What if tomorrow woke up, all the ice on Earth would have melted?

99% of fresh water exists as ice currently present in Greenland (Arctic) and Antarctica.

Each year, the ice melted little by little, flowing into the oceans. Normally, it takes hundreds or thousands of years for them to melt. But suppose if you wake up tomorrow, all the ice on Earth will be no more?

Sea level rise dizziness, disaster really occurred

In short, with all the ice at both poles melting, the sea level will rise at least 66m. Coastal cities like New York, Shanghai, London . immediately suffer the consequences of floods everywhere. It is estimated that about 40% of the world's population will lose their homes - equivalent to more than 3 billion people.

Picture 1 of What if tomorrow woke up, all the ice on Earth would have melted?
If the ice at both poles melted, 3 billion people would be homeless.

But that's just the surface of the iceberg. Sea level rise that will penetrate deeply into the ground will seep into the underground water, saline areas that are already containing fresh water. You know, what is responsible for providing drinking water and irrigation to humanity today depends mainly on groundwater. When this system is broken, things will definitely be bad.

Ice in Greenland and Antarctica is made up of fresh water. Each year, the melting process creates a stable supply of water for the surrounding humanity. But if it massively melts, it means 69% of the Earth's fresh water supply goes directly to the sea. This process not only causes the loss of mankind's fresh water, but also changes the currents and climate.

Picture 2 of What if tomorrow woke up, all the ice on Earth would have melted?
If massively melting, it also means that 69% of the Earth's fresh water supply flows directly to the sea.

Take the example of the Gulf Stream. This is the current in the Atlantic Ocean, which regularly brings warm air to Northern Europe, and it depends on the density and salinity of the sea water from the North Pole to operate. When fresh water overflows, it will dilute the ocean and weaken the activity of this current.

When there is no more hot air, Nordic temperatures will plummet, creating a mini ice age.

Frost does not only exist at two poles

The remaining 1% of fresh water ice is located in continental glaciers. So what if they all melted in unison?

First of all, the glaciers of the Himalayas. This is really a threat, because the amount of ice here is still stored but extremely toxic chemicals such as dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) . Science has proven that glaciers can store such chemicals for decades, and if they melt, all the chemicals will move into rivers, lakes, and groundwater.

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The Arctic permafrost contains nearly 60 million liters of mercury.

Another piece of ice exists underground, mainly in the Arctic tundra in the form of permafrost . The problem of permanent ice is that they can contain mercury inside - for example, Arctic permafrost contains nearly 60 million liters of mercury - almost on par with the amount of mercury currently on Earth. now on.

The permafrost also contains organic matter, which will become a place for microorganisms to thrive. Microorganisms that consume organic matter will produce greenhouse gases such as CO2 and methane, thereby accelerating global warming. Estimates, the amount of greenhouse gases will double compared to the present time.

And when this happens, the mini-ice age in northern Europe will disappear, even rivers and lakes around the world. All will evaporate because the temperature rises too fast, causing many lands to become arid. Storms, floods, tornadoes, all will happen faster and stronger.

It never happened, but it was a great wake-up call

The Earth will witness a mass migration to the polar regions - Canada, Alaska, the North Pole, and some remaining areas of Antarctica.

Picture 4 of What if tomorrow woke up, all the ice on Earth would have melted?
The amount of ice on Earth is thick enough to prevent it from melting at the same time.

The above story will probably never happen, because the amount of ice on Earth is thick enough to prevent it from melting at the same time. However, the true story is that the ice at both poles is melting very fast. In just a few short days of summer, billions of tons of ice at the two poles have melted - all because of the effects of global warming causing climate change.

If no action is taken, at some point all human endeavors will officially be invalid .

  1. If the ice at the poles melted, would the world completely sink in the sea of ​​water?
  2. TP Ho Chi Minh City will be "submerged" if the polar ice sheet melts