<p>This question is intriguing. At the current rate of sea rise (about 3 mm per year), all of the Earth's dry land below sea level would be submerged in just a decade. There are an estimated 49 countries around the global with at least some real estate below -0- metres elevation, but the sum of all the potential volume (around 7,500 km^3) is insignificant compared to the volume of water generated by glacial and ice cap melt:  "<strong><em>A meter of sea level rise is a volume 50 times greater than all of the depressions that are below sea level in the world</em></strong>", according to this link: <a href="http://mountainmystery.com/2015/08/17/hiding-rising-seas-in-sunken-deserts/">http://mountainmystery.com/2015/08/17/hiding-rising-seas-in-sunken-deserts/</a>.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-10-02T06:34:27.850Z
Just to be clear, you should say "an amount of volume equal to the volume from land currently below sea level" or such.  Because it sounds like you're saying Death Valley is going to be gone by 2040!
JeopardyTempest
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-08-18T18:26:50.413Z
2015-08-18T18:26:50.413Z
Ron Miksha
<p>Someone just asked me if it would be practical to counter the rise of sea level by pumping water into storage on land. It struck me that if there is enough land below sea level, this would require construction of aquifers, but would not require using energy to pump the water as the destination of the water would be below its current level. But I have no idea how much land below sea level is available.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-11T15:43:47.340Z
If it is below sea level it is not quite "dry land". What you are thinking of is the continental shelf areas.
Peter Jansson
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-11T15:46:32.847Z
I don't think they are talking about continental shelves, but land that is below sea level (e.g., The Netherlands).
arkaia
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-11T16:16:03.960Z
I misunderstood. Then the question already has an answer on [GIS.sx](http://gis.stackexchange.com/questions/65206/volume-of-land-below-sea-level)
Peter Jansson
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-16T06:04:37.373Z
Note that the areas used for storage wouldn't necessarily have to be below sea level, just a closed (endorheic) basin, like the Great Basin of the US (little of any of which is below 4000 ft/1300m elevation).  Of course it would take enormous amounts of energy to lift sea water that high, plus salt water would cause environmental damage.  But it would be a modest engineering project to e.g. re-route the headwaters of the Feather River through a tunnel to the east.  And at the moment, I think folks downstream of Oroville Dam might approve :-)
jamesqf
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-16T01:26:06.237Z
@user889: An incomplete list, unfortunately. Wikipedia has a more complete one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_places_on_land_with_elevations_below_sea_level
naught101
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-10-01T21:07:05.637Z
Interesting idea to use existing basins to artifically hold the water that now exists in arctic glaciers. Maybe no energy is required to pump the water up .... just let natural rainfall fill the basin over a few centuries along with a well designed artificial canal system. Obvioulsy we need to design a system similar to the Netherlands to protect existing low-land cities and farmland (eg New York city, New Orleans, etc)
Franko
<geophysics><ocean><climate><sea-level><water>
What fraction of dry land is below sea level?
mwengler
# What fraction of dry land is below sea level?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-12-11)

Someone just asked me if it would be practical to counter the rise of sea level by pumping water into storage on land. It struck me that if there is enough land below sea level, this would require construction of aquifers, but would not require using energy to pump the water as the destination of the water would be below its current level. But I have no idea how much land below sea level is available.

**Tags:** geophysics, ocean, climate, sea-level, water

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: If it is below sea level it is not quite "dry land". What you are thinking of is the continental shelf areas.  
> **username_2**: I don't think they are talking about continental shelves, but land that is below sea level (e.g., The Netherlands).  
> **username_1**: I misunderstood. Then the question already has an answer on [GIS.sx](http://gis.stackexchange.com/questions/65206/volume-of-land-below-sea-level)  
> **username_3**: Note that the areas used for storage wouldn't necessarily have to be below sea level, just a closed (endorheic) basin, like the Great Basin of the US (little of any of which is below 4000 ft/1300m elevation).  Of course it would take enormous amounts of energy to lift sea water that high, plus salt water would cause environmental damage.  But it would be a modest engineering project to e.g. re-route the headwaters of the Feather River through a tunnel to the east.  And at the moment, I think folks downstream of Oroville Dam might approve :-)  
> **username_4**: @user889: An incomplete list, unfortunately. Wikipedia has a more complete one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_places_on_land_with_elevations_below_sea_level  
> **username_5**: Interesting idea to use existing basins to artifically hold the water that now exists in arctic glaciers. Maybe no energy is required to pump the water up .... just let natural rainfall fill the basin over a few centuries along with a well designed artificial canal system. Obvioulsy we need to design a system similar to the Netherlands to protect existing low-land cities and farmland (eg New York city, New Orleans, etc)  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_6 on 2015-08-18. Score: 10 | Accepted answer

This question is intriguing. At the current rate of sea rise (about 3 mm per year), all of the Earth's dry land below sea level would be submerged in just a decade. There are an estimated 49 countries around the global with at least some real estate below -0- metres elevation, but the sum of all the potential volume (around 7,500 km^3) is insignificant compared to the volume of water generated by glacial and ice cap melt: "***A meter of sea level rise is a volume 50 times greater than all of the depressions that are below sea level in the world***", according to this link: <http://mountainmystery.com/2015/08/17/hiding-rising-seas-in-sunken-deserts/>.

> **Comments:**
> **username_7**: Just to be clear, you should say "an amount of volume equal to the volume from land currently below sea level" or such.  Because it sounds like you're saying Death Valley is going to be gone by 2040!  

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