What Would Happen If Earth’s Oceans Evaporated?

We all know that oceans cover about 70 percent of the planet’s surface. So what if one day, all of the Earth’s oceans evaporated? What would the planet look like with no high seas? What would happen to all sea creatures and will humanity even survive?

These, of course, are hypothetical questions that can be a reality in the future. The truth is, it might actually be happening now.

What will happen if all the planet’s water would evaporate?

In fact, the NASA/German Aerospace Center’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (Grace) satellites that measure the amount of water mass loss found the freshwater sources globally are in unprecedented decline.

The world’s oceans are the most important support system for life – they feed the water cycle, and they absorb and distribute solar radiation, reducing the impact of the sun’s harsh rays. Aside from that, oceans circulate warm tropical waters to the south and north poles, distributing heat energy evenly. As a result, oceans sustain life on Earth.

These reasons alone can answer the question, what will happen if there won’t be oceans anymore?

With two-thirds of the world’s surface, our water is equivalent to 500 trillion Olympic-size swimming pools. Though we’d still have some water remaining since oceans account for 97 percent of all water on the planet. The 3 percent is held in lakes, underground water, ice caps, and rivers. An estimated 68.7 percent of fresh water is frozen in permanent snow, glaciers, and ice cap – but, those aren’t enough to sustain life and make up for the oceans’ loss.

Sea creatures are the first casualties if the oceans evaporated today. They won’t survive the ordeal. Humans might survive for a while longer if they have access to groundwater and freshwater. However, the sun’s harmful rays may burn everything and many creatures might not survive the heat. There won’t be oceans that can cool the climate and fires can span the countries.

Fires can release large amounts of carbon dioxide, which can be fatal to humans.

Though some plants and trees can survive without water for some time, they will die, too. People may need to move from one place to another in search for water. Massive migrations can be seen to the Southern Hemisphere to have access to the Antarctic ice sheet but it won’t be enough to sustain life for a long time.

How long will it take until the Earth becomes uninhabitable?

The remaining 3 percent of freshwater will evaporate in just a matter of days, leaving people and even animals to die from dehydration.

In about a year, the planet would become a lifeless rock and without the oceans, it might not be able to produce life ever again.

To prevent this, it’s important for all of us to conserve water and take care of our oceans, by addressing water pollution across the planet.