---
title: "Amazing Vid Shows How Earth Would Look If All Its Oceans Dried Up"
description: "An updated NASA animation reveals what the world would look like if all of Earth's oceans, rivers, and lakes slowly vanished."
date: "2020-02-03"
modified: "2020-02-03"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/amazing-vid-earth-oceans-dried-up"
categories:
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "NASA"
  - "oceans"
  - "the digest"
---

# Amazing Vid Shows How Earth Would Look If All Its Oceans Dried Up

![An updated NASA animation reveals what the world would look like if all of Earth's oceans, rivers, and lakes slowly vanished.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/amazing-nasa-video-earth-look-oceans-drained.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: James O'Donoghue\</em\>*

## Under The Hood

A remake of a 2008 NASA animation reveals what the world would look in a "Mad Max" scenario in which all the water on Earth evaporated.

[The video](<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uOwv_Krqk8>), made by former NASA planetary scientist James O'Donoghue, gradually reveals [a vast landscape](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/mine-ocean-floor-erase-ecosystems>) of hidden mountains and other features — many of which have yet to be [properly explored](<https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/how-much-of-the-ocean-is-still-unexplored.html>).

"I like how this animation reveals that the ocean floor is just as variable and interesting in its geology as the continents," O'Donoghue, who now works for the Japanese space agency JAXA, [told *Business Insider*](<https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-animation-drains-oceans-reveals-land-bridges-mountains-2020-1>).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uOwv_Krqk8

## Deep Dive

The animation takes viewers about 10,000 meters beneath sea level. Most of the water is gone by about 5,000 meter**s**, with just the world's deepest trenches draining out beyond that.

The most dramatic shift, however, happens almost immediately.

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

**READ MORE:** [NASA slowly drains the oceans in an incredible animation, revealing hidden underwater mountain ranges and ancient land bridges](<https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-animation-drains-oceans-reveals-land-bridges-mountains-2020-1>) \[*Business Insider*\]

**More on the ocean floor:** *[This Plan To Mine the Ocean Floor May Erase Whole Ecosystems](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/mine-ocean-floor-erase-ecosystems>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)