Antarctica Climate Number: 7.2 million cubic miles
Ninety (90) percent of Earth’s ice sits on top of Antarctica, a 5.4 million square mile continent. Virtually all of this area is covered by an ice sheet that can be three miles high with an average thickness of 1.24 miles, giving it an approximate total volume of 7.2 million cubic miles.
For Comparison: The amount of water in just one cubic mile of ice is equivalent to three days worth of discharge from the Mississippi River Delta. If all 7.2 million cubic miles of ice melted, enough water would flow into the oceans to raise sea levels by 275 feet!
Seasons: Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall
Source: ScienceDaily: Science Reference. “Antarctic Ice Sheet.” Accessed Online 4 January 2010
