How much ice exists in the polar and Greenland icecaps? What I really
want to know is how high would the sea level rise if all the ice were
to melt?

Dear coupedeville:

Thanks for your question. I have found the exact information you are
looking for on the United States Geological Survery website. Here is
the relevant information:

Geographic             Area      Percent      Volume      Percent   
level rise
  region               (km2)                   (km3)                 
potential (m)**
    
Ice caps, ice          680,000A     4.24       180,000A      0.55     
 0.45***
fields, valley  
glaciers, etc. 
 
Greenland       
(Inland Ice)         1,736,095B    10.82     2,600,000B      7.90     
 6.50
  Local ice             48,599B     0.30        20,000B      0.06     
 0.05
  caps and 
  other 
  glaciers

Antarctic           13,586,400C    84.64    30,109,800C     91.49     
73.44***

Totals              16,051,094    100.00    32,909,800     100.00     
80.44

Source: http://pubs.usgs.gov/factsheet/fs133-99/gl_vol.html


So, to answer your question, according to the USGS, there is
32,909,800 cubic kilometers of ice total, with 30,109,800 cubic
kilometers is Anatartica, and 2,620,000 cubic kilometers in Greenland.
The potential sea level rise is 80.44 meters total, with 73.44 meters
from Antartica, and 6.55 meters from Greenland.


Additional Links:

"If global warming causes the polar ice caps to melt, how much will
the oceans rise?"
http://www.howstuffworks.com/question473.htm

"Contribution of the Greenland ice sheet to sea-level rise"
http://www.phys.uu.nl/~wwwimau/key_topics/sealevel/default-text.html

"Facts and figures on sea level rise"
http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/environment/sealevel.html


Google Search Terms Used:
sea level rise ice caps melt greenland
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF8&safe=off&q=sea+level+rise+ice+caps+melt+greenland


I hope this information was what you were looking for! If you need any
additional clarifications, please don't hesitate to ask. I would be
more than happy to assist you further.

Best Regards,
blader-ga

---

Clarification of Answer by blader-ga on 25 Jun 2002 13:01 PDT

Dear coupedeville:

Sorry about the poor formatting in the above table. Please refer to
the link below for the original table:

http://pubs.usgs.gov/factsheet/fs133-99/gl_vol.html 

Thanks!

Best Regards,
blader-ga

Just what I wanted to know.