A world without oceans. Map shows what it might look like
For years, scientists have been creating simulations that help us better understand our planet and learn a little more about its potential future. Some of them go a bit further and are quite a free interpretation of what Earth might look like. An example is the animation created by the NASA Scientific Visualization Studio, showing a world without oceans. They cover about 70 percent of the surface, so the change is really impressive.
The NASA Scientific Visualization Studio, located at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, specializes in creating visualizations, animations, and images in order to promote a better understanding of Earth and space science. The people involved in this project specialize in many different disciplines - astronomy, planetology, climatology, cartography, or 3D modeling. This allows for the creation of very realistic and interesting maps simultaneously. One of them, showing the world without oceans, can be seen in the animation below:
What would the world look like without oceans?
As explained by NASA, the bottom of the oceans hides many interesting details that remain invisible to human eyes on a daily basis. The gradual drop in the water level in the animation allows them to be seen. At a depth of about 459 ft, the continental shelves reveal themselves, a little deeper, that is about 6,562 - 9,842 ft below sea level, mid-ocean ridges are hidden. Below 19,685 ft, the bottom of most oceans can be seen, except for the deep-ocean trenches, such as the deepest known ocean trench on Earth, located in the western part of the Pacific Ocean, the Mariana Trench, which is about 35,763 ft deep.
The disappearance of all the water from the oceans would have serious consequences for our planet. Oceans cover most of the Earth's surface and drive the water cycle on land and in the atmosphere. They also impact the diversity of life, help regulate the climate, supply large amounts of oxygen, and store large amounts of carbon dioxide. NASA reminds us that 96.5 percent of all Earth's water is hidden in them, and less than 3 percent of the water on our planet is fresh water, suitable for drinking. In addition, a significant part (over two-thirds) is hidden in ice caps and glaciers. However, a world without oceans is an unlikely scenario.
Currently, we can observe a reverse trend. Since the 19th century, the global sea level has risen by over approximately 7.9 inches, and scientists warn that further increases in the average global temperature could have catastrophic effects on Earth. The IPCC's Special Report (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) from 2019, which experts have examined the oceans and cryosphere, showed that between 2006-2015 the rate of sea level rise was 0.14 inches.
This means that it grew approximately 2.5 times faster than in the years 1901-1990. According to experts, by the end of the century, the average global sea level will likely rise at least about 1 foot above the level of 2000, even if greenhouse gas emissions are relatively low in the coming decades. This shows the significant role that combating global warming and making efforts to protect our planet plays.
