<p>I'm trying to find how much water would be on the surface of Earth and how much surface would it cover (how much land will remain) if all the ice at the North and South Poles (and everywhere else) would melt. </p>

<p>Please provide the source of the information. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-01-11T18:54:34.643Z
Based on http://water.usgs.gov/edu/graphics/earthwheredistribution.gif we can see that about 20.6% of the Earth's water is in icecaps and glaciers. It's unclear how the change from ice to water will affect sea level and also what amount of that 20.6% is ice already in the ocean (displacing sea and changing its level) and what of it is on land (not displaying sea level  yet). Figuring out those variables would make it easier to estimate the change is sea level, which could then be used to answer your question of how much land would remain. I don't have that answer yet though.
cr0
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-01-11T19:02:09.393Z
If this graph are correct and I'm understanding it right, then 3% is ALL the fresh water... including in the ice... what makes no sense. And I think I understand this graphic picture correct, because above two columns it says 0.9% and 2% what is telling us it is from the 3% of total fresh water. But again, not making any sense to me... however, if it is, then it is about 0.65% of fresh water is in the ice, right? then what the hell... I mean it seems like more than this
theagouf
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-01-11T19:08:17.667Z
sorry about that, **2.06%**, not 20.6%, is in icecaps and glaciers according to that graph (0.03% of all water on Earth is fresh water, and 68.7% of fresh water is in icecaps and glaciers).

Icecaps and glaciers may seem like more than 2% but it just goes to show how vast Earth's oceans are. Still, small rises in sea level can have fairly drastic effects on land.
cr0
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-01-11T19:14:02.203Z
According to this page (http://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2014/11/loss-of-land-ice-not-sea-ice-more-sea-level-rise/), it is the loss of land ice which will contribute to sea level rise. The loss of sea ice would increase the rate of further ice loss, but would not increase the volume of Earth's ocean(s). So based on that theory, it is even less than the estimated 2.06% of all icecaps and glaciers that would contribute to sea level rise.
cr0
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-01-11T19:21:48.960Z
Where do you get the 2.06 number? And it is 3%, not 0.03%. But nvmd :) The thing here is, there is many aspects that reflect and contribute the the sea lever rise, not simply the water for example, but the structure of the water it self. But this is not important for me, because I know there is lots of data to be include, I just thought there is some investigations about this matter and there's data(approximately) of how the ice melting(all the ice) will reflect the level of the sea. Thank you for trying to help me :)
theagouf
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-01-11T19:27:32.777Z
I got total water on Earth in icecaps and glaciers as 2.06% by multiplying 3% (all Earth's fresh water) by 68.7% (all fresh water's icecaps and glaciers): 0.03 * .687 = 0.02061 or 2.06%. Sorry for the multiple math mistypes before! I think you are right that there are many factors and the form of water (as ice or liquid) probably affects sea levels. Let's see if we can come up with a good answer and some sources.
cr0
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-01-11T19:40:19.517Z
Bro, you misunderstand something I think... Look, I don't have a clue where do you got the 0,03% number, but... 3%(fresh water) is 3%. right? Now, it says there's around 70% of this 3% in ices, right? Now, it will be 0.07% of fresh water in the ices. But all this isn't important as I said. I think its something not really accurate, because I do understand this number in %, but hell... it is look like there's much more water in all the ices than just this.
theagouf
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-01-11T19:49:53.973Z
Googling for your exact title question seems to give you partial answers. Don't let us do all the work.
Jan Doggen
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-01-11T20:05:33.643Z
OMG! Jan! I'm sorry, I googled with other requests but didn't find the answer... googled it now with my own question and found what I was looking for :D I didn't mean you do search something I can do :)
theagouf
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-01-12T08:29:44.110Z
@theagouf If you've found a good answer elsewhere, you are welcome to post it here as an answer to your own question :-).
Pont
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-01-12T14:31:08.183Z
This may help. http://www.businessinsider.com/united-states-looks-like-earths-ice-melted-climate-change-global-warming-glacier-2015-11
Pranav Wadhwa
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-19T22:50:35.413Z
@theagouf, definitely understand that it can be hard to hit just the right Google search terms these days :-/  But Pont is right on, posting a summary of it here as an answer would help those of us who are intrigued by your question
JeopardyTempest
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-14T00:18:15.683Z
See an answer on this question: https://earthscience.stackexchange.com/q/15653/11908
Once that answer get some upvotes I can vote to close this as duplicate of the other.
Camilo Rada
<climate-change><water><glaciology><ice><sea-ice>
How much of Earth's surface would be covered by water if all ice melted?
theagouf
# How much of Earth's surface would be covered by water if all ice melted?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-01-11)

I'm trying to find how much water would be on the surface of Earth and how much surface would it cover (how much land will remain) if all the ice at the North and South Poles (and everywhere else) would melt.

Please provide the source of the information.

**Tags:** climate-change, water, glaciology, ice, sea-ice

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Based on http://water.usgs.gov/edu/graphics/earthwheredistribution.gif we can see that about 20.6% of the Earth's water is in icecaps and glaciers. It's unclear how the change from ice to water will affect sea level and also what amount of that 20.6% is ice already in the ocean (displacing sea and changing its level) and what of it is on land (not displaying sea level  yet). Figuring out those variables would make it easier to estimate the change is sea level, which could then be used to answer your question of how much land would remain. I don't have that answer yet though.  
> **username_0**: If this graph are correct and I'm understanding it right, then 3% is ALL the fresh water... including in the ice... what makes no sense. And I think I understand this graphic picture correct, because above two columns it says 0.9% and 2% what is telling us it is from the 3% of total fresh water. But again, not making any sense to me... however, if it is, then it is about 0.65% of fresh water is in the ice, right? then what the hell... I mean it seems like more than this  
> **username_1**: sorry about that, **2.06%**, not 20.6%, is in icecaps and glaciers according to that graph (0.03% of all water on Earth is fresh water, and 68.7% of fresh water is in icecaps and glaciers).  Icecaps and glaciers may seem like more than 2% but it just goes to show how vast Earth's oceans are. Still, small rises in sea level can have fairly drastic effects on land.  
> **username_1**: According to this page (http://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2014/11/loss-of-land-ice-not-sea-ice-more-sea-level-rise/), it is the loss of land ice which will contribute to sea level rise. The loss of sea ice would increase the rate of further ice loss, but would not increase the volume of Earth's ocean(s). So based on that theory, it is even less than the estimated 2.06% of all icecaps and glaciers that would contribute to sea level rise.  
> **username_0**: Where do you get the 2.06 number? And it is 3%, not 0.03%. But nvmd :) The thing here is, there is many aspects that reflect and contribute the the sea lever rise, not simply the water for example, but the structure of the water it self. But this is not important for me, because I know there is lots of data to be include, I just thought there is some investigations about this matter and there's data(approximately) of how the ice melting(all the ice) will reflect the level of the sea. Thank you for trying to help me :)  
> **username_1**: I got total water on Earth in icecaps and glaciers as 2.06% by multiplying 3% (all Earth's fresh water) by 68.7% (all fresh water's icecaps and glaciers): 0.03 * .687 = 0.02061 or 2.06%. Sorry for the multiple math mistypes before! I think you are right that there are many factors and the form of water (as ice or liquid) probably affects sea levels. Let's see if we can come up with a good answer and some sources.  
> **username_0**: Bro, you misunderstand something I think... Look, I don't have a clue where do you got the 0,03% number, but... 3%(fresh water) is 3%. right? Now, it says there's around 70% of this 3% in ices, right? Now, it will be 0.07% of fresh water in the ices. But all this isn't important as I said. I think its something not really accurate, because I do understand this number in %, but hell... it is look like there's much more water in all the ices than just this.  
> **username_2**: Googling for your exact title question seems to give you partial answers. Don't let us do all the work.  
> **username_0**: OMG! Jan! I'm sorry, I googled with other requests but didn't find the answer... googled it now with my own question and found what I was looking for :D I didn't mean you do search something I can do :)  
> **username_3**: @username_0 If you've found a good answer elsewhere, you are welcome to post it here as an answer to your own question :-).  
> **username_4**: This may help. http://www.businessinsider.com/united-states-looks-like-earths-ice-melted-climate-change-global-warming-glacier-2015-11  
> **username_5**: @username_0, definitely understand that it can be hard to hit just the right Google search terms these days :-/  But username_3 is right on, posting a summary of it here as an answer would help those of us who are intrigued by your question  
> **username_6**: See an answer on this question: https://earthscience.stackexchange.com/q/15653/11908 Once that answer get some upvotes I can vote to close this as duplicate of the other.  

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