timeimmortal

In what might just be yet another blow to climate change alarmism, here’s an interesting finding in Antarctica that’s worth giving some consideration to.

Of particular interest is the distribution of temperature changes that can be seen in this image:

…and how it compares to this image:

Notice, if you will, what sort of picture is being painted here. Most of Antartctica is cooling at present, and the part of it which demonstrates a warming trend is also (by no coincidence, methinks) the part of it in which a large number of volcanoes, some of them quite active (including a newly discovered one near the Larsen Ice Shelves). Not all of these volcanoes have broken through the surface of the Antarctic ice…but that doesn’t mean they are not having an effect on the ice all the same.

Sub-glacial volcanoes melt the bottom layer of ice, which can serve as a lubricant and accelerant for the glacier’s gravity-driven movement. If there seems to be an increased rate at which parts of the Antarctic ice shelf are breaking off and falling in to the ocean, one doesn’t necessarily have to look to CO2 to find a probable culprit; looking no further than the volcanoes will probably suffice.

…many claim the CO2 is the driver for any melting of the Antarctic ice sheet. I wonder how this will figure into that argument?

Larsen Ice Shelves A and B, by the way, sit astride a chain of volcanic vent islands known as the Seal Nunataks, which may figure into melting and breakups like this and this. (h/t Alan)

In fact, there are a LOT of volcanoes in Antarctica as you can see in this image. Notice that many are near the edge of the ice, and there are none in the interior, which may be a lack of discovery of ancient ice buried volcanoes. Most scientific bases are near the sea, rather than inland, for supply and weather tolerance purposes and there are many places in the interior that have yet to be fully explored.

…

Lead author Hugh Corr of the [British Antarctic Survey] says, “The discovery of a ’subglacial’ volcanic eruption from beneath the Antarctic ice sheet is unique in itself. But our techniques also allow us to put a date on the eruption, determine how powerful it was and map out the area where ash fell. We believe this was the biggest eruption in Antarctica during the last 10,000 years. It blew a substantial hole in the ice sheet, and generated a plume of ash and gas that rose around 12 km into air.”

The discovery is another vital piece of evidence that will help determine the future of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and refine predictions of future sea-level rise. Glaciers are like massive rivers of ice that flow towards the coast and discharge icebergs into the sea.

In a way, I’m rather grateful for Al Gore and An Inconvenient Truth. Had that movie not been so full of factual and scientific errors, people probably wouldn’t have been half as interested as they have been in investigating — and repudiating — its claims. Ditto the IPCC reports.

(In Soviet Russia, hat tips you: SDA)