How would sea level change if all glaciers melted?
There is still some uncertainty about the full volume of glaciers and ice caps on Earth, but if all of them were to melt, global sea level would rise approximately 70 meters (approximately 230 feet), flooding every coastal city on the planet.
Learn more:
- USGS Water Science School: Glaciers and Icecaps
- National Snow and Ice Data Center: Facts about Glaciers
- U.S. Global Change Research Program: Sea Level Rise
Related
What are the impacts of glacier loss, other than losing an aesthetic landscape feature?
Glaciers act as reservoirs of water that persist through summer. Continual melt from glaciers contributes water to the ecosystem throughout dry months, creating perennial stream habitat and a water source for plants and animals. The cold runoff from glaciers also affects downstream water temperatures. Many aquatic species in mountainous environments require cold water temperatures to survive. Some...
Are today's glaciers leftovers from the Pleistocene ice age?
Yes and no. It depends on which glaciers you are considering. Parts of the Antarctic Continent have had continuous glacier cover for perhaps as long as 20 million years. Other areas, such as valley glaciers of the Antarctic Peninsula and glaciers of the Transantarctic Mountains may date from the early Pleistocene. For Greenland, ice cores and related data suggest that all of southern Greenland and...
How do we know glaciers are shrinking?
Repeat photography and aerial / satellite photo analysis provide evidence of glacier loss in terms of shape and area. The USGS Benchmark Glacier project has collected mass balance data on a network of glaciers in Alaska, Washington, and Montana for decades, quantifying trends of mass loss at all sites. Extensive field data collection at these sites includes twice yearly visits to measure seasonal...
How does present glacier extent and sea level compare to the extent of glaciers and global sea level during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM)?
The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) occurred about 20,000 years ago, during the last phase of the Pleistocene epoch. At that time, global sea level was more than 400 feet lower than it is today, and glaciers covered approximately: 8% of Earth’s surface 25% of Earth’s land area 33% of Alaska Beginning about 15,000 years ago, continental glaciers retreated and sea level began to rise. Sea level reached...
How many glaciers currently exist in Alaska?
Based on the most recent comprehensive survey in 2011, there were about 27,000 glaciers in Alaska. However, the number of glaciers is a misleading statistic. Scientists are more interested in total glacial land coverage as a measure. The number of glaciers is less important since large ones can split up into several as they retreat. The amount of area glaciers occupy in Alaska is trending downward...
How much of the Earth's water is stored in glaciers?
About 2.1% of all of Earth's water is frozen in glaciers. 97.2% is in the oceans and inland seas 2.1% is in glaciers 0.6% is in groundwater and soil moisture less than 1% is in the atmosphere less than 1% is in lakes and rivers less than 1% is in all living plants and animals. About three-quarters of Earth's freshwater is stored in glaciers. Therefore, glacier ice is the second largest reservoir...
How old is glacier ice?
The age of the oldest glacier ice in Antarctica may approach 1,000,000 years old The age of the oldest glacier ice in Greenland is more than 100,000 years old The age of the oldest Alaskan glacier ice ever recovered (from a basin between Mt. Bona and Mt. Churchill) is about 30,000 years old. Glacier flow moves newly formed ice through the entire length of a typical Alaskan valley glacier in 100...
Is glacier ice a type of rock?
Glacier ice, like limestone (for example), is a type of rock. Glacier ice is actually a mono-mineralic rock (a rock made of only one mineral, like limestone which is composed of the mineral calcite). The mineral ice is the crystalline form of water (H 2 O). Most glacier ice forms through the metamorphism of tens of thousands of individual snowflakes into crystals of glacier ice. Each snowflake is...
Is there a size criterion for a glacier?
While there is no global standard for what size a body of ice must be to be considered a glacier, USGS scientists in Glacier National Park use the commonly accepted guideline of 0.1 square kilometers (about 25 acres) as the minimum size of a glacier. Below this size, ice is generally stagnant and does not have enough mass to move. Learn more: Status of Glaciers in Glacier National Park
The World's Water - Distribution of Earth's Water
The World's Water - Distribution of Earth's Water
The effects of sea-level rise will vary by differences in the geomorphology and ecology of the landscape. Images show marsh (top left) rocky coast (top right), barrier beach (bottom left), and coastal bluff (bottom right)
The effects of sea-level rise will vary by differences in the geomorphology and ecology of the landscape. Images show marsh (top left) rocky coast (top right), barrier beach (bottom left), and coastal bluff (bottom right)
Will Micronesians become the U.S.'s first climate change refugees?
by Curt Storlazzi, USGS Research Geologist and Oceanographer
Will Micronesians become the U.S.'s first climate change refugees?
by Curt Storlazzi, USGS Research Geologist and Oceanographer
U. S. Geological Survey Scientists Carol Johnson, Eric White and Tim McCobb prepare to deploy geophysical equipment in a coastal embayment April 9, 2015 in Falmouth, Massachusetts.
U. S. Geological Survey Scientists Carol Johnson, Eric White and Tim McCobb prepare to deploy geophysical equipment in a coastal embayment April 9, 2015 in Falmouth, Massachusetts.
An iceberg floating in Lake Superior, June 2014. Photographed from the R/V Kiyi.
An iceberg floating in Lake Superior, June 2014. Photographed from the R/V Kiyi.
Wave-driven flooding and overwash on Roi-Namur Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands
Wave-driven flooding and overwash on Roi-Namur Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands
Wave-driven flooding and overwash on Roi-Namur Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands
Wave-driven flooding and overwash on Roi-Namur Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands
For questions about this project, please contact the speaker, John Crusius at jcrusius@usgs.gov, (206) 543-6978. The northern Gulf of Alaska (GoA) maintains a productive ecosystem, with commercially important fisheries.
For questions about this project, please contact the speaker, John Crusius at jcrusius@usgs.gov, (206) 543-6978. The northern Gulf of Alaska (GoA) maintains a productive ecosystem, with commercially important fisheries.
Most glaciers in Washington and Alaska are dramatically shrinking in response to a warming climate.
Most glaciers in Washington and Alaska are dramatically shrinking in response to a warming climate.
Projected sea-level rise and high tide flooding at Biscayne National Park, Florida
Glacier retreat in Glacier National Park, Montana
Land subsidence and relative sea-level rise in the southern Chesapeake Bay region
Assessing hazards along our Nation's coasts
U.S. Geological Survey Climate and Land Use Change Science Strategy—A Framework for Understanding and Responding to Global Change
The United States National Climate Assessment - Alaska Technical Regional Report
State of the Earth’s cryosphere at the beginning of the 21st century : glaciers, global snow cover, floating ice, and permafrost and periglacial environments
USGS science for the Nation's changing coasts; shoreline change assessment
Coastal change along the shore of northeastern South Carolina— The South Carolina Coastal Erosion Study
Fifty-year record of glacier change reveals shifting climate in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, USA
A strategy for monitoring glaciers
Sea level change: lessons from the geologic record
Related
What are the impacts of glacier loss, other than losing an aesthetic landscape feature?
Glaciers act as reservoirs of water that persist through summer. Continual melt from glaciers contributes water to the ecosystem throughout dry months, creating perennial stream habitat and a water source for plants and animals. The cold runoff from glaciers also affects downstream water temperatures. Many aquatic species in mountainous environments require cold water temperatures to survive. Some...
Are today's glaciers leftovers from the Pleistocene ice age?
Yes and no. It depends on which glaciers you are considering. Parts of the Antarctic Continent have had continuous glacier cover for perhaps as long as 20 million years. Other areas, such as valley glaciers of the Antarctic Peninsula and glaciers of the Transantarctic Mountains may date from the early Pleistocene. For Greenland, ice cores and related data suggest that all of southern Greenland and...
How do we know glaciers are shrinking?
Repeat photography and aerial / satellite photo analysis provide evidence of glacier loss in terms of shape and area. The USGS Benchmark Glacier project has collected mass balance data on a network of glaciers in Alaska, Washington, and Montana for decades, quantifying trends of mass loss at all sites. Extensive field data collection at these sites includes twice yearly visits to measure seasonal...
How does present glacier extent and sea level compare to the extent of glaciers and global sea level during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM)?
The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) occurred about 20,000 years ago, during the last phase of the Pleistocene epoch. At that time, global sea level was more than 400 feet lower than it is today, and glaciers covered approximately: 8% of Earth’s surface 25% of Earth’s land area 33% of Alaska Beginning about 15,000 years ago, continental glaciers retreated and sea level began to rise. Sea level reached...
How many glaciers currently exist in Alaska?
Based on the most recent comprehensive survey in 2011, there were about 27,000 glaciers in Alaska. However, the number of glaciers is a misleading statistic. Scientists are more interested in total glacial land coverage as a measure. The number of glaciers is less important since large ones can split up into several as they retreat. The amount of area glaciers occupy in Alaska is trending downward...
How much of the Earth's water is stored in glaciers?
About 2.1% of all of Earth's water is frozen in glaciers. 97.2% is in the oceans and inland seas 2.1% is in glaciers 0.6% is in groundwater and soil moisture less than 1% is in the atmosphere less than 1% is in lakes and rivers less than 1% is in all living plants and animals. About three-quarters of Earth's freshwater is stored in glaciers. Therefore, glacier ice is the second largest reservoir...
How old is glacier ice?
The age of the oldest glacier ice in Antarctica may approach 1,000,000 years old The age of the oldest glacier ice in Greenland is more than 100,000 years old The age of the oldest Alaskan glacier ice ever recovered (from a basin between Mt. Bona and Mt. Churchill) is about 30,000 years old. Glacier flow moves newly formed ice through the entire length of a typical Alaskan valley glacier in 100...
Is glacier ice a type of rock?
Glacier ice, like limestone (for example), is a type of rock. Glacier ice is actually a mono-mineralic rock (a rock made of only one mineral, like limestone which is composed of the mineral calcite). The mineral ice is the crystalline form of water (H 2 O). Most glacier ice forms through the metamorphism of tens of thousands of individual snowflakes into crystals of glacier ice. Each snowflake is...
Is there a size criterion for a glacier?
While there is no global standard for what size a body of ice must be to be considered a glacier, USGS scientists in Glacier National Park use the commonly accepted guideline of 0.1 square kilometers (about 25 acres) as the minimum size of a glacier. Below this size, ice is generally stagnant and does not have enough mass to move. Learn more: Status of Glaciers in Glacier National Park
The World's Water - Distribution of Earth's Water
The World's Water - Distribution of Earth's Water
The effects of sea-level rise will vary by differences in the geomorphology and ecology of the landscape. Images show marsh (top left) rocky coast (top right), barrier beach (bottom left), and coastal bluff (bottom right)
The effects of sea-level rise will vary by differences in the geomorphology and ecology of the landscape. Images show marsh (top left) rocky coast (top right), barrier beach (bottom left), and coastal bluff (bottom right)
Will Micronesians become the U.S.'s first climate change refugees?
by Curt Storlazzi, USGS Research Geologist and Oceanographer
Will Micronesians become the U.S.'s first climate change refugees?
by Curt Storlazzi, USGS Research Geologist and Oceanographer
U. S. Geological Survey Scientists Carol Johnson, Eric White and Tim McCobb prepare to deploy geophysical equipment in a coastal embayment April 9, 2015 in Falmouth, Massachusetts.
U. S. Geological Survey Scientists Carol Johnson, Eric White and Tim McCobb prepare to deploy geophysical equipment in a coastal embayment April 9, 2015 in Falmouth, Massachusetts.
An iceberg floating in Lake Superior, June 2014. Photographed from the R/V Kiyi.
An iceberg floating in Lake Superior, June 2014. Photographed from the R/V Kiyi.
Wave-driven flooding and overwash on Roi-Namur Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands
Wave-driven flooding and overwash on Roi-Namur Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands
Wave-driven flooding and overwash on Roi-Namur Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands
Wave-driven flooding and overwash on Roi-Namur Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands
For questions about this project, please contact the speaker, John Crusius at jcrusius@usgs.gov, (206) 543-6978. The northern Gulf of Alaska (GoA) maintains a productive ecosystem, with commercially important fisheries.
For questions about this project, please contact the speaker, John Crusius at jcrusius@usgs.gov, (206) 543-6978. The northern Gulf of Alaska (GoA) maintains a productive ecosystem, with commercially important fisheries.
Most glaciers in Washington and Alaska are dramatically shrinking in response to a warming climate.
Most glaciers in Washington and Alaska are dramatically shrinking in response to a warming climate.