How much ice is in Antarctica vs Greenland?

Antarctica holds about 26.5 million km³ of ice (58 m sea level equivalent), while Greenland holds about 2.85 million km³ (7.2 m equivalent).

Why use ice density instead of water density?

Ice is less dense than water (917 vs 1000 kg/m³). Converting to water equivalent gives the actual volume of liquid water that would be released.

Greenland loses about 270 billion tonnes of ice per year, and Antarctica about 150 billion tonnes per year, both rates accelerating.

Estimate ice sheet volume and its sea level equivalent based on area, average thickness, and ice density.

Ice Sheet Area

km²

Average Ice Thickness

Ice Density

kg/m³

Ocean Surface Area

km²

Ice Volume

3,420,000 km³

Sea Level Equivalent8,687.37 m

Water Equivalent Volume3,136,140 km³

Ice Volume vs Ice Sheet Area

Ice sheets hold vast quantities of frozen water. If melted, this water raises global sea levels.

Volume (km³) = Area (km²) x Thickness (m) / 1000

Water Equivalent = Volume x Ice Density / Water Density

Sea Level Rise (m) = Water Equivalent (km³) / Ocean Area (km²) x 10^6

The Greenland ice sheet contains about 2.85 million km³ of ice, equivalent to roughly 7.2 m of sea level rise.

The Greenland ice sheet has an area of 1,710,000 km² and average thickness of 2,000 m.