avogadros_number
Ancient ocean methane not an immediate climate change threat - New research has directly shown that large reservoirs of natural ocean methane in mid-latitude regions will not be catastrophically released to the atmosphere under warming conditions.
rochester.eduSubmitted by avogadros_number t3_ycwe4s in science
Traditionally, the drainage of water from beneath ice sheets is thought to stabilise ice flow by removing lubricating water from the ice sheet bed; however, new findings highlight a currently overlooked process that can rapidly switch on beneath melting ice sheets.
carbonbrief.orgSubmitted by avogadros_number t3_xwneba in science
avogadros_number OP t1_ivguecr wrote
Reply to Volcanic activity and low ocean oxygen events linked to climate warming and rapid ice melt during last ice age, study finds by avogadros_number
Some may be wondering... can this happen today with the rapid retreat of glaciers, ice caps and ice sheets?
Not really, not for the majority of the globe. As an example, the Cordilleran ice sheet, at its maximum extent contained a sea-level equivalent comparable to that of the present-day Greenland Ice Sheet^1, ^2 That amount of mass pushing down the crust simply isn't there anymore to yield the degree of decompression melting required to produce that much melt (magma) and ultimately trigger a volcanic response.
What about Greenland and Antarctica?
As far as Greenland goes, it doesn't seem likely we'll see any activity there as there are no active volcanoes in Greenland, nor are there any known mapped, dormant volcanoes under the Greenland ice sheet that were active during the Pliocene period of geological history that began more than 5.3 million years ago (volcanoes are considered active if they’ve erupted within the past 50,000 years).
Antarctica, however, does have active volcanoes. I suspect that with the rapid deglaciation of the Antarctic Ice Sheet it may be possible to see an increase in volcanic activity regionally. Though due to its location (at the south pole), and the circumpolar winds and currents, any volcanic ash would also be quite limited globally and would likely remain at the poles rather than spreading out and having any major climatic effects.