2023-10-04 08:30:00
James O’Donoghue, a planetary scientist collaborating with both the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and NASA, has recently presented an improved version of a timelapse that offers a striking view of how the Earth would change if we gradually lost all the water in our oceans. . The first simulation in this video was created in 2008, showing a decrease of ten meters by ten meters, revealing how the Earth would change as sea level decreased, exposing different areas of the world.
In this improved version of the timelapse, we can see in just a few seconds how our planet would transform if the oceans suddenly disappeared.
The retreat of the waters of the Earth’s oceans would reveal approximately 70% of the planet’s surface that is currently submerged, exposing mountain ranges and canyons that until now have remained hidden under the waters, and creating a dark depth of up to 6,000 meters by below ocean level.
How would cities be affected in this apocalyptic scenario?
Pulling the plug on oceans reveals under water mountain ranges and canyons. It also shows you where land bridges used to connect during ice ages, e.g. Britain used to be less brexity. pic.twitter.com/f4NRo3OvlH
— Dr James O’Donoghue (@physicsJ) December 13, 2019
In a scenario of dramatic sea level rise, large cities would be hardest hit by flooding due to their location near the coast.
In an even more extreme scenario, in which the Earth were completely devoid of water, almost all the coastal areas of the planet would be exposed at less than 200 meters deep, and we could even see the ocean ridges 3 kilometers below the level. current of the sea.
On his Twitter account, O’Donoghue commented that he had first worked on this animation in 2008, but now he has presented it in a new and improved version, in high resolution and with improvements in several aspects.
“Emptying the oceans reveals submerged mountain ranges and canyons,” O’Donoghue wrote on his Twitter account. “It also shows where the Earth’s bridges were connected during the ice ages. Great Britain, for example, was less inclined to Brexit,” the scientist commented wryly.
If we look at the map without oceans, the British Isles are more connected to the rest of the European continent than ever.
In the video, the characteristic brown color of dry land advances rapidly, while the blue of the seas disappears as the waters descend more than 6,000 meters below current sea level.
Focusing on Europe, we can see that the first sea to disappear would be the Adriatic Sea, followed by the waters surrounding Sicily and Sardinia.
The model presented by O’Donoghue reaches almost 11,000 meters deep, right at the deepest point on the planet: the Mariana Trench, in the western Pacific Ocean.
Despite how shocking and interesting the video is, it is important to remember that the decrease in water on Earth is a distant scenario. Numerous studies warn that sea level rise continues to accelerate, especially after new research published in the journal Nature reveals that Greenland is losing ice at a rate seven times faster than in the 1990s.
For perspective, O’Donoghue has several similar animations on his YouTube channel, covering topics such as Jupiter, Saturn and the speed of light in space.
#Earth #water #Oceans #dried