No, according to modern scientific data, the World Ocean cannot flood all the land in the foreseeable future. A number of fundamental geographical and geological factors prevent this.

Why water will not cover the entire planet

• Insufficient water. Even if all the glaciers and ice sheets on Earth melt, the level of the World Ocean will rise, according to various estimates, by approximately 60–70 meters. This is enough to flood many coastal cities and low-lying islands, but to cover all the land, including high mountains, this volume of water is catastrophically insufficient. There is simply not enough water on the planet to cover the highest land.
• Volume of land. The ocean already covers about 71% of the Earth's surface at the moment. If the surface of the planet were made perfectly flat, the water would be enough to cover it with a layer about 2.7 kilometers deep. However, the land has huge mountain ranges and elevated areas that would even in this hypothetical scenario remain above water.

What will actually happen: the threat to coastal zones

Scientific forecasts do not speak of complete flooding of the land, but of a significant but localized rise in water levels, which will become a serious problem for coastal regions:

• Current rise: The level of the World Ocean is rising at an accelerating pace. Over the past 30 years, it has risen by about 10 centimeters, and now the speed is about 3.4–5.9 millimeters per year.
• Forecast until 2100: According to scientists, by the end of the century, the sea level may rise by 1–2 meters. This will lead to more frequent floods and storm surges in many coastal megacities, and some island states may disappear under water.
• Long-term perspective: Even if all the glaciers melt completely, the ocean level may rise by tens of meters. But even in this scenario, we are talking about the flooding of vast coastal territories and low-lying areas on continents, not the complete submersion of all continents.

Looking into the geological past: were there 'water worlds'?

There were indeed periods in the Earth's history when the ocean level was significantly higher.

• Cretaceous period: About 117 million years ago, during the time of dinosaurs, the sea level was about 200 meters higher than today. This led to the fact that about 30% of the modern land was covered by shallow seas. However, there were extensive land areas even then.
• Distant past: Some scientists believe that in the early period of the Earth's formation, when continents were just beginning to appear, the ocean could have covered almost the entire planet. But these were completely different geological eras, with a different volume of water and structure of the Earth's crust.

Conclusion: Complete flooding of the land in the foreseeable future is impossible. However, the melting of glaciers and the rise in sea level already represent a real threat to coastal regions and large cities. Instead of a global apocalypse, humanity will have to deal with more local but no less serious problems related to the 'slow flood' of coastlines and the need to adapt to new climatic realities.
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