Another cause of thinning Antarctic ice
So the thinning of the Antarctic ice sheets may in part be caused by volcanic activity.
I'm sure this will join the ranks of arguments along with the cow fart joke, the Mars climate 'analogy' and others. I'm still inclined to think that earth's climate is changing, that average global temperatures are rising, and that humans are a large part of the cause. But I thought you all might find this interesting.
Here are the first few paragraphs from the NY Times article
quote:Volcanoes Tied to Thinning of Antarctica's Glaciers
By KENNETH CHANG
Published: January 21, 2008
Here is another factor that might be contributing to the thinning of some of the Antarctica's glaciers: volcanoes.
In an article published Sunday on the Web site of the journal Nature Geoscience, Hugh F.J. Corr and David G. Vaughan of the British Antarctic Survey report the identification of a layer of volcanic ash and glass shards frozen within an ice sheet in West Antarctica.
For Antarctica, "this is the first time we have seen a volcano beneath the ice sheet punch a hole through the ice sheet," Dr. Vaughan said.
Heat from a volcano could still be melting ice and contributing to the thinning and speeding up of the Pine Island Glacier, which passes nearby, but Dr. Vaughan doubted that it could be affecting other glaciers in West Antarctica, which have also thinned in recent years. Most glaciologists, including Dr. Vaughan, say that warmer ocean water is the primary cause.
Volcanically, Antarctica is a fairly quiet place. But sometime around 325 B.C., the researchers said, a hidden and still active volcano erupted, puncturing several hundred yards of ice above it. Ash and shards from the volcano carried through the air and settled onto the surrounding landscape. That layer is now out of sight, hidden beneath the snows that fell over the subsequent 23 centuries.
I'm sure this will join the ranks of arguments along with the cow fart joke, the Mars climate 'analogy' and others. I'm still inclined to think that earth's climate is changing, that average global temperatures are rising, and that humans are a large part of the cause. But I thought you all might find this interesting.
Here are the first few paragraphs from the NY Times article
quote:Volcanoes Tied to Thinning of Antarctica's Glaciers
By KENNETH CHANG
Published: January 21, 2008
Here is another factor that might be contributing to the thinning of some of the Antarctica's glaciers: volcanoes.
In an article published Sunday on the Web site of the journal Nature Geoscience, Hugh F.J. Corr and David G. Vaughan of the British Antarctic Survey report the identification of a layer of volcanic ash and glass shards frozen within an ice sheet in West Antarctica.
For Antarctica, "this is the first time we have seen a volcano beneath the ice sheet punch a hole through the ice sheet," Dr. Vaughan said.
Heat from a volcano could still be melting ice and contributing to the thinning and speeding up of the Pine Island Glacier, which passes nearby, but Dr. Vaughan doubted that it could be affecting other glaciers in West Antarctica, which have also thinned in recent years. Most glaciologists, including Dr. Vaughan, say that warmer ocean water is the primary cause.
Volcanically, Antarctica is a fairly quiet place. But sometime around 325 B.C., the researchers said, a hidden and still active volcano erupted, puncturing several hundred yards of ice above it. Ash and shards from the volcano carried through the air and settled onto the surrounding landscape. That layer is now out of sight, hidden beneath the snows that fell over the subsequent 23 centuries.
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Bush obviously is to blame for this. 0 -
Careful, Al (I invented the internet) Gore needs a reason to exist, if Global Warming does not exist and if man is not the cause of it, then poor Al will have to find another lie to make a living on. 0
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