It’s something you never think about, but it’s something to talk about. The Earth’s polar caps, North and South Pole, could potentially release five million cubic miles of water into the world’s oceans. And that would be a slippery mess. More importantly, it could be deadly.
“I was always interested in the future climate change and human influence on the global warming. I created these maps both to raise awareness about the global warming and also because nobody has yet done this on such a scale. According to recent studies, there is enough ice in Earth’s polar caps to cause about 250-300 feet (80–100m) rise of the sea level,” Slovakian graphic designer Martin Vargic says of The World – Climate Change (or The World – Rising Sea Level) Map, first map of its kind on such a scale and level of complexity, depicts our planet as it would look without its polar ice caps.
“Although this scenario is extremely unlikely to happen within our lifetimes, the truth is, that climate is going to change sharply. Unless we limit our CO2 emissions to bare minimum, Earth will be more than 4 degrees warmer in the year 2100 as it is now. Such a rise in temperature would be destructive to environment and human civilization as well,” Vargic’s theory is backed by scientists who estimate it could take 5,000 years for the effect.
“As the warming gradually progresses, we will experience more and more extreme weather events. Hurricanes, typhoons and massive floods will occur more frequently and on a much more devastating scale. [The] world’s deserts will expand, engulfing areas as large as the entire continent of Australia, including Southern Europe, the Caribbean and entire Southeast of Africa.”
In the U.S., large parts of the East Coast would be submerged, including our favorite cities. Click after the jump to find out which ones.
