If the oceans were to suddenly evaporate simultaneously, Earth would face an unimaginable disaster. What would that be?
The oceans play a vital role not only by absorbing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere but also by providing a habitat and nutritional source for billions of marine organisms. Additionally, oceans help regulate coastal climates and absorb heat from the Sun, which is then evenly distributed around the planet…
Oceans cover about 70% of the Earth’s surface. Therefore, if we were to pour all that water into Olympic-sized swimming pools, we would need over 500 trillion pools to hold it all.
The oceans are crucial for climate and life on Earth. (Photo: Shutterstock).
Oceans account for 97% of the water on the planet, while the remaining 3% is held in rivers, lakes, groundwater, and even ice caps. However, if the oceans were to evaporate simultaneously, this 3% would not be enough to compensate for the loss.
In fact, the oceans function as a global climate control system. They absorb most of the Sun’s heat and distribute it evenly across the Earth. As a result, no area on the blue planet becomes excessively hot or too cold.
Moreover, the oceans also contribute to maintaining the water cycle, evaporating into clouds and then creating rain that falls back to Earth.
So, what would happen if the oceans on Earth evaporated all at once?
Hundreds of millions of people around the world would be displaced due to flooding disasters. (Photo: IF)
Water on Earth goes through a very miraculous cycle. Rain flows into rivers and carries that water to the oceans. Eventually, the water evaporates back into the clouds.
In reality, the water vapor in the atmosphere is one of the reasons that makes Earth habitable. However, it also accounts for half of the greenhouse effect that warms the atmosphere.
According to scientists, there are about 38 million trillion gallons of water vapor present in the atmosphere. Therefore, if all of this water vapor were to condense and fall to Earth at once, humanity would experience 3 cm of rainfall across the planet.
However, it won’t be long before there is more water vapor because we are about to increase the temperature until it reaches boiling point.
As the oceans begin to heat up, the air will undoubtedly feel sticky, hot, and heavy. With such high humidity, the human body will struggle to cool down. Because the humidity will linger on the skin longer, people may start to suffer from heat exhaustion.
This is not the only problem. People will find themselves caught in a vicious cycle. Specifically, as the heat spreads across the oceans, the atmosphere will become overloaded with water vapor. This will make everything hotter. At this point, Earth will absorb more energy from the Sun than it radiates back into space. Consequently, humanity is on the brink of experiencing the greenhouse effect, and everything around will become hotter.
If the oceans suddenly evaporated, Earth would face a catastrophic disaster. (Photo: BBC).
At that point, temperatures across the globe will begin to equalize, and the poles will become warmer. Ice caps at the poles and glaciers in the mountains will melt. This will cause sea levels to rise by about 70 meters. Flooding will devastate coastal cities around the world. This disaster would force hundreds of millions of people to relocate. Rising sea levels would exacerbate the situation, as the oceans continue to warm and evaporate more quickly. At this point, all life on the blue planet would begin to disappear.
Marine organisms would clearly be the first victims once the oceans evaporate. Following this, Earth would gradually heat up until it resembles Venus. Any remaining water on the planet would evaporate, leading to humanity’s demise due to dehydration.
Most animal species would face extinction without water. After a few days, plants would also abandon their efforts to survive without water.
A few weeks later, the same fate would befall forests. Eventually, they would catch fire and continue burning until no vegetation remains. Within a year, Earth would become a lifeless place. Without water, it would likely mean no chance of life ever being created again.
According to scientists, climate change has the potential to impact the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere in the coming decades. As global temperatures rise, the amount of water evaporating from surfaces will increase, leading to a rise in water vapor in the atmosphere. This growing amount of water vapor will contribute to warming and enhance the greenhouse effect. As a result, global warming could accelerate rapidly.
