What would happen if oceans disappeared?

Written By طقس العرب on 2023/10/16

This article was written originally in Arabic and is translated using a 3rd party automated service. ArabiaWeather is not responsible for any grammatical errors whatsoever.

Arabia Weather - Imagine if the oceans disappeared. The good news is that we will not have enough time to miss dolphins, but the bad news is that we will be too busy dealing with the burning of the entire world. It is a condition that will make us unable to focus on anything else

The oceans are the most important support system for life on Earth – perhaps even essential for life to evolve on any planet in the first place.

The oceans play two life-supporting roles

Firstly; Oceans absorb and distribute solar energy. Without water, the sun's intense rays would heat the equator while not distributing as much energy to the poles, especially in winter. Fortunately, water absorbs a lot of energy, and the oceans regulate temperatures around Earth. The currents rotate warm water in the tropics north and south and cold water toward the equator again, distributing thermal energy so that no place becomes too hot for life to survive and warming cold areas.

secondly; Oceans fuel the water cycle - the movement of water from seas to air to clouds, over long distances and back into the sea or falling onto land.

When water is heated at the equator, it evaporates and turns into clouds. As warm air rises, cold air is also drawn in from below. This process encourages a more even distribution of heat, making cool places ideal for growing green, moist gardens. This is why the Mediterranean climate is so mild and also why there are places in Scotland, heated by the Gulf Stream, where you can grow palm trees, for example.

What if the oceans disappeared?

In this scenario, we will assume that the oceans have turned into soil. We want to give ourselves a small window of survival, so let's assume that the soil is moist enough that it doesn't immediately turn into a massive dust storm for the planet.

Even if we assume that the oceans are gone, we still have some water. There are still glacial mountain peaks, lakes and rivers (which now flow into vast tracts of soil) and groundwater is also available. When combined, these sources amount to about 3.5% of our current water supply , and the remaining 96.5% made up by the oceans has disappeared.

The disappearance of oceans will cause rain to become scarce and the planet to turn into a desert

This wouldn't be enough to trigger a decent global water cycle, even if we melted the ice (about 68.7% of fresh water on Earth is frozen in glaciers, ice caps and permanent snow, mainly found in Antarctica) . Without cloud formation over the ocean, rain would be rare. Incredibly, the planet will turn into a desert. We will see a gradual decline in our lakes and water resources every year until there is nothing left.

The disappearance of oceans will lead to increased fires and the effects of climate change

Humans may survive for some time close to home as we still have access to groundwater and some underground farms may be run hydroponically. But on Earth's surface, plants and animals will begin to dry out immediately. While trees can survive for a period of time without water, eventually everything will become so dry that fires will span continents.

This will be a multifaceted problem for humans: apart from the usual problems associated with fires (such as burning to death), fires will release thousands of tons of carbon dioxide into the gradually suffocating atmosphere, accelerating global climate change.

The effect of the disappearance of oceans on the sun

The sun will continue to influence the equator, making it a hot oven with no cold spots due to the lack of ocean current flow. Meanwhile, greenhouse gases from the world's fires will trap solar energy near the Earth's surface. There may be some temperature difference between night and day, resulting in high- and low-pressure systems and wind generation, but the average temperature on Earth's surface will reach 153 degrees Fahrenheit, making life on the surface impossible for even the strongest animals in the desert.

Would life end if the oceans disappeared?

Humanity's only hope would be in the Antarctic ice sheet if it were intact, encouraging mass migrations to the Southern Hemisphere. As temperatures rise around the world and the Earth's surface becomes uninhabitable, all our efforts will go toward collecting Antarctic ice underground, where it will be safe from evaporation. We might try to build some kind of biome underground, but the geographic distance and the hassle of traveling to get there will make it more difficult. Even after reaching it, survivors will find a wasteland flooded with water and no structures or resources – no mines, no roads, no food. It is unlikely that enough people will survive to sustain life and establish the underground community. The few remaining people will eventually live in underground shelters.

The situation will deteriorate further. On the surface of the planet, all plants will disappear. As fires rage around the world, the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere will gradually decrease, and may become unbreathable for humans, even if they can somehow withstand extreme surface temperatures. The earth will be ironed.

Assuming humans manage to live longer in their sub-Antarctic bunkers, there will be no way to restore a healthy carbon cycle, nor to restore temperatures to reasonably livable levels.

As the meager human resources that had been collected and transported to Antarctica ran out, we would inevitably die, and the only survivors on Earth would be small colonies of chemosynthetic bacteria hidden underground in hot springs. Without the oceans, everyone else would die.