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 Content
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How old is glacier ice?
Is glacier ice a type of rock?
How much of the Earth's water is stored in glaciers?
What are the impacts of glacier loss, other than losing an aesthetic landscape feature?
How does present glacier extent and sea level compare to the extent of glaciers and global sea level during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM)?
How do we know glaciers are shrinking?
Is there a size criterion for a glacier?
Glacier retreat in Glacier National Park, Montana
Currently, the volume of land ice on Earth is decreasing, driving consequential changes to global sea level and local stream habitat. Glacier retreat in Glacier National Park, Montana, U.S.A., is one example of land ice loss and glacier change. The U.S. Geological Survey Benchmark Glacier Project conducts glaciological research and collects field...
Florentine, Caitlyn
U.S. Geological Survey Climate and Land Use Change Science Strategy—A Framework for Understanding and Responding to Global Change
Executive SummaryThe U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), a nonregulatory Federal science agency with national scope and responsibilities, is uniquely positioned to serve the Nation’s needs in understanding and responding to global change, including changes in climate, water availability, sea level, land use and land cover, ecosystems, and global...
Burkett, Virginia R.; Kirtland, David A.; Taylor, Ione L.; Belnap, Jayne; Cronin, Thomas M.; Dettinger, Michael D.; Frazier, Eldrich L.; Haines, John W.; Loveland, Thomas R.; Milly, Paul C.D.; O'Malley, Robin; Thompson, Robert S.; Maule, Alec G.; McMahon, Gerard; Striegl, Robert G.
Land subsidence and relative sea-level rise in the southern Chesapeake Bay region
The southern Chesapeake Bay region is experiencing land subsidence and rising water levels due to global sea-level rise; land subsidence and rising water levels combine to cause relative sea-level rise. Land subsidence has been observed since the 1940s in the southern Chesapeake Bay region at rates of 1.1 to 4.8 millimeters per year (mm/yr), and...
Eggleston, Jack; Pope, Jason
Assessing hazards along our Nation's coasts
Coastal areas are essential to the economic, cultural, and environmental health of the Nation, yet by nature coastal areas are constantly changing due to a variety of events and processes. Extreme storms can cause dramatic changes to our shorelines in a matter of hours, while sea-level rise can profoundly alter coastal environments over decades....
Hapke, Cheryl J.; Brenner, Owen; Henderson, Rachel E. ; Reynolds, B.J.
State of the Earth’s cryosphere at the beginning of the 21st century : glaciers, global snow cover, floating ice, and permafrost and periglacial environments: Chapter A in Satellite image atlas of glaciers of the world
This chapter is the tenth in a series of 11 book-length chapters, collectively referred to as “this volume,” in the series U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1386, Satellite Image Atlas of Glaciers of the World. In the other 10 chapters, each of which concerns a specific glacierized region of Earth, the authors used remotely...
Williams, Richard S.; Ferrigno, Jane G.; Williams, Richard S.; Ferrigno, Jane G.
The United States National Climate Assessment - Alaska Technical Regional Report
The Alaskan landscape is changing, both in terms of effects of human activities as a consequence of increased population, social and economic development and their effects on the local and broad landscape; and those effects that accompany naturally occurring hazards such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and tsunamis. Some of the most prevalent...
Markon, Carl J.; Trainor, Sarah F.; Chapin, F. Stuart; Markon, Carl J.; Trainor, Sarah F.; Chapin, F. Stuart
USGS science for the Nation's changing coasts; shoreline change assessment
The coastline of the United States features some of the most popular tourist and recreational destinations in the world and is the site of intense residential, commercial, and industrial development. The coastal zone also has extensive and pristine natural areas, with diverse ecosystems providing essential habitat and resources that support...
Thieler, E. Robert; Hapke, Cheryl J.
Coastal Change Along the Shore of Northeastern South Carolina - The South Carolina Coastal Erosion Study
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium, conducted a 7-year, multidisciplinary study of coastal erosion in northeastern South Carolina. Shoreline behavior along the coast of Long Bay is dictated by waves, tidal currents, and sediment supply that act within the overall constraints of the regional...
Barnhardt, Walter A.; Schwab, W.C.; Gayes, P.T.; Morton, R.A.; Driscoll, N.W.; Baldwin, W.E.; Barnhardt, W.A.; Denny, J.F.; Harris, M.S.; Katuna, M.P.; Putney, T.R.; Voulgaris, G.; Warner, J.C.; Wright, E.E.
Fifty-Year Record of Glacier Change Reveals Shifting Climate in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, USA
Fifty years of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) research on glacier change shows recent dramatic shrinkage of glaciers in three climatic regions of the United States. These long periods of record provide clues to the climate shifts that may be driving glacier change. The USGS Benchmark Glacier Program began in 1957 as a result of research efforts...
A strategy for monitoring glaciers
Glaciers are important features in the hydrologic cycle and affect the volume, variability, and water quality of runoff. Assessing and predicting the effect of glaciers on water resources require a monitoring program to provide basic data for this understanding. The monitoring program of the U.S. Geological Survey employs a nested approach whereby...
Fountain, Andrew G.; Krimmel, Robert M.; Trabant, Dennis C.
Sea level change: lessons from the geologic record
Rising sea level is potentially one of the most serious impacts of climatic change. Even a small sea level rise would have serious economic consequences because it would cause extensive damage to the world's coastal regions. Sea level can rise in the future because the ocean surface can expand due to warming and because polar ice sheets and...
Glaciers: A water resource
Most Americans have never seen a glacier, and most would say that glaciers are rare features found only in inaccessible, isolated wilderness mountains. Are they really so rare? Or are they really potentially important sources of water supply?
Meier, Mark; Post, Austin
New US Geological Survey-led Research Helps California Coastal Managers Prioritize Planning and Mitigation Efforts Due to Rising Seas and Storms
New U.S. Geological Survey-led coastal modeling research presents state, federal, and commercial entities with varying storm and sea level-rise scenarios to assist with planning for future infrastructure and mitigation needs along the California coast.
Glaciers Rapidly Shrinking and Disappearing: 50 Years of Glacier Change in Montana
The warming climate has dramatically reduced the size of 39 glaciers in Montana since 1966, some by as much as 85 percent, according to data released by the U.S. Geological Survey and Portland State University.
Rising Sea Levels, Coastal Development’s Effect on Gulf Coast Wetlands
As coastal development along the Gulf Coast continues to expand, tidal saline wetlands could have difficulty adjusting to rising sea levels.
Sea Level Rise and Storm Wave Flooding Threaten Seabirds
Islands used by tropical seabirds are highly vulnerable to sea level rise according to a new study released today.
Study Shows Sea Level Rise to Threaten West Coast Tidal Wetlands Over the Next 100 Years
The U.S. Geological Survey and Oregon State University released a report this week examining Pacific Northwest tidal wetland vulnerability to sea level rise. Scientists found that, while vulnerability varies from marsh to marsh, most wetlands would likely be resilient to rising sea levels over the next 50-70 years.
From Icefield to Ocean - What Glacier Change Might Mean for the Future of Alaska
Frozen bodies of ice cover nearly 10 percent of the state of Alaska, but the influence of glaciers on the environment, tourism, fisheries, hydropower, and other important Alaska resources is rarely discussed.
Communities of Southern Chesapeake Bay Find Sea Level Rise Heightened by Sinking Land
Communities and coastal habitats in the southern Chesapeake Bay region face increased flooding because, as seawater levels are rising in the bay, the land surface is also sinking._ A new USGS report released today concludes that intensive groundwater withdrawals are a major cause of the sinking land, or 'land subsidence', that contributes to flooding risks in the region.
Sea Level Rise Accelerating in U.S. Atlantic Coast
Rates of sea level rise are increasing three-to-four times faster along portions of the U.S. Atlantic Coast than globally, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey report published in Nature Climate Change.
Rising Groundwater Associated with Sea Level Rise Expected to Impact New Haven
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Basements of some local buildings and underground utilities may be at risk of being inundated by rising groundwater by the end of the 21st century due to projected rates of sea level rise for the area, according to a preliminary study released today.
The distribution of water on, in, and above the Earth
The World's Water - Distribution of Earth's Water
The Earth is a watery place. But just how much water exists on, in, and above our planet? About 71 percent of the Earth's surface is water-covered, and the oceans hold about 96.5 percent
...
Past and Future Impacts of Sea Level Rise on Coastal Habitats and Species
Past and Future Impacts of Sea Level Rise on Coastal Habitats and Species
Glacier Animation
The simulation below reflects the predicted exponential rise in atmospheric CO2 concentrations, a 2xCO2 "global warming" scenario, with a concurrent warming of 2-3 degrees centigrade (4-5 degrees Fahrenheit) by the year 2050. In addition it assumes that precipitation, primarily in the form of rain, will increase over the same time period about 10 percent (based on the
...
PubTalk 9/2015 — Coral Reefs, Climate Change, and Atoll Sustainability
Will Micronesians become the U.S.'s first climate change refugees?
by Curt Storlazzi, USGS Research Geologist and Oceanographer
- Sea level is rising, threatening low-lying atoll islands throughout the western Pacific Ocean
- Climate change is degrading the coral reefs that atoll islands have developed upon, decreasing
Cape Cod Sea Level Rise
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. This equipment will outline the geological conditions under the water, which will give the scientists a better understanding of the geology and hydrology of the sandy glacial deposits underlying
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Iceberg on Lake Superior
An iceberg floating in Lake Superior, June 2014. Photographed from the R/V Kiyi.
Wave-driven flooding and overwash on Roi-Namur Atoll
Wave-driven flooding and overwash on Roi-Namur Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands
Wave-driven flooding and overwash on Roi-Namur Atoll
Wave-driven flooding and overwash on Roi-Namur Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands
Impacts of Melting Glaciers on Gulf of Alaska
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. Virtually all of the many glaciers that line the northern GoA coast are retreating, yet the impacts on the marine
The Cold Facts About Melting Glaciers
Most glaciers in Washington and Alaska are dramatically shrinking in response to a warming climate.
USGS scientist Edward Josberger discusses research from the past 50 years to measure changes in the mass (length and thickness) of three glaciers in Alaska and Washington. These are the longest such records in North America and among the longest in the world.
Seal Levels and Climate
San Clemente Island, California: "Stair-step" landscape of uplifted marine terraces on western San Clemente Island. The lowest terrace, where the road near the shore is visible, has been dated to 120,000 years by U-series analysis of corals (Muhs and others, 2002).