Peter Clack
@PeterDClack
Ten percent of all land on earth (land covers only 28% of the surface area) is covered by glacial ice. This is despite a 36 year global warming campaign run by the United Nations. The Antarctic ice sheet reaches thicknesses of up to 4.8 kilometers (about 3 miles) making it the largest and thickest ice formation on Earth. It holds 90% of the world's ice by volume & accounts for about 85% of total global glacial ice cover.
Earth's major surface features include oceans covering 72% of all surface area, forests cover 31% of the land & deserts cover 33%. Human towns & cities cover only 3%.
Earth is still in the Quaternary Ice Age which has lasted 2.58 million years but could last for another 100 million years, as the most recent ice age did (the Karoo). All modern human societies arose in the recent Holocene interglacial beginning 11,700 years ago. Warm interglacial cycles usually last for 15,000 years.
A map of Antarctica showing the Antarctic ice sheet, South Pole, East Antarctica, West Antarctica, Ross Ice Shelf, Ronne Ice Shelf, Larsen Ice Shelf, Wilkens Ice Shelf, Bellinghausen Sea, Amundsen Sea, Weddell Sea, Transantarctic Mountains, and Southern Ocean. Text labels include ocean and sea names, ice shelf names, and geographic features.

6:31 AM · Sep 28, 2025