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Volcano, Not Global Warming Effects, May be Melting an Antarctic Glacier
Scientists have discovered a layer of volcanic ash and glass shards in Antarctica, evidence of an old eruption by a still active volcano that researchers believe may be contributing to the thinning of Antarctic glacial ice.
A NASA photo of the Pine Island glacial shelf
Hugh F.J. Corr and David G. Vaughan, two scientists with the British Antarctic Survey, recently published their discovery of the volcanic layer in the journal Nature Geoscience. The discovery is unique according to Dr. Vaughan. He said “This is the first time we have seen a volcano beneath the ice sheet punch a hole through the ice sheet.”
The volcano’s heat could possibly be melting and thinning the ice and raising the speed of the Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica.
But while the Pine Island Glacier may be thinning because of the volcano, it’s highly unlikely the thinning of Antarctica’s ice sheet as a whole can be blamed on hidden volcanoes. For one thing, Antarctica has very few active volcanoes. Most glacial scientists, including Dr. Vaughan himself, blame warmer ocean waters for glacial thinning in West Antarctica.
The ash and glass layer the scientists discovered was most likely deposited around the time of Alexander the Great. The eruption would have exploded upwards, pushing through hundreds of metres of ice, spraying ash and volcanic glass shards all over the land surrounding it. Two millennia of snows have covered the volcanic layer, but recent radar surveys found it.
In fact, radar teams discovered the layer in 2004 and 2005, but the reflected radar waves from the layer were so strong they thought it was actual bedrock. A more recent radar survey with improved equipment meant the team discovered the actual bedrock, and thus the layer above it.
The thickness of the ice above the layer mean that the scientists could date it to roughly 200 B.C., plus or minus 240 years or so. But the researchers think they can narrow it down more than that. From previous examinations of ice cores, they knew that a volcano had erupted in Antarctica some time around 325 B.C., although they had not known where the eruption had happened. Dr. Vaughan said: “We’re fairly confident this is the same eruption.”
Source: New York Times
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Comments


RespectsJesus (not verified) says:
Will Jesus rescue the pro global-warmist or the anti warmist.

nj555 (not verified) says:
global warming has been happening since the ice age, there is no stopping it, we might be able to slow down the process but we cant put an end to it

Les (not verified) says:
Mother Nature made Goble warming. First a volcano has been identified as causing the glacier to melt. Now we have a sun that has gone about 60 days with out any major sun spot activity. The sun did have a start of a small one as predicted but then collapsed. Now recently penguins are following the ocean currents and are now starting to show up on the northern coast of Australia. Not to mention the expansion of the glacier on Mount Shasta. Good stewardship of the environment is everyone’s responsibility but to use fear mongering to push an agenda to line some pockets with money is not right either. Where would we be if everyone had listed to the global cooling freaks of the 1970’s, with the idea of painting the polls with coal dust to help warm the planet?

mon (not verified) says:
has it to do with global warming al thes things ?
what has volcanos nd orkans to do with global warming dont understand :S
please reply to this comment.!

Stephen (not verified) says:
Now both nature and man-made events are depleting the polar ice caps. It doesn’t sound like a good combination.Change happens. It has happened before, it will happen again. We need to stop being so freaked out about what is natural and look at how we can accommodate change . . .adapt to it. We are in a better place than any previous group of humans to weather this cycle if we only take some hard looks at how we manage our food and water supplies.
::sigh::
What is unique about today is that we are urban, and so totally dependent on an expensive, and complex, infrastructure to provide for even our most basic needs. Humans have a long history of destroying their own environments, leading to localised mass extinctions, and social decay, or collapse. The classics of over grazing, over cultivation, tree clearance, and so on, are those that destroyed every civilisation before ours. The same massive scale technology that has enabled us to push these boundaries, will have had, and have, side effects - as all technologies do - on the very systems that we are benefiting from.
London smog ruined the lives of millions, over the 70 or so years that it was allowed to exist. It was man-made, no one doubts that now, created by burning coal. We introduced the 'clean air' act, and we no longer got a smog. It is a little thing, and easily removed, but at heart, it is no different, except in scale, to the plethora of life enhancing industrial and agricultural processes that abound, globally. All global systems (water, air, nitrogen, carbon, plant growth, heat capture and dissipation, etc) are in a state of tension, some sort of dynamic equilibrium. It seems to me that human created processes that are large enough to benefit us on a global scale, will have downsides, also on a global scale.

bh (not verified) says:
Protecting our environment is no doubt crucial to our existance, unfortunately the environmental movement is a little confused. Pollutants such as Nitrates, Sulfates, and other particulates are what needs to be targeted. Those are what results in smog, acid rain, and the poisoning of our water supply and soil. All this focus on CO2 is distracting from the real problems. The solution to the CO2 problem, if AGW alarmists are right, has an extremely simple solution. Stop cutting down the forests and start planting them. Ironically it is the "green" movement's search for alternative fuel sources that is adding to the deforestation.

will (not verified) says:
that is a load of bullshit
theres is inequivocal evidence that humans have very likley been the driving force behind climate change in the last 50 years, which would definately lead to the glacial meltings, which makes it very UNlikely that Volcanoes are the sole reason for the melting ice

Crazed loonie (not verified) says:
May 2nd the Chilli Volcano blew its cork.. about 9000 years this old volcano erupted.. makes one wonder what tectonic effect that would have in other regions around the globe.. IE the massive earthquake in China. maybe cause by a ripple effect in the earths crust.. so much we do not know about tectonics.. somthing to ponder over..
Crazed loonie, Newport Oregon

Samantha (not verified) says:
In your guess do you think that there really is a center of the earth. And I would also like to see really volcano scans over the world on your website. And it would really help me with me research about the center of the world. What if the patterns of the volcanoes can open a passage or something. Well thank you for reading my comment. And if you do put updated volcano scans on your website then that would make me really happy thank yuo

outdoor gear (not verified) says:
The headline of this story made it sound like another attempt to discredit climate change. After reading the story, that's not the case, but it's still alarming. Now both nature and man-made events are depleting the polar ice caps. It doesn't sound like a good combination.

JimW (not verified) says:
"After reading the article...."
Sounds like something that normally is done first before making a comment on the same article.
"...it’s highly unlikely the thinning of Antarctica’s ice sheet as a whole can be blamed on hidden volcanoes. For one thing, Antarctica has very few active volcanoes. Most glacial scientists, including Dr. Vaughan himself, blame warmer ocean waters for glacial thinning in West Antarctica."

Gwenny (not verified) says:
Now both nature and man-made events are depleting the polar ice caps. It doesn’t sound like a good combination.
Change happens. It has happened before, it will happen again. We need to stop being so freaked out about what is natural and look at how we can accommodate change . . .adapt to it. We are in a better place than any previous group of humans to weather this cycle if we only take some hard looks at how we manage our food and water supplies.
::sigh::

Wake Up (not verified) says:
Jesus is returning very soon.
Are you Ready ?

fredrick (not verified) says:
that was a good eye opener. i feel there is nothing wrong in knowing wats gonna happen in future.

ferrami (not verified) says:
volcanoes are really scary. the facts and figures above are correct.

Nadya (not verified) says:
The headline is misleading. Secondly, mother nature can take care of her own, BUT we are adding to the fact. We are still the biggest contributer to the mess that is affecting our home.
And sure change is natural and will always happen, but it gives us no right to be disrespectful towards anything, least of all earth, or help speed up the process.

Ycare (not verified) says:
The earth is one of the most stable planet we witnessed, climate wise, for about... few thousands of years, which is peanuts in Planets life time.
I'm actually amazed that humans are so ego centric, thinking that everything have to be related to them, whether it's because or for them.
Climate changes, ice ages, "global warming", it's all cycles that we never experienced before because we didn't even exist.
Use Ocham's razor here and tell me what's more likely to be:
- Earth climate change, like every other planets in the solar system and beyond we could study.
- 50 years of humans releasing gazes make the whole planet to warm up.
Yeah, sure, humans, definitely a rational thinking.

GreenNetizen (not verified) says:
Your first writer was insightful and said that the headline of this story made it sound like another attempt to discredit climate change.
I agree. People will look for any reason to deny the evidence that our climate is changing. This reality may be too difficult to swallow. If you look at the stages of grief you will see this in the responses of people at various stages of this difficult reality. (I think another stage should be added: Initial shock, but I’ll leave that to the experts to debate.)
But the stages of grief are identified as:
Denial: The initial stage: "It can't be happening."
Anger: "Why me? It's not fair."
Bargaining: "Just let me live to see my children graduate."
Depression: "I'm so sad, why bother with anything?"
Acceptance: "It's going to be OK."I think a lot of people are in denial and want to pretend that climate change isn’t happening. So they use what ever piece of evidence that can find to justify this help belief. Not saying that this volcano isn't significant. It is, but that is one small piece of the bigger picture.

Adrianne (not verified) says:
It is an interesting article to read. We have to agree that our planet is like a living beeing and it is constantly changing. Even in the past we had warmer or cooler periods on Earth. Still, one of the main factors affecting ice caps are oceans. Ofcourse, the oceans are influenced by climate change that was influenced by humans.
I found an interesting article on www.1ocean-1climate.com

John (not verified) says:
#19 is by far the most sensible of the above. Personally I'm a big believer in the mirror world idea, we go one way in pattern and the other side of the mirror goes the other way, time is an illusion in an electro-magnetic-spin reality, we have assumed it is "normal" to be born via a woman and die and go in a box but the people on the other side assume it is "normal" to be born in a box and die inside a woman. When you think about it both are prejudiced ideas, someone must sit at the mirror's surface, hence me saying #19 is the most sensible as it is only from the mirror's surface that the truth about good and evil etc can be seen. We see glaciers melting and people all over the world dying as they are flooded out but on the other side they see people suddenly appearing as water disappears and glaciers build up. We are not fit to judge what is good or bad until we learn to think as God does and this is probably how he thinks, ..... or is it she thinks? I can never remember. With this freedom to act God can do whatever he/she wants as no-one loses really when both sides of all the mirror worlds are considered. Personally I expect large earthquakes in Antarctica and a huge melting of the glaciers such that all ice will be gone from there within a decade, we will adapt or die, God doesn't care which we choose to do. http://royaldutchshellplc.com/2008/01/06/crackpot-or-genius-has-a-shell-boffin-stumbled-on-a-scientific-breakthrough/

Wayne (not verified) says:
Ycare - Egocentric because we believe that we are having a profound effect on the Earth's climate? I think not? Yes, climate change has happened before, and would happen again, but not at the speed that we as humans are affecting the atmospheric composition. Millions of years of carbon released in just over 150 years ( the 50 you refer to is the curve of the hockey stick only).
How ever misguided we may be in some elements to control GHG release, surely some effort will be better than none in the long run!

mike (not verified) says:
global warming is one of the dumbest ideas ever to surface on this planet yet it is believed by the majority. Just look up statistics, not only has the Earth been cooling for the past several years, but small changes in climate in certain areas cannot create the disastrous effects that some people say. Most scientists have completely debunked the idea, yet many environmentalists such as greenpeace dont tell you that because they think theyre right. Look at the facts and its obvious that the idea is utter garbage. The ice caps melting has nothing to do with global warming or any carbon emissions from humans.









Willie McDonald (not verified) says:
The Truth about Global Warming -The Apocalypse: Page 1 of 7.
This report is the condense version. This report proves green house gases are not responsible for global warming. My purpose is to gain support for this report. Global warming-the apocalypse can be stopped, with your help. If not stopped the sun’s heat will dominate this planet’s weather, and generate unusual weather patterns, to the point where the only thing to eat will be other people. The real reason for global warming is the earth’s orbit around the sun is decaying, in other words the earth is moving closer to the sun. The earth is a planet that functions like a machine. In fact It’s more like a machine, than a planet. Like a car, truck, aircraft, or rocket. The earth has a fuel system, an engine system, and exhaust system. A car’s engine system generates torque, an aircraft’s engine systems generates thrust, and the earth’s engine system generates a powerful magnetic field, and the earth’s magnetic field protects all life on this planet, and beneath the oceans. The earth’ magnetic field keeps the earth at a safe distance from the sun, and the core is the earth’s engine. The earth’s fuel system is referred to as oil wells/ crude oil reservoirs. They are actually self pressurizing fuel cells. Like any machine, if you were to shut off fuel to the engine, the engine will stop operating. The oil company’s crude oil extraction process compromises the earth’s fuel system, and shut off fuel to the earth’s engine (the core), by releasing pressure out of the earth’s fuel system (oil wells). Normally the pressure in a crude oil well/ reservoir is tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of pounds per square inch. Under normal circumstance the core (the engine) stays at a constant 5000 to 7000 degrees celsius, and that’s hot enough to melt steel, and the pressure in the core is tens of thousands to hundreds of pounds per square inch. The oil is ignited long before it reaches the core, and enters the core as flames. Crude oil a hydrocarbon is capable of generating those temperatures in the core. Hydrocarbons are used to melt, and manufacture steel. The higher the temperature in the core, and the stronger the earth’s magnetic field. The cooler the core, the weaker the earth’s magnetic field. The earth’s engine is being fuel starved, and it is slowly cooling. As the core cools the earth’s magnetic field weakens, and the earth is being pulled closer to the sun Global Warming has nothing to do with green house gases, holes in the ozone, CFC, R-12 refrigerant, and aerosol propellant, etc. The only way to reverse global warming-the apocalypse is for the oil companies to re-pressurize the earth’s fuel systems. One way this can be accomplished, by igniting the methane gas in them. The ignited gas will expand, and create the pressure need to force the remaining crude oil (fuel) into the core. This is the real cause for global warming, and the only way it can be reversed. Volcanoes are the earth’s exhaust system. Volcanoes are designed to rid the core (the earth’s engine) of spent fuel, debris, and they regulate the pressure in the core, which is generated by the combustion of crude oil. The pressure that’s release from volcanoes is provided by carbon dioxide, nitrogen, sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide, and these are all crude oil by-product, including the pressure. These gases, and the pressure proves that a hydrocarbon is being burned in the core of this planet. The earth, and conditions on it are changing, and not for the better. 12 noon use to be the hottest part of the day, now it 3 o’clock in the after noon. The winters are getting sunny, and warmer from latitude (zero) to latitude (29.0- N, and 29.0- S), during winter. Both polar ice caps are melting, and the oceans are rising. The earth has shifted on it’s axes by15 degrees. The earth is moving away from the moon 4 cm each year, and the distance have increase by 220,000 miles over the decades. Floods, and tornadoes are developing in winter, from latitude (29.0 -N) to latitude (35.28 N), and higher latitudes. Two leap seconds had to be added to the atomic clock, because the earth rotation is slowing down. It’s getting noticeably hotter every 15 to 20 years. Our grand children are in grave danger!
Written by: Willie McDonald: cdnld30@gmail.com: 832-889-2058. Copyright-2008