An expert has shared what would happen to the US if all glaciers melted overnight. As the world warms, the sub-zero reserves of water at the north and south poles are gradually deteriorating, causing a rise in sea levels. But USAInAMap has posted a clip on YouTube showing them colouring sections of the United States in either red or green depending on whether they would remain above the surface or find themselves completely submerged.
The swing state of Florida would be absorbed by the ocean, as would most of Alabama and a large chunk of Georgia. Virtually all of Louisiana would no longer exist, and a lot of neighbouring Mississippi would disappear under the waves. Meanwhile, the south west of Arkansas would be affected, and a significant part of Texas. They say everything is bigger there, but the state itself would be smaller.
Hawaii would be no more, as well as Alaska in the north.
The west coast would be impacted also, with only the eastern sections of the Carolinas remaining.
Half of Virginia would be underwater, as well as more or less the entirety of the District of Columbia and New Jersey.
A small part of Pennsylvania and New York would be a washout, as would Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
A large part of Vermont is also coloured in red by the YouTuber, as well as the south of Maine and a tiny bit of New Hampshire.
Turning west, a big swathe of California would vanish, and a small part of western Arizona.
A section of western Nevada is in the red, too, along with the parts of Oregon and Washington closest to the sea.
Glaciers in many regions will not survive the 21st century if they keep melting at the current rate, potentially jeopardising hundreds of millions of people living downstream, UN climate experts warned earlier this month.
A report highlighted that melting snowcaps are causing sea levels to rise about one millimetre higher every year, a figure that “might seem insignificant, yet every millimetre will flood another 200,000 to 300,000 persons every year”.
