If all ice of the polar caps melt, how high could sea level rise?

The 15-20 cm sea level rise in another answer is what has occurred in the last century. The contention of Maxx, that the Arctic icecap melting completely would do nothing, is superficially right, but in essence wrong, because he neglects expansion of water as it warms above 4C. But then, he's trying to mislead. The Antarctic icecap is and has been melting for a while, like the Greenland icecap. Maxx is right in that no one expects Antarctica to become ice-free, or even very close to ice-free. However, the ice loss from the continent and surrounding seas is significant now, and is accelerating. The eventual equilibrium point will be a continent with a considerably reduced ice load.

You can easily get the answer to this question with a simple google query: sea level rise if all ice melted. The quote below is from the first hit, to which I gave the link.

"The main ice covered landmass is Antarctica at the South Pole, with about 90 percent of the world's ice (and 70 percent of its fresh water). Antarctica is covered with ice an average of 2,133 meters (7,000 feet) thick. If all of the Antarctic ice melted, sea levels around the world would rise about 61 meters (200 feet). But the average temperature in Antarctica is -37°C, so the ice there is in no danger of melting. In fact in most parts of the continent it never gets above freezing.

At the other end of the world, the North Pole, the ice is not nearly as thick as at the South Pole. The ice floats on the Arctic Ocean. If it melted sea levels would not be affecte­d.

There is a significant amount of ice covering Greenland, which would add another 7 meters (20 feet) to the oceans if it melted. Because Greenland is closer to the equator than Antarctica, the temperatures there are higher, so the ice is more likely to melt.

But there might be a less dramatic reason than polar ice melting for the higher ocean level -- the higher temperature of the water. Water is most dense at 4 degrees Celsius. Above and below this temperature, the density of water decreases (the same weight of water occupies a bigger space). So as the overall temperature of the water increases it naturally expands a little bit making the oceans rise.

It depends. If Earth’s surface gets warm enough to melt all the ice in Antarctica, it’s a big problem because it’s more than a mile thick. If you look at a globe, you can see that Antarctica is huge. If all of the Antarctic ice melted, sea levels around the world would rise about 200 feet. Two hundred feet might not seem like much, but think about this: some of the biggest cities in the world are right on the coast. Cities like Los Angels, New York, San Francisco and Miami. If the ocean level rose 200 feet, all of these cities would be under water. It would be a gigantic disaster.

The average surface temperature in Antarctica is minus 37°C right now. So, it seems like the ice there is safe. It’s in no danger of melting unless there are huge changes in the weather patterns all over the planet. But, what about the ice at the other end of the world, in the Arctic Circle? There is already evidence that it is melting to some degree. And, this ice is not nearly as thick as ice at the South Pole. But, the ice floats on the Arctic Ocean, rather than sitting on land. If all the ice at the North Pole melted, sea levels would not be affected.

What about Greenland? There’s a lot of ice there – look at a map. If it all melted, it would add another 20 feet to the oceans. Greenland is closer to the equator than Antarctica, the temperatures there are higher, so the ice is more likely to melt. A 20-foot rise in sea level would mean bad news for many big cities. They might be able to build dykes and sea walls, but it would be incredibly expensive.

Let’s say that the temperature of Earth’s surface rises by just a few degrees. It melts the glaciers at places like Glacier National Park in the United States, but the ice caps don’t melt and Greenland stays the same. A few degrees may not sound like much, but even half a degree can have an effect on our planet. It seems that in the last 100 years the Earth's surface temperature rose about half a degree Celsius. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the sea level rose six to eight inches in the last 100 years. Part of that is melting ice, but a lot of it is simple expansion. Warm things are bigger than cool things. There’s a huge amount of water in the ocean. If you heat it even a little, it expands enough to notice.

So what will happen in the future? No one really knows for sure. In 1995, the International Panel on Climate Change asked scientists to make some predictions. They predicted how sea level might change by the year 2100. The lowest predictions were at six inches and the highest at 37 inches. The rise will come from thermal expansion of the ocean and from melting glaciers and ice sheets. Let’s say it’s somewhere in the middle of the predictions, say 20 inches. That’s no small amount -- it could have a big effect on coastal cities, especially during storms.

Hello, you are absolotely right at your factor that "the quantity of water displaced is the same as the quantity of water the ice cube will soak up when melted. Which means the water level within the glass will keep consistent even when the ice dice melts." for that reason, this implies there are diffrent causes. One among them the glaciers that have been weakened by means of warmness and damaged off from their land into the sea. The extra the temperature will get better, the more glaciers fall into the oceans. The 2d motive ; the density of the water is maximum at 4 measure, when the temperature gets bigger , the degree of the water would go better. Thus, this might cut back the density of the water and increse the quantity ( m (mass) = d (density)* v( quantity) . Accordingly of incresed water volume , the ocean degree would go up. Hope to aid you...

Given the amount of water if all of the on the planet melted and then given the thermal expansion large parts of North America would be under water. Over these millions of years this continent has been submerged almost 100 times. Called 'empiric seas' the evidence isn't hard to find. Check out California's central valley and follow the direction of the Gulf of California northward...all of that real estate was once under water...and may well be under water again at some point.

If all the ice in the world were to melt at once (poles, glaciers, permafrost etc.) the expected rise in sea level would be about 230 feet, which is about 70 metric metres.

not much. this is ice that floats on water, not glaciers from Greenland or Antarctica. Melting floating ice does not contribute to sea level rise.

now.. the glaciers and ice ON LAND are expected to melt, rise sea levels about 5-10 inches in the next 100 years. it may be more as melting is happening faster.

If Greenland melts then sea level would go up about 20 feet; if Antarctica melts it would go up about 200 feet. If the Arctic sea ice melted the effect would be relatively small, since that ice is already displacing the ocean through its buoyancy.

Contrary to what one of the answers says, the west coast would probably fare better than the East or Gulf Coasts, because the elevation rises quickly to above 220 feet along much of the west coast. I have an office only a couple hundred yards from the ocean in California, and it would be fine.

Jim Z

<What alarmists won't tell you is that is unlikely in the extreme that the polar caps would melt.>

If you believe computer models. Besides, even though, according to computer models, it is unlikely that the all the ice could melt, for some of it to melt is very likely. And the effects of even this ice melting will be very bad. A 1 m rise of sea level will inundate 1,810 square km of land in Gujarat, 1,220 square km in West-Bengal, 670 square km in Tamil Nadu, 550 square km in Andhra Pradesh, 480 square km in Orissa, 410 square km in Maharashtra, 290 square km in Karnataka, 160 square km in Goa, and 120 square km in Kerala

http://interestingnewsfromallover.blogspot.com/200...

Unlikely is not an excuse for inaction. Remotely possible is a very good reason for action. Do we want to be responsible for hundreds of millions of deaths?

If all land ice melts it could be more than 200 feet. This means Antarctica, glaciers, Greenland ice sheet and Russian permafrost all melting.

If Greenland melted and if the Antarctic Melted, or if the sun burned out, the oceans dried up and if Rabid Wambats invaded from the planet Zenus, we would all be doomed. What alarmists won't tell you is that is unlikely in the extreme that the polar caps would melt. Pegminers office is safe because it would take thousands of years to melt assuming it was melting which it isn't.