Buenos Aires, coastal Uruguay, and much of Paraguay. Equatorial Africa would lose almost all its coastal ports. High temperatures would make most of the continent uninhabitable. Alexandria and Cairo would be part of the seabed if we lost the ice sheets.
The Rest of the World Would Change Radically Too
In Europe, Netherlands and Denmark would be below the surface. The Black and Caspian Sea would be part of the ocean. London and Venice will just be memories. In Asia, 600 million Chinese would lose their homes. All of Bangladesh and much of coastal India would flood, as would Mekong Delta.
Dolphins would frolic over Australia’s southern coastal strip where 80% of the population lives now. The Indian Ocean would flood up rivers and create a vast inland sea. Future generations would hold us accountable. How would we answer them if we could? Ignorance would not be an excuse if we lost the ice sheets.
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Preview Image: San Francisco’s Hills Would Become Islands
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