Nama

: Nadya Amalia

NIM

: 20213042

Mata Kuliah

: Pengantar sains Energi (FI6002)

Dosen

: Dr.Eng. Abdul Waris

Assumes the volume of Greenland and Antarctica ice caps are 385106 km3 and 25.7106 km3
respectively. The radius of the Earth is 6,378 km and 70% of the Earths surface is covered by sea.
Estimate the rise in sea level if both ice caps melted completely.
Answer:
The ice caps of Greenland and Antarctica contain massive amounts of frozen water that if melted
would go largely into the oceans. Their water would spread out across the surface of the oceans,
raising sea level.
=

In this case, the volume of ice caps is the total volume of Greenland and Antarctica ice caps.
= +
= (385 106 ) + (25.7 106 )
= 410.7 106 3
It has been said that the surface area of oceans is 70% of total surface area of the Earth. Therefore,
we need to calculate the total surface area of the Earth first. The Earth is close enough to a sphere,
while the surface area of a sphere is given by = 4 2 . Therefore, we can use the same formula
with r is the radius of the Earth to calculate the total surface are of the Earth.
= 4 63782
= 162,715,536 2
410.7 106 3
0.7 162,715,536 2
= 1.147751

The computation result shows an extreme situation, and we would have a catastrophic problem if it
really happens. With 1.147751 km rise in sea level, it would wipe out all of the world's coastlines
and would also cause the water to go way inland. Who are currently on dry land, would be under
water by then. Ever watched a film entitled Waterworld? Maybe the condition of our Earth would be
a sort of like the setting of the film.

Reference:
Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. 2003. Exploring Water Resources.