What If Antarctica Didn't Exist?

Antarctica is often an afterthought among the continents. There is even a Reddit page dedicated to maps without Antarctica, which are laughably common it seems. It's understandable why Antarctica rarely jumps into our minds; it is the only continent with no permanent human population, its only inhabitants being scientists who come for limited stays at one of the continent's 70 research stations (and sometimes turn violent from the isolation). It's a place to visit briefly, never more, and yet, Antarctica plays a bigger role in all of our lives than you'd imagine.

There is no place on Earth quite like Antarctica. It influences global temperatures and ocean currents, its extreme environment and near total lack of human presence make it a one-of-a-kind natural laboratory for global research, and it is home to animals that can't be found anywhere else on Earth. Antarctica is irreplaceable, so what would the world be like without it? 

The impact would reverberate even further than you'd think, radically altering the climate of the entire world. It may not seem like it, but this isolated land is one of the most powerful forces on the planet. If Antarctica vanished, your life and millions of others could be destroyed by these devastating consequences.

Antarctica may be the least prominent continent from a human perspective, but it is actually one of the most important land masses when it comes to the planet's climate. The Antarctic ice sheet, which covers 98% of the continent, is the largest single piece of ice on Earth. Ice plays a critical role in regulating global temperatures because it reflects more of the Sun's light than either liquid water or terrestrial ground.

The amount of solar radiation that a given surface reflects is known as albedo. Earth as a whole has an albedo just above 30%, meaning that roughly a third of the solar radiation that reaches our planet gets bounced back into space. However, albedo varies between biomes. Different colors reflect different amounts of light, creating some pretty dramatic differences. Forests with heavy tree cover reflect only about 15% of radiation, half of the global average, but the vibrant white of ice and snow can reflect as much as 90% of the light that hits it.

The more solar radiation Earth absorbs, the hotter the climate becomes, so Antarctica and other icy regions play a big role in combating global warming. Climate change is devastating as it is, but without the Antarctic ice sheet, it would be significantly worse. Frighteningly, this effect is already coming into play. Antarctic glaciers are melting, and NASA data show that the continent's albedo is dropping. This hypothetical situation might not be so hypothetical in the future.

The Antarctic ice sheet is the largest stockpile of fresh water on the planet. The frozen landscape holds over 60% of Earth's fresh water, and 90% of its surface fresh water. If all of that ice melted, it would amount to about 31.4 quadrillion cubic meters of water. That's over eight quintillion gallons. If it wasn't for the Antarctic ice sheet holding all that water in solid form, global sea levels would be significantly higher, which would have catastrophic ramifications.

Rising waters are already a major concern due to climate change. Since 1880, the global sea level average has risen by about nine inches, and the rate of glacial melt has grown exponentially. Lives are already at risk from this effect. Some of the biggest cities in the world are actively being swallowed by the ocean. 

If the Antarctic ice sheet didn't exist, and all of that water was in liquid form, sea levels would rise by over 200 feet. Coastal cities like New York, Los Angeles, and Miami would meet the fate of Atlantis. The world's largest population center — China's Pearl River Delta — would be drowned, and the over 70 million people who live there would be drowned or displaced. As far as apocalyptic scenarios go, it doesn't get much worse.

If Antarctica didn't exist, it wouldn't just make the oceans bigger; it would completely change the flow of water all around the planet. Earth's oceans are all interconnected in a single global ocean. Water flows throughout this global ocean in a current commonly known as the ocean conveyor belt. The first stage of the belt begins in the Arctic Circle, where the cold climate causes warm water carried by the Gulf Stream to cool down and sink to the bottom of the ocean. As more water cools and sinks, it pushes the cold water already present southward to make room. That cold water goes all the way to Antarctica, where it makes a crucial pit stop.

Antarctica is surrounded by an extremely strong current called the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC). This current captures the cold water carried by the ocean conveyor belt and spins it in a loop, sending it northwards into the Pacific Ocean. Along this leg of the journey, the water warms up, and eventually arrives back at the Arctic Circle, where the belt repeats.

The ACC is the world's strongest ocean current, but it wouldn't exist without Antarctica. Losing the continent would create a butterfly effect slowing down currents across the globe. This would restrict the movements of many marine life forms, and make it easier for invasive species to fester in specific regions. It would also diminish the oceans' ability to store carbon from the atmosphere, exacerbating the climate crisis.

Antarctica's unique climate is utterly brutal from a human perspective, but for many species, it is the only place to call home. By far the most famous of Antarctica's animal residents are penguins. 

Several penguin species rely on Antarctica as a safe breeding ground due to its lack of predators, and two species — emperor penguins and Adélie penguins — are exclusively found on the continent. Emperor penguins live in massive colonies of thousands of individuals, and Adélie penguins go even beyond that. One colony of Adélies is estimated to have 1.5 million members, a figure that exceeds the human population of several major cities including San Francisco, Dallas, and San Diego. Imagine if one of those cities suddenly vanished from Earth. That's the fate that penguins would meet if Antarctica didn't exist.

Aside from the iconic penguins, Antarctica's coastline and waters are home to a diverse array of marine life. Numerous whales, including humpbacks, orcas, sperm whales, and blue whales (the world's largest animals) all spend part of the year in Antarctica. The cold waters are actually an excellent habitat for krill, making it a prime feeding ground for baleen whales. If it weren't for Antarctica, whales around the world would lose a cornerstone of their diet, and many species would simply not exist at all. Krill are also a staple food of seals, sea birds, fish, and those beloved penguins as well. The absence of this food source would deal a devastating blow to global biodiversity.

The Antarctic continent provides research opportunities that no other place can. It is arguably the most influential continent in terms of controlling the planet's climate, and that makes it essential for monitoring the progress of climate change. Its glacial melt has served as a barometer for global warming, while the ice sheet keeps a record of changes in Earth's atmosphere. As each new layer of ice freezes, it traps pockets of air, which scientists can drill into and discover how greenhouse gases have become more concentrated over time. Antarctica was also the place where, in 1985, scientists first discovered the hole in the ozone layer.

Because Antarctica has almost no human presence, it is one of the best places for astronomical research. Whereas areas with substantial human populations feature large amounts of light pollution, Antarctica has the clearest and darkest skies anywhere on the planet, allowing for much more detailed and accurate telescope images.

Most fascinating is what lies beneath the Antarctic ice. When the continent's massive ice sheet formed, it covered all the ground below it, creating a time capsule that preserves the land as it looked roughly 34 million years ago. Using satellites, scientists have seen below the ice, and discovered a world of ancient rivers that still flow in liquid form. Without Antarctica, this window into our past would not exist, our view of the stars would be narrower, and we would be even more ignorant of our planet's climate crisis.