NASA simulation reveals what Earth would look like if the oceans drained away

In the new updates, after just a drop in sea levels of 50 metres, the land on Earth is much more visible, with the UK and Ireland joining mainland Europe.

Papua New Guinea and Australia connect also, with Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam all becoming connected through dry land.

The video also reveals how just a small drop in ocean levels make the continental shelves more visible.

By removing 1,000 metres of sea level, it would be possible to travel from Europe to the Americas by land.

This landmass was actually there during the last Ice Age, which is how humans managed to conquer the majority of the Earth without the use of boats or other inventions.

By removing some of the water, it reveals what some of the planet was like for our ancient ancestors.

Mr O’Donoghue told Business Insider: “I slowed down the start since, rather surprisingly, there’s a lot of undersea landscape instantly revealed in the first tens of meters.

“When the last ice age occurred, a lot of ocean water was locked up as ice at the poles of the planet. That’s why land bridges used to exist.

“Each of these links enabled humans to migrate, and when the ice age ended, the water sort of sealed them in.”

As more of the water is removed, it reveals some of the large mountain ranges which are covered by the ocean.

The longest chain of mountains on the planet – the mid-ocean ridge – stretch over 37,000 miles (60,000 kilometres) and are revealed when between 2,000 to 3,000 metres of sea levels are removed.

One the animation reaches 6,000 metres, most of the ocean is gone, but it takes another 5,000 metres of sea level deduction to expose the entirety of the Mariana Trench – the deepest point on the planet.

READ MORE: ‘What is that?’ Bizarre deep-sea creature found near Hawaii exposed

Between 1993 and 2014, sea levels rose by 66mm (2.3 inches)– or roughly 3mm per year. If it continues at the current rate, or gets faster, it could mean coastal cities such as New York could be submerged by the end of the century.

Global warming is contributing to a loss of ice cover in the Arctic and Antarctic circles and researchers believe Greenland could be one of the worst effected.

The ice covering Greenland is up to three kilometres thick in certain places, covering an area seven times the amount of the UK.

If all of this ice were to melt, it would cause sea levels to rise by a staggering seven metres, which could have major implications for the UK.

source: express.co.uk