• Question: when will the world completely flood because of global warming??!!:):)

    Asked by mayerar01 to Carol, Ellie, John, Philip, Rebecca on 3 Jul 2012.
    • Photo: John Welford

      John Welford answered on 3 Jul 2012:

      I don’t think the world can flood completely, there isn’t enough water!

      It is true that the sea levels are rising though, due to global warming. There are two ways this is happening:

      Firstly, as the water in the sea warms up it expands slightly. Secondly land-based ice (like glaciers) and ice sheets (like Antarctica) melt into the sea.

      The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicted that within the 21 century sea levels will rise between 18cm and 59cm. Although up to 1m of rise could be possible.

      In the longer term (like millennia) sea level rise could be more like 4m to 6m.

      All of these sound like quite small amounts, but it will still have big consequences. This map gives you some idea of the flooding that could result from different levels of sea rise:
      http://flood.firetree.net/?ll=53.0544,0.0330&z=10&m=1

    • Photo: Rebecca Lacey

      Rebecca Lacey answered on 3 Jul 2012:

      I agree with John that I don’ think the world can completely flood.

      Recent studies show that the ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica are melting faster than the snow is replacing them. The melting of glaciers is also contributing to the rise in sea levels. Some scientists have predicted a sea level rise of 0.18 – 0.38m by 2100 in the most optimistic scenario and 0.26 – 0.59m in the most pessimistic.

      Some islands will be affected by sea level rises significantly and their habitats will be threatened. One example is of the small island – Tuvalu in the Pacific, which is already experiencing severe flooding which is damaging their homes and affecting drinking water. The islanders have already started to leave and the rest will have to do so in coming years if the trend continues.

      Have a look at this cool web resource. It shows you which areas are likely to flood in response to varying levels of sea rises:
      http://flood.firetree.net/

      You can see that it doesn’t take much of an increase in sea levels for the UK to start flooding!

    • Photo: Carol White

      Carol White answered on 4 Jul 2012:

      Even if you melted all the ice on earth, you’d not be able to flood the Earth – can you imagine water being up to mount Everest?!

      But the important thing it what you WOULD flood lots of cities because many places are built next to rivers and seas for transport and trade purposes, and for access to water. London is in danger because so much of it is right on the river banks and an increase in sea level of just a few metres would mean the Houses of Parliament would have to move! But where to…. I think Birmingham 🙂

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