Ice Cap Melting
My science fiction story, 10 Feet in 100 Years, shows my interest in exploring the potential effects of climate change on Earth’s civilization. On Tuesday I read the Nation Snow and Ice Data Center updated their forecast for the timetable of the melting of the Greenland Ice Cap.
They predict, using their best assumptions, that it will completely melt by 3000 A.D. That’s way in the future. A few of facts. Greenland’s ice cap covers 650,000 sq mi and is about 2 miles deep. This will raise the ocean level about 20 ft.
That means in each 100 years Greenland’s ice cap will add about 2 feet to the ocean level. That’s 80% less than I used in my sci fi future, as it included Antarctica glacier melt.
The southernmost continent has ice covering 5,400,000 sq. mi. with an average thickness of about 1.2 miles. Earth.com estimates its complete melting would add 190 feet to ocean levels. However, thankfully, the component icesheets in Antarctica are fall behind the melting of the Greenland icecap, but they have started. For example, the West Antarctica ice sheet is likely to completely melt raising the ocean level by almost 11 feet, though the time frame is 500 to 13,000 years in the future. The Wilkes and Aurora Basin may completely melt in less than 2,000 years if temperatures keep rising.
I feel comfortable with my 10 feet ocean level rise in 100 years estimate for 200 years in our future. These stories will expose you to challenges the Earth’s population, especially on the Middle Atlantic coast of the United States, will face.
This choice of the Middle Atlantic coast, particularly the Baltimore area, as the focal point of my stories stems from my own life experience. Growing up in Baltimore and continuing to live in the region, I’ve developed a deep connection to its unique physical features, vibrant communities, and rich institutions. These elements serve as the foundation for the futuristic versions they become in my work, offering a lens through which I imagine the challenges and resilience of this area in the face of climate change.
Additional Information
10 Feet in 100 Years. Science fiction story based in 2233
BaltSea takes place in 2238
Famine’s Fury follows in 2258
