I. The Basic Case
The following table (Table 1) was prepared using USGS data (Sea Level and Climate).
The table shows the maximum sea level rise (SLR) potential should land ice melt and make its way into the sea, or calve then slide or fall into the sea.
The values in the table are sectioned off by the various locations where those potentials derive from, then those values are totalled on the bottom line:
Table 1.Potential maximum sea level rise (SLR) from the total melting / calving into the sea, of present-day glaciers and land based ice caps. Source: USGS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Location | Volume (km3) | Potential sea-level rise, (feet) | Percent of total |
| East Antarctic ice sheet | 26,039,200 | 212.58 | 80.676 |
| West Antarctic ice sheet | 3,262,000 | 26.44 | 10.034 |
| Antarctic Peninsula | 227,100 | 1.51 | .57306 |
| Greenland | 2,620,000 | 21.49 | 8.1556 |
| All other (ice caps, ice fields, glaciers) | 180,000 | 1.48 | .56167 |
| Total | 32,328,300 | 263.5 | 100.00 |
II. The Secondary Case
Scientists say that a 1m / 3ft increase in SLR will cause catastrophic results to civilization (Why Sea Level Rise May Be The Greatest Threat To Civilization, 2, 3).
As pointed out in those three links, endangered locations include the East Coast of the United States, from Cape Cod in Massachusetts, down to Cape Hatteras in North Carolina.
Thus, I focus mostly on the locations and the dynamics which create the potential for a 1m / 3ft increase in SLR.
That is because it is a real and present danger to civilization and part of the story (The Biggest Story in the World).
III. The Scope of The Case
The percentage of global ice that needs to make it to the sea as melt water or as chunks of ice sheets or glaciers breaking off and falling into the sea is as follows:
Total SLR potential: 263.5 ft.All that is required to make the case is pointing out that when a tiny one percent (1.14%) of the world's ice melts, then flows into the sea as melt water, or slides into the sea as ice (e.g. icebergs), then it is done (1m / 3ft increase in SLR).
SLR rise that will cause catastrophe: 3 ft.
Percentage of total: 3 ft. ÷ 263.5 ft. = (0.011385199) 1.14%
IV. The Chances of The Case
Any gambler would love to be able to bet on a sure thing, on a certainty, especially if the bookmakers gave better than a non-starter 1-1 spread (e.g. 2-1).
But that won't happen because it is a certainty that far more than one percent (1.14%) of the worlds ice will melt or otherwise make its way to the sea.
There is no controversy about that among scientists who work and research in this field as a career.
V. Nuclear War Is Less Likely
The odds of 1.14% of the world's ice melting is certain, but according to some locations that focus on betting odds for strange things:
"I rate the chance of a nuclear war within my lifetime as being fairly low"(Odds at SVA, Odds of Nuke War). If you were a gambler you could bet on it at SVA, but you would be at a loss to bet on sea level rise at SVA:
"the relatively tiny probability of … the threat of nuclear war"
(ibid, cf. Bookmaking odds). The way to handle this type of certainty is to take whatever steps are necessary to deal with the cause: fossil fuel use (Keep It In The Ground),
Fig. 1 Betting odds
But if that fails, then the only thing to do is prepare for the consequences (The 1% May Face The Wrath of Sea Level Rise First).
VI. The Valid Betting Odds Concern The Issue of "When," not "If"
Among scientists there is a valid issue concerning when the 1m / 3ft increase in SLR will have taken place.
The vast majority of this controversy has been due a lack of knowledge about Antarctica and Greenland (The Evolution of Models - 10).
This has resulted in habitual underestimations in reports and in scientific models (The Epistemology of Goldilocks RE: Sea Level Rise, cf. The Agnotology of Sea Level Rise Via Ice Melt).
VII. Conclusion
Ongoing research is changing SLR understanding, and increasing the knowledge that we will see the 1.14% melt / calving of global ice sheets much sooner than we have proclaimed in the past (Why Sea Level Rise May Be The Greatest Threat To Civilization - 3).
And much sooner than the "when" that some still adhere to (Oil-Qaeda & MOMCOM Conspire To Commit Depraved-Heart Murder, Barry & Oil-Qaeda vs Arctic Wilderness - 2).
The previous post in this series is here.