Would you wake up to find yourself drowning under water?

你會在起床後發現自己淹沒在水裡嗎？

Would most of your country be submerged?

你國家大部分的土地都會被浸沒嗎？

How would you enjoy slowly choking to death?

你覺得慢慢窒息而死感覺如何？

This is WHAT IF, and here's what would happen if all the world's ice melted.

我們是大膽科學，以下跟大家說明，如果全世界的冰都融化，會發生什麼事。

Ever watched an ice cube melt in a glass of water that's filled to the brim?

看過冰塊在一杯裝滿水的杯子中融化的樣子嗎？

How does it change the water level?

它會如何改變水面高度？

The truth is, it doesn't.

事實上，它並不會改變。

Above or below the water line, a melted ice cube replaces exactly the same volume of water.

不論在水面之上或之下，一顆融化的冰塊會取代完全相同體積的水量。

Now let's add salt to the mix.

現在我們來加入一些鹽巴。

In the case of a 1-cubic-inch ice cube, the water level in the glass will rise by 0.03 cubic inches.

每一立方英吋的冰塊，會使杯中的水面上升 0.03 立方英吋。

That rise is displaced salt water.

這個高度，是鹽水的代替。

It's an increase in volume of nearly 3%.

體積增長了將近 3％。

Fairly small amount, isn't it?

相當小的數字，對吧？

But what if you apply this to glaciers and floating sea ice?

但是如果這發生在冰河以及海洋浮冰的時候呢？

5.8 million square miles of our planet is covered with ice.

我們的星球有 580 萬平方英里都是被冰覆蓋著的。

If all of it were to melt overnight, the global sea level would rise approximately 230 feet.

如果它們全在一夜之間融化，那麼全球的海平面會上升大約 230 英尺。

That's enough to cover London's Tower Bridge.

這個高度足以淹沒倫敦塔橋。

All seven continents would be partially underwater.

七大洲都會有部分沒入水平面下。

There would be no Miami and no London.

邁阿密和倫敦都不復存在。

The coast of Australia would be washed out, together with 80% of its residents.

澳洲的沿岸及其 80% 的居民都會被沖走。

So would Venice and the Netherlands.

威尼斯和荷蘭也一樣。

Things wouldn't be that bad for Africa.

非洲的狀況不會那麼糟。

But with the extreme heat waves that followed, most of the continent would be uninhabitable.

但接踵而來的超級熱浪會讓大部分的地區變得無法居住。

Think floods would wash out humanity entirely?

你覺得洪水會使人類完全滅絕嗎？

Well, not all of it.

這倒不盡然。

But whoever is left will have plenty of dangers to deal with.

但不論誰活下來了，他都將面臨許多的危機。

All that melted ice would release carbon dioxide into the air.

所有融化的冰都會釋放二氧化碳進入大氣。

Ice needs high CO2 concentrations to melt in the first place.

冰在融化初期會需要高濃度的二氧化碳。

Given that oxygen content in the atmosphere would remain the same, you would slowly start to choke from breathing the air.

有鑒於大氣中氧氣的含量不會改變，你會因為呼吸空氣而漸漸開始窒息。

You'd have very little time to acclimatize to the new world.

你會有很少的時間可以適應新世界。

Ocean currents would change their direction, affecting sea life.

洋流會改變方向，進而影響海洋生物。

With no time to evolve to such extreme changes, sea creatures and polar animals would face massive extinction.

由於沒有時間演化去適應如此極端的變化，海洋生物和極地動物會面臨大規模的絕種。

The ones still alive would have to leave their homes and find a better place to live.

倖存下來的物種則必須離開牠們的家園，尋找一個更適合的居住地。

This would result in a decrease of human food supply.

這會造成人類食物供給的減少。

A change in sea current would also mean dramatic weather changes.

洋流的改變也代表著劇烈的氣候變化。

Heavy rains would hit the desert, and areas with a significant rainfall would dry out.

沙漠會降下大雨，而原本擁有龐大降雨量的地區則會乾涸。

This would devastate agriculture and cause a global famine.

這不但會重創農業，還會帶來全球飢荒。

Wind patterns would change, too.

風場也會改變。

With no ice to reflect the sun's rays, the sun would draw more moisture from the oceans, making more clouds in the sky.

由於失去反射太陽輻射的冰層，太陽光會從洋面吸收更多水氣，使天空中產生更多雲。

The clouds would gather first near the mountain areas, and eventually rainfall would flood them.

雲層會先聚集在山區附近，最後大雨會淹沒這些區域。

Oceanic hurricanes would occur more often, causing even more floods.

海洋颶風會更常發生，引起更多的水災。

Even the smallest earthquake off the coast could devastate nearby regions with a massive tsunami.

即便一個最小的外海地震，都能引起巨大的海嘯並摧毀鄰近地區。

All of this would force a global migration that governments would not be able to deal with.

以上種種都會逼出一股政府沒有能力處理的全球移民潮。

The world as we know it would collapse.

我們所認識的世界會瓦解。

Luckily, all the ice can't melt overnight.

幸運的是，所有的冰無法在一夜之間融化。

But it is melting.

但它確實在融化。

Even the oldest ice core that has been storing information about Earth's climate for 1.5 million years.

甚至連儲存著地球 150 萬年氣候資訊的最古老冰芯也不能倖免。

If we keep adding fuel to the climate change fire, in 5,000 years, the Earth will be ice-free.

若我們繼續在氣候變遷上火上澆油，在 5 千年內，地球將會完全無冰。