There are several erupting volcanoes around the world right now.

[MineralMan]

For those who are wondering whether the eruption of the volcano in Iceland is something unusual, you may want to take a look at the link below. There are several volcanoes actively erupting right now, and many more that are active and under close watch.

When you look at this page, you can see that they are located in many places on the planet, many of which have no ice anywhere near them that might have melted. You can also go back in the archives, where you will see that there is always vulcanism going on on the Earth.

It's a mistake to try to attribute normal geological activity to the climate or any other thing. Volcanoes need no reason to erupt. They've been doing that throughout the history of this planet. Speculation about links to global warming, Jesus returning, or other stuff is just plain silly. Volcanoes are a natural phenomenon, caused by magma rising to the surface. There are no atmospheric or weather causes, although volcanoes can certainly influence the weather.

Enjoy the read...

http://www.volcano.si.edu/reports/usgs/

[sui generis]

1. it's the end times!

Everybody do the robot!

Someone should let the tea-baggers know that the baby cheezus is coming to a fumarole near them. Of COURSE volcanoes aren't caused by weather. They're caused by gays wantin' to git married and baby cheezus is going to do what he always does: punish the gay-adjacent.

:P

[liberal N proud]

2. Maybe the Dinosaurs will come back

Remember all the images of dinosaurs in books, movies and museums used to give the impression that in the time of dinosaurs, there were volcanos as abundant as the trees.


:sarcasm:

[MineralMan]

5. I hear that Jebus rides a dinosaur.

[mzteris]

8. what f'ing idiot

made that "coloring book"? Please please please tell me it's some kind of Onion satire!?!?

No one can really be that f'ing STUPID, can they? :banghead:

[MineralMan]

14. They can. They are. Do a Google search for Jesus Dinosaur.

Lots of folks believe it. The more fools, they.

[PearliePoo2]

No one can really be that f'ing STUPID, can they?

Uh...yeah they can.
Ask End-Times Sarah.
In fact these nut-jobs get down right giddy about any event that could bring on the big "Rap".
Remember her comment that President Obama could boost his popularity by declaring war on Iran?
It's what they want. They believe the "end" starts in the Middle East.
They are fucking nuts.

[guitar man]

20. LOL

Is that from Landover Baptist? :rofl:

[MineralMan]

23. Nope. It's from a Bible Coloring Book. Here's another nice image:

[guitar man]

34. you mean it's not satire?

unbelievable :crazy:

[nadinbrzezinski]

40. Now that one IS cute, stupid, but cute

and I don't mean it at the evolutionary level either.

Oh and notice the volcano in the back

[MineralMan]

45. Jebus loves the little dinos...

All the dinos in the world.

[nadinbrzezinski]

47. Hey I love mine too

the two parrots are about now being cute birds... and they are relatives of dinos

:-)

Yesterday I had a lot of fun with the Creationists at San Diego State... those folks are just plain out funny.

(I also had fun with a few who pray at the temple of Adam Smith, but have no clue what he actually wrote)

[Whisp]

61. hahahaha! thanks. nt

[iris27]

85. Stegs and bronts and rapts and trikes, they are precious in His sight...

:rofl:

[MineralMan]

101. Excellent! I didn't take the time to finish up. Outstanding!

[yella_dawg]

68. Whoa! Jesus was European?

Who knew?

[MineralMan]

104. Sure. Dude had blue eyes and blond hair.

It's in all the paintings.

[Warpy]

12. Well, the Deccan Traps were being formed in India

and the massive size of those eruptions probably killed off most of the dinosaurs.

That comet just finished the stragglers off.

So those pictures weren't all that inaccurate if they portrayed the last million or so years of their time on earth.

[nadinbrzezinski]

38. SHH thy are here, we call them BIRDS

right now I have one of them snoozing and cuddling... cute conure.

And you have no idea how much fun they are with them fundies who go... but we lived at one time with Dinos... we still do. Every time you eat Chicken you are having some T-Rex genes.

[Diclotican]

52. nadinbrzezinski

nadinbrzezinski

*RAAAAAAP* just had some chikcken breast tonight, with some rice on the side... And it was good... But never was thinking about it as a form of T-Rex bones then:P

Diclotican

[nadinbrzezinski]

60. Now evolution is amazing isn't it

How the hell did T-Rex end up a chicken?

By the way a few scientists are now reactivating the genes in birds that go back oh 65 million years. A chicken with a tail... poor critter. Was listening to the story on NPR, they are doing that to repair nerve damage in humans. But it helped to explain why my tailess conure is having all kinds of trouble walking. He needs that tail for balance. (He had a minor oops)

[ChickMagic]

81. Speaking of evolution - I like the kakapo

Its bones have become dense for ground dwelling.
It moved to the ground to avoid airborne predation.
Somewhere in its primitive brain it remembers
flight, and plummets to the ground.

[Diclotican]

89. nadinbrzezinski

nadinbrzezinski

Yes indeed.. But I guess if you had 65-100 million year to adapt to other places than the T-REX it might like that... And we as humans should maybe be REALLY happy that the T-REX and the other dinosaurus was killed out, becouse a little mammal who survived it all, got a chance to start it big.. And one of the results, is humans...

On the other hand Im little unsecure who important it is to wake up 65 million old genes.. Who are still a part of Chicken, and still part of our DNA becouse DNA have a lot of bits and parts from all the other animals who have ever lived.. Not all of them work today, but they are still there becouse at one time it was usefull.. And nature have a tendency to keep what work once...

But gene manipulation can also have a lot to say to repair nerve damage in humans, and that is important I might say. But I have also to say I object to the idea that private companies should "Patent" DNA and genes.. That should be in public domain, and be used for the best of human kind. Not to litter the pockets of greedy companies who I would say have proven many times over, that they hav enot the public interst in mind when they discover new teck... And medicine who can help nerve damage to humans, should be in the public domain.. Just my 2 cents worth I guess..

Oh, yes a tail is really important for most animals who have them.. They can learn how to walk without it, but for the balance it is important.. One cat I once had, damaged his tail for a while, and before tail was healed he had the intersting way of waking twice over the living rom before he reached the other side of the room:P.. He had an encounter with a fox, and he allmoust lost... But he mananged to fight the dam fox and survived... It took a LONG time before he was out of the house then... He was scared poor cat..

Another cat I had the pleasure of knowing was big as a little dog, and fearless with most animals.. Fox, Bagders.. YOu name it he was fearless.. And he even enjoy "playing" with a bagder who lived nearby... Even tho I belive the bagder dosen't was to pleased with the dam cat who often was in "his" territory all the way.. Once he had a fox after him, who belived him to be a nice early breakfast he run into a thick woodlike place. And both the fox and the cat got a crancy old bagder after them.. The cat first, then the fox, and last an angry crancy bagder who was Not to pleased to be disturbed by the others.. Wel the can survived that encounter.. And he lived for many year after I belive.. I belived he was 17-18 year old when he finaly died.. And he was big most of the time, even tho the age was to be shown the last year.. And he was living whith the chicken by the way, When he was younger and smaller he was usaly in the same room as the chicken was, and he often was sleeping where the chicken was laying there eggs.. Many times he even sleepd on top of the eggs.. verry gently by the way, never harmed any egg as I know about:P He was one of a kind cat.. And he never attaced the chicken either, first he was to little to do it, and when he got grown up, he just not wanted to attack them.. Even tho he hated one of the rousters, who usaly wanted to show him who was the boss there - and the poor rouster got the idea who was the boss.. The dam cat was just lying over him, to he got the idea...

Oh, wel you might belive i pull your bone there.. But it is true, The cat was not the smartest of the cats I have known, but he was surly the biggest one, and was friendly to most animals.. Even other male cats.. From time to time they had a "baclor meeting" on a open field, where 4-7 grown up cats who was at the same "age group" could sit and "comunicate" between them. Facinaing to look at, becouse it really looked as they "talked" of some deals to be made.. And it was really seldom "war" between the cats it looks like. But then all the cats have large places to roam so I guess it was easy to have territory big enough for everyone...

Diclotican

[nadinbrzezinski]

93. Well there is no argument from me that a lot of the science

done in private labs should be done in public. Moreover there is some case law moving on right now with genetic patents, and one was thrown out. Which it should.

And that is a funny story, a cat that plays with a Badger... that almost sounds suicidal.

Oh and the conure will grow tail feathers... so he will be fine.

[Diclotican]

108. nadinbrzezinski

nadinbrzezinski

True, I think it would be most important, to have genetic patens in the public domain.. Becouse I doubt that "private" can do it better, and do it safer than in public hands.. I might be an odds with many americans, but I tend to trust the "public" more than I trust the private system.. And geens is something we have common and I doubt that a company should "Own" a little part of me, just becouse it could be used to make a medicine.. And I also think it was right to trow out the case. But that is also a part of the "wounderfull" capitalism.. To try to get most money out of everything.. Its ugly if you ask me, if a private company can deside if you could use your gens or not becoue they "Own" a patent to it...

Wel as I also say, the cat I meant was Not the smartest cat I have ever known, he was rather dumb, and as a kitten he was up in more problem than I can posible think about now.. Like climbing up a tree, or a phone poole and then discover that he was HIGHT up.. And stuck.. I was up there to get a rather scared cat many times, and he bite as cats do when they are scared. But on the ground he got his acts togheter, and was a cat again, friendly too.. But he was on the friendy side of most animals.. Chickens, horses, even a donky:P But Im not sure that the bagder was happy about playing with the cat then - I dosen't se like the bagder excactly enjoyed the time with the cat, even tho im pretty sure the cat had fun... He was faster than the bagder, and could jump faster and longert than the bagder could posible do.. But one time it was a close case for the bagder got up a steam, and he almoust got the cat, then he learned the hard way, that he might have to be little more carefull that animal..

The donky by the way, had the ability to breake out from where he was when out, and got "downtown" for a little trip. And of course he also got to the floreist, where he often eat the most expensive flowers he got his hand on.. Never the in-expensive one, just the best of the best.. And we often got phone home - to say if we missed the donkey who was standing and eating up the more expensive flowers... He was a wierd donkey.. When sleepy he wanted to cudle and he was rather gentle.. And with an attitude that just an donkey can have to life.. It is not just an rumor that a Donkey can be stubborn.. But for the most he was thinking with the stomage, so it was easy to get him in in the evening, just to have the right "treat" for him...

Ah, hope your conure wil be back in "old habits" soon.. Birds is also amazing animals, I have to say I am both intrigued by them, but also little scared about them. Its something with how they look at you.. Thanks we dosen't have LAGRE birds on the loose anymore, but it is as they could think behind their "nice" eyes.. It is little like going back a 100 or 200 million year in the past..

Diclotican

[nadinbrzezinski]

110. You take care and he'll be fine

he's in the middle of the Spring Molt, so in a couple of months he'll be fine. Right now he just looks comical... and he knows it.

[Diclotican]

120. nadinbrzezinski

nadinbrzezinski

Nice to know, that he would be ok in a few months;) And that he know he looks comical.. Mybe he is playing for it little too?

Dilotican

[Diclotican]

109. nadinbrzezinski

nadinbrzezinski

True, I think it would be most important, to have genetic patens in the public domain.. Becouse I doubt that "private" can do it better, and do it safer than in public hands.. I might be an odds with many americans, but I tend to trust the "public" more than I trust the private system.. And geens is something we have common and I doubt that a company should "Own" a little part of me, just becouse it could be used to make a medicine.. And I also think it was right to trow out the case. But that is also a part of the "wounderfull" capitalism.. To try to get most money out of everything.. Its ugly if you ask me, if a private company can deside if you could use your gens or not becoue they "Own" a patent to it...

Wel as I also say, the cat I meant was Not the smartest cat I have ever known, he was rather dumb, and as a kitten he was up in more problem than I can posible think about now.. Like climbing up a tree, or a phone poole and then discover that he was HIGHT up.. And stuck.. I was up there to get a rather scared cat many times, and he bite as cats do when they are scared. But on the ground he got his acts togheter, and was a cat again, friendly too.. But he was on the friendy side of most animals.. Chickens, horses, even a donky:P But Im not sure that the bagder was happy about playing with the cat then - I dosen't se like the bagder excactly enjoyed the time with the cat, even tho im pretty sure the cat had fun... He was faster than the bagder, and could jump faster and longert than the bagder could posible do.. But one time it was a close case for the bagder got up a steam, and he almoust got the cat, then he learned the hard way, that he might have to be little more carefull that animal..

The donky by the way, had the ability to breake out from where he was when out, and got "downtown" for a little trip. And of course he also got to the floreist, where he often eat the most expensive flowers he got his hand on.. Never the in-expensive one, just the best of the best.. And we often got phone home - to say if we missed the donkey who was standing and eating up the more expensive flowers... He was a wierd donkey.. When sleepy he wanted to cudle and he was rather gentle.. And with an attitude that just an donkey can have to life.. It is not just an rumor that a Donkey can be stubborn.. But for the most he was thinking with the stomage, so it was easy to get him in in the evening, just to have the right "treat" for him...

Ah, hope your conure wil be back in "old habits" soon.. Birds is also amazing animals, I have to say I am both intrigued by them, but also little scared about them. Its something with how they look at you.. Thanks we dosen't have LAGRE birds on the loose anymore, but it is as they could think behind their "nice" eyes.. It is little like going back a 100 or 200 million year in the past..

Diclotican

[ChickMagic]

56. I would love for a creationist to tell me

that the California Condor is not related to dinosaurs. All they have to
do is look through their lying eyes!

[nadinbrzezinski]

62. Hell I worked on a chicken coup on over many years ago

Roosters chargin and attacking are like mini velociraptors... And yes, if you are not careful, they can cut too.

Oh and that bird is not what I would call cute, unlike the sun snoozing.



No, not mine, but she knows she is pretty.

[ChickMagic]

66. Oooh! I love sun conures!

I met a lady once (outside no less) who had a sun conure.
It was nesting in her shirt which had the exact coloration
of her bird. The conure loved me - she would fly (as best
as she could given the clipped wings) to me everytime she
peeked out of the shirt.

I loved that bird. I love all birds. :7

[nadinbrzezinski]

67. Nesting inside a shirt

she just got evicted, for being a bitty bird...

They are full of personality.

[ChickMagic]

69. Hee!

They sure are full of personality! We have a yellow nape
living downstairs from us. His people leave him on top of
a California cage on the back porch and I talk to him
every morning.

His people are hispanic and speak Spanish to him. I've
been saying, "Hello" every morning and today, he said
hello back to me. That was so exciting!

We are bird free at the moment for the first time in
over 10 years, but one of these days I'll cave. I just know it.

[nadinbrzezinski]

70. We have a Nanday and a sun

and after Tuky died, a lot of people asked if we were going to replace him. Well he is not replaceable and these two will live long enough for us not to want another bird. Would not be fair to the bird either.

[ChickMagic]

71. I'm so sorry about Tuky

:cry: People don't understand that many birds are
a lifetime commitment. People who don't know birds
don't understand how wonderful and cuddly and
freaking awesome they are.

My poor little Petey, a parakeet, died in my hands.
It took me a long time to get over that. People
were telling me, "It's just a parakeet!" Well, he
was king of the parakeets as far as I was concerned.
He was a rescue, as were all my birds, and all the
rescues were the sweetest, loving things on earth.

Tuky is with Lady Bird, Petey, Albert and Piper
flying high above the rainbow bridge.

[nadinbrzezinski]

72. He was a 23 year old 'tiel

and his "brother" the Nanday misses him... so do we... been six months.

He had a full life...

[ChickMagic]

74. Our Piper was a 'tiel

I rescued her from horrific conditions. I don't know how old
she was when we kidnapped her - she was caught on the roof.
They had her for 4 or 5 years, and we had her for 15. That
was hard to take when she passed. She was our last and given
my health problems, we decided to let attrition take its toll.
The keets were about 10 when they passed, except for Albert who
had cancer.

Since we have cats, it was a challenge. The cats had to be locked
away when we took the birds out to play, but the cats were curious
and wanted to see them up close in their cages. They didn't mind the
21 year old male, but the younger female freaked them out.

I miss them still.

[nadinbrzezinski]

76. Hugs... to my mind they are children

and no they are not my pets, but the other way around...

And sadly only bird people will get that.

[ChickMagic]

78. You've got that right!

:hug: From one bird person to another.

I have "pet" sparrows I feed outside at work.
One little male gets really close to me and yells
at me to feed him. :)

[nadinbrzezinski]

79. The birds know too

:-)

The other day I went to college to do some research, Got some food and sat down to eat.

I was promptly surrounded by beggy birds. Even the grounds keeper were surprised.

[ChickMagic]

82. My hubby says

it's like a Disney movie when I go outside! :7

[Ladyhawk]

91. I don't post here anymore, but I have to say hi!

Conures are wonderful. My Amazon parrot (also a dinosaur) spent the morning preening my shoulder raw. Somehow it actually feels good...weird.

Douglas Adams said, famously, "Kakapos are parrots that have not only have forgotten how to fly; they have also forgotten that they have forgotten how to fly." :) I miss Douglas Adams.

If you can, watch the recent BBC series, Last Chance to See, based on Douglas Adams' book. There is one hilarious scene where a kakapo mounts the biologist's head and humps him. It's hilarious. :)

I'm just here to root for the parrots and other modern-day dinosaurs.

[nadinbrzezinski]

98. I owndered where you were

:hi:

My sun right now is pruning, and playing... she needs a nail trim...

[Ladyhawk]

92. I'd love to base a T. rex drawing on that. T. rex may have had feathers. nt

[Junkdrawer]

3. "Small ocean changes can also influence volcanic eruptions,"

...

Small ocean changes can also influence volcanic eruptions, says David Pyle of the University of Oxford. His study of eruptions over the past 300 years with Ben Mason of the University of Cambridge and colleagues reveals that volcanism varies with the seasons. The team found that there are around 20 per cent more eruptions worldwide during the northern hemisphere's winter than the summer (Journal of Geophysical Research, DOI: 10.1029/2002JB002293). The reason may be that global sea level drops slightly during the northern hemisphere's winter. Because there is more land in the northern hemisphere, more water is locked up as ice and snow on land than during the southern hemisphere's winter.

The vast majority of the world's most active volcanoes are within a few tens of kilometres of the coast (see map). This suggests the seasonal removal of some of the ocean's weight at continental margins as sea level drops could be triggering eruptions around the world, says Pyle.

....

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20327273.800-climate-change-may-trigger-earthquakes-and-volcanoes.html?full=true

[MineralMan]

48. Those coasts are also near the subduction zones between

tectonic plates. Now, THAT'S known to cause vulcanism. More correlation without causation.

[lonestarnot]

90. Maybe the thousand square mile pile of shit recently discovered has something to do with that.

:shrug:

[mikelgb]

4. plot of 2012?

[truebrit71]

63. When coupled with the recent spate of very large earthquake around the globe...

..I am starting to worry a tiny, tiny bit..

The thing that worries me the most though is that I don't own a stretch limo...they are tougher than up-armoured Humvees according to that movie..plus it's only a few hours from Yellowstone to L.A.

[mzteris]

6. while it is true that volcanoes are

"always erupting somewhere"

Vulcanologists and climatolists disagree with you on the whole "causation" and frequency thing.

[MineralMan]

7. Do they? Let's see the links from peer-reviewed journals, then.

New Scientist doesn't count as a peer-reviewed journal.

I'll wait for your response.

[Junkdrawer]

9. Journal of Geophysical Research, DOI: 10.1029/2002JB002293

Good enough?

[MineralMan]

Have you read that article? Do you have link to it?

If you have a link, post it.

Never mind. I found a link to the abstract from 2004. I'll post it, since you didn't bother:

http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2004/2002JB002293.shtml

[Junkdrawer]

18. Thanks for the link. As you can see, there is actual SCIENCE that...

provides a basis to suspect a link between climate and volcanoes/earthquakes. The link has yet to be understood, much less proven, but to dismiss as pseudoscience any speculation is disingenuous.

[TalkingDog]

30. Thank YOU!

I was going to post the links to the info on NASA's site. But you know, sometimes life is too short to waste on "skeptics"

[MineralMan]

31. Speculation is not science.

If there is evidence, then we can talk. What there is is a hypothesis, based on historical records. When there is evidence that can be linked directly, we'll discuss it again. Until then, it's just s speculative hypothesis.

What you may not know is that there are a lot of other vulcanologists and geologists who dispute this hypothesis. There are few that consider it to be even remotely likely.

[Junkdrawer]

35. There is evidence for seasonal variation in volcano activity...

That this is linked to seasonal variations in sea levels is (reasonable) speculation.

Again, what I see here is the BEGINNINGS of a branch of geology. But every branch of science begins this way. More study is needed, but it is NOT pseudoscience.

[MineralMan]

39. Actually, there may be a CORRELATION between the two.

Causation is not proven. Post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy. Folks in the sciences often fall prey to that fallacy.

Is it the beginning of something. Well, perhaps, although the first paper came out in 2004. It doesn't appear that many are stepping on this bandwagon, though. Many speculations lead to research that shows that the speculation is unwarranted. Many hypotheses end up leading nowhere.

At this point, there is no actual evidence for any causation. There is only some correlation. In reality, the vulcanism may cause the climate change. That is known to happen. Data is scarce, really, over most of recorded history regarding worldwide vulcanism. It's going to be a very difficult case to make, and I expect we'll hear little more of it.

[Junkdrawer]

49. Plate tectonics was a ridiculed theory in the early 20th century....

and now is generally accepted as a fact. Theories often stay for long periods of time in the "probably silly, but maybe right" category.

[MineralMan]

51. Phlogiston was a theory once, too.

There have been many theories that have died. Far more than those that survived.

[Junkdrawer]

64. Let me be clear about my "speculation"....

Over a period of, say, 200 years, the number of volcanoes and earthquakes will be constant - climate change or no climate change (assuming that we're not talking about radical climate change events.)

But I think it's not inconceivable that, after GW induced anomalies, that a temporary rise in the frequencies of volcanoes and earthquakes could occur. And I would expect that the rise would be followed by a lowering in the frequencies of such events.

[MineralMan]

103. Correlation does not imply causation.

First rule of science. Learn it. Believe it. Follow it.

[Junkdrawer]

105. So you're saying that I should ignore correlations carefully documented...

in peer reviewed articles and only listen to those who claim a monopoly of the scientific method.

Got it.

[MineralMan]

106. My friend, what you are seeing is a very small group who are

proposing a hypothesis that may, or may not (as I believe) pan out. There's very little support for this hypothesis amongst other geologists who specialize in these things. A couple of speculative papers, which have gotten no support, generally. Yes, you can cite them, but that has nothing to do with the validity of the hypothesis.

As you'll see, this hypothesis will just disappear, along with many others, as wiser heads demonstrate that it is invalid and unworthy of pursuit.

Mark my words.

[Junkdrawer]

107. ...or not...

http://www.abuhrc.org/newsmedia/Pages/event_view.aspx?event=5

[nadinbrzezinski]

116. Plate tectonics was developed by a guy who was not even

a geophysicists and people made fun of it. This seems to be picking up steam... no pun

thanks for the link.

Personally I think we've got to keep an eye on this.

[mzteris]

41. all proven scientific theories

were once an hypothesis.

Research is required to prove or disprove completely. But you don't reject the hypothesis because you "don't agree with it" if there is some scientific validity in it. And according to some scientists (from different areas of study) there MAY well be a correlation.

I dunno - I'm none of the above. But some of what's being said makes sense to me. . .

[MineralMan]

43. Correlation does not imply causation.

It's the very first thing every scientist learns, usually through making a mistake.

We do know that massive vulcanism can dramatically affect climate. That's clear, and there's ample evidence for it. That the reverse might happen is far from clear. In fact, it seems highly unlikely. I suspect this all to be based on a common fallacy.

[mzteris]

111. why do you "suspect"

it's a "common fallacy"?

what are your scientific credentials to dismiss out-of-hand the hypothesis of volcanologists and climatologists who make this their life's work?

Think for a moment about free water instead of ice - what about frozen crust versus saturated crust. Which is more susceptible to movement? Again - I am no scientist and don't know that much about the "science" of it all. I'd appreciate your informed opinion as to why you think it's highly improbable that higher temps resulting in more water and less ice and less PSI groundcover wouldn't m ake some kind of difference?

I may be making a complete fool of myself here, but it really doesn't matter to me. I like knowledge and am not afraid to admit I know little and may be wrong.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

84. You know what else started out as hypotheses?

Every goofy debunked pseudoscientific theory and other assorted claptrap.

[MineralMan]

95. Yup. And there are many, many of them. We just don't know about

most of them, since they were debunked by other scientists. The scientific method works very, very well to rid itself of silliness.

[mzteris]

112. yeah, but are pseudo scientists usually

respected in their fields the world over and heads of departments at legit schools??

[Renew Deal]

27. NERD FIGHT!

:rofl:

[Junkdrawer]

88. I showed this thread to my wife and son...

your comment got peals of laughter....

[protocol rv]

15. We don't know what we don't know

Maybe we just don't know what we don't know.

My guess: there's a lot I don't know. Just guessing, maybe a magma chamber builds pressure sufficient to overcome the plugging effect of solidified magma (ie the cork in the bottle), if the stress field around the magma chamber drops, which in turn causes a pressure transient in the magma - the pressure drops slightly. This slight pressure drops allows gases to escape out of solution, which makes the magma lighter, and in turn this allows the pressure in the lower portions of the chamber to be communicated to the higher regions because the pressure gradient drops. As the pressure from the lower region is transmitted to the top, then the gases of course tend to re-dissolve, but the transient is transmitted much faster than the re-desolution can take place, thus creating a sharp pressure peak where the rubber meets the road - at the molasses-solid interface. This in turn blows the cork and voila, the eruption takes place. Thus I can conclude that indeed high/low tides and sea level can influence eruption frequency.

I'd like to take full credit for my musings, therefore if any of you goes ahead and publishes on this subject, please link back to DU and provide the proper citation. Also, if you are interested in the difference between the transmission speed of a pressure transient in high viscosity rock versus the speed at which gas dissolves or evolves from rocks, please ask. Thank you.

[protocol rv]

17. We don't know what we don't know

Maybe we just don't know what we don't know.

My guess: there's a lot I don't know. Just guessing, maybe a magma chamber builds pressure sufficient to overcome the plugging effect of solidified magma (ie the cork in the bottle), if the stress field around the magma chamber drops, which in turn causes a pressure transient in the magma - the pressure drops slightly. This slight pressure drops allows gases to escape out of solution, which makes the magma lighter, and in turn this allows the pressure in the lower portions of the chamber to be communicated to the higher regions because the pressure gradient drops. As the pressure from the lower region is transmitted to the top, then the gases of course tend to re-dissolve, but the transient is transmitted much faster than the re-desolution can take place, thus creating a sharp pressure peak where the rubber meets the road - at the molasses-solid interface. This in turn blows the cork and voila, the eruption takes place. Thus I can conclude that indeed high/low tides and sea level can influence eruption frequency.

I'd like to take full credit for my musings, therefore if any of you goes ahead and publishes on this subject, please link back to DU and provide the proper citation. Also, if you are interested in the difference between the transmission speed of a pressure transient in high viscosity rock versus the speed at which gas dissolves or evolves from rocks, please ask. Thank you.

[mzteris]

10. ok - just a couple

"In Icelandic volcanoes, the ice provides a protective cap that, when removed, makes the magma below the surface decompress much faster than is already occurring through normal geological movement. . . "As thick ice is getting thinner, there may be an increase in the explosivity of eruptions," says Hugh Tuffen from Lancaster University, UK http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090917/full/news.2009.926.html) .

"Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis and landslides are some of the additional catastrophes that climate change and its rising sea levels and melting glaciers could bring, a geologist says. Bill McGuire of the University College London's Hazard Research Center." http://www.livescience.com/environment/070830_gw_quakes.html


check out "glacier-volcano interaction", too.

[MineralMan]

11. Neither are peer-reviewed journals. Here's what another person said

in the second article:

"McGuire's speculations of increased geological activity have not yet been published in a journal, but he has written an article about them published in the Guardian Unlimited."

These are speculations and hypotheses. There is no widely-recognized supporting data.

The article is not written by a scientist, but by a science writer. These two articles are evidence of nothing except the speculations of a couple of people.

[mzteris]

37. jeesh...

Bill McGuire is Professor of Geophysical Hazards at University College London and Director of the university's Benfield UCL Hazard Research Centre – Europe's largest, multidisciplinary academic hazard research centre. A volcanologist by inclination and training, he has worked on volcanoes all over the world, and published over three hundred papers, books and articles on volcanoes and other natural hazards. Bill has held the positions of UK National Correspondent of the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior, and Secretary of the UK Panel of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics. He has been a council member of the Geological Society and in 1996 was Senior Scientist at the Montserrat Volcano Observatory. He is a Fellow of the Royal Institution (RI) and a member of the RI’s Science Media Panel. He is currently on the editorial boards of two journals: Disasters and Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. Bill was also a member of the Natural Hazard Working Group established by the UK Government in January 2005, in the wake of the Indian Ocean tsunami, to examine the feasibility of global natural hazard early warning systems. In November 2005, he gave the prestigious Natural History Museum Annual Science Lecture. He is currently a member of the Lancet-UCL Commission on the Health Effects of Climate Change and an advisor on natural threats and climate change to HSBC Group.

Bill's recent work has focused on the instability and collapse of volcanoes, volcanic risk and insurance, the potential impact of global geophysical events – about which he has briefed the All-parliamentary Group on the Earth Sciences - and the geological hazard implications of climate change. His most recent academic texts are: Natural Hazards and Environmental Change and World Atlas of Natural Hazards. At UCL, Bill is director of the unique postgraduate certificate course, Natural Hazards for Insurers and instigator and deputy course director of the Masters programme in Geophysical Hazards.


Hugh Tuffen:
Positions held
July 2007-June 2010
NERC Research Fellow, Lancaster University, UK.
Project title: What controls the explosivity of volcanic eruptions?

November 2004-
Leverhulme Research Fellow, Lancaster University, UK.
Project title: Magma flow and fracture in nature and the lab
May 2003-August 2004
Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellow, University of Munich, Germany.
Project title: Conduit degassing and explosive magma-water interaction

November 2002-April 2003
Visiting scientist, University of Munich, Germany.

August 2002-October 2002
Visiting scientist, University of Iceland.



Education
1998-2002 Open University-Lancaster University, UK.
Ph.D. Subglacial rhyolite volcanism at Torfajökull, Iceland.

1997-1998 Université Blaise Pascal, Clermont-Ferrand, France.
DEA (Masters equivalent) in Volcanology, Magmatic and Metamorphic studies.
Project title: The origin of crystals in the Minoan magma chamber, Santorini, Greece. Mention: Bien (1st class).

1993-1997 Queens' College, Cambridge University, UK
High 2:1 B.A. Honours Degree in Geology.
Dissertation title: Magma-water interaction in the Borrowdale Volcanic Group, English Lake District.

* Reviewer of manuscripts for Earth Science Reviews, Geology, Geophysical Research Letters, Bulletin of Volcanology, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research and Journal of the Geological Society of London.
* Member of American Geophysical Union, International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior, Fellow of Geological Society of London
* Teaching: given lectures on climate change, demonstrator for undergraduate classes in volcanology, seismology, mineralogy, hydrology and computing at Lancaster University and Open University, 1999-2002. Course on infra-red spectroscopy and thermo-gravimetric analysis, University of Munich, 2003, 2004
* Presented numerous lectures and led fieldtrips for amateur geological groups, including the Yorkshire Geological Society and Cumberland Geological Society.














********

Science 13 May 1994:
Vol. 264. no. 5161, pp. 948 - 952
DOI: 10.1126/science.264.5161.948

Prev | Table of Contents | Next
Articles

Record of Volcanism Since 7000 B.C. from the GISP2 Greenland Ice Core and Implications for the Volcano-Climate System
G. A. Zielinski 1, P. A. Mayewski 1, L. D. Meeker 1, S. Whitlow 1, M. S. Twickler 1, M. Morrison 1, D. A. Meese 2, A. J. Gow 2, and R. B. Alley 3

1 Glacier Research Group, Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824, USA.
2 Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, Hanover, NH 03755, USA.
3 Earth Systems Science Center and Department of Geosciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.

Sulfate concentrations from continuous biyearly sampling of the GISP2 Greenland ice core provide a record of potential climate-forcing volcanism since 7000 B.C. Although 85 percent of the events recorded over the last 2000 years were matched to documented volcanic eruptions, only about 30 percent of the events from 1 to 7000 B.C. were matched to such events. Several historic eruptions may have been greater sulfur producers than previously thought. There are three times as many events from 5000 to 7000 B.C. as over the last two millennia with sulfate deposition equal to or up to five times that of the largest known historical eruptions. This increased volcanism in the early Holocene may have contributed to climatic cooling.
Submitted on December 20, 1993
Accepted on March 15, 1994

****

[mzteris]

13. Richard V. Fisher

was a renowned volcanologist and professor of geology at UC Santa Barbara for 47 years

[MineralMan]

16. Link to a journal article by him, please...

[mzteris]

44. sometimes credentials

speak for themselves.

Not being a "scientist" I have little access to these journals other than abstracts - and at this moment, I have little time to devote to sifting through thousands of references to find something you'll find acceptable.

Do you have a list of "acceptable journals" to which I can limit my search (if I find the time over the weekend)?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

83. In my best high pitched sarcastic Irish accent: "Oh, is it now?!"

While Richard V. Fisher certainly appears to have been a respected vulcanologist (or at least he was before he died some 8 years ago), it doesn't look like he actually published anything on global warming and vulcanism. Or, as far as I can tell, ever made such a hypothesis outside of peer-review.

[MineralMan]

96. That's why no actual writings of his were posted. He didn't

say anything about this. I'm still not sure why the name was brought up in the first place.

[mzteris]

115. you made the "New Scientist" comment

in re: (I supposed) to the prior post someone else made from the newscientist:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20327273.800-climate-change-may-trigger-earthquakes-and-volcanoes.html?full=true

Climate change may trigger earthquakes and volcanoes

* 23 September 2009 by Richard Fisher
* Magazine issue 2727

FAR from being the benign figure of mythology, Mother Earth is short-tempered and volatile. So sensitive in fact, that even slight changes in weather and climate can rip the planet's crust apart, unleashing the furious might of volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and landslides.

That's the conclusion of the researchers who got together last week in London at the conference on Climate Forcing of Geological and Geomorphological Hazards. It suggests climate change could tip the planet's delicate balance and unleash a host of geological disasters. What's more, even our attempts to stall global warming could trigger a catastrophic event (see "Bury the carbon").

Evidence of a link between climate and the rumblings of the crust has been around for years, but only now is it becoming clear just how sensitive rock can be to the air, ice and water above. "You don't need huge changes to trigger responses from the ...


that was Richard Fisher. I supposed you were dismissing the magazine, but I wanted to make sure you knew who Richard Fisher was. . .

[mzteris]

114. there's no pleasing you guys -

one wants "only peer review" the other disdains "peer review" - make up your minds!

[hedgehog]

19. On the other hand - I'm curious as to whether the ash and gases

in the atmosphere is likely to cause a certain amount of cooling....

On April 10th 1815, Mount Tambora in Indonesia erupted and killed 10,000 people from the explosion and another 82,000 people from related causes such as starvation and disease. To date, Tambora is the world’s worst volcano disaster in recorded history. The mountain, which stood at 13,000 feet tall, was reduced by 4,000 feet and spewed 93 cubic miles of ash into the atmosphere.
Why There was no Summer in 1816

Because the explosion of Mount Tambora was very intense, the ash cloud reached the earth’s stratosphere which enabled it to be carried to other parts of the world. Because it takes time for the ash to circulate, it didn’t drastically affect weather patterns in distant places, such as the Northern Hemisphere, until 1816. The dust in the atmosphere caused less sunlight to pass through, thus causing unseasonably cold temperatures.

Read more at Suite101: The Year Without a Summer 1816: Caused by the 1815 Eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia http://volcanoes.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_year_without_a_summer_1816#ixzz0lI7iRVUU

[MineralMan]

22. Indeed. Volcanic activity can certainly affect the weather.

No question about that.

[MineralMan]

21. It occurs to me, at this point, that perhaps the Volcano God is

unhappy with the lack of virgin sacrifices. Perhaps we should restart that program to calm things down. Such sacrifices were practiced for a very long time, but have stopped in recent years.

It is my theory that the lack of virgins has cause the Volcano God to become angry at humans, so it is releasing the current eruptions.

SACRIFICE THE VIRGINS NOW! SAVE THE WORLD!

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

24. K&R. For the masses and forces involved in tectonic shift, climate is nothing.

It's like wondering whether you can take down the Empire State building by having enough people blowing on it from the sidewalk.

[MineralMan]

25. There ya go! Let's get a bunch of Freepers and try that one.

Whaddya say?

[Junkdrawer]

26. This peer-reviewed article begs to differ...

http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2004/2002JB002293.shtml

While the tectonic forces are large, they are in a precarious balance and second order forces may be enough to trigger events.

[hedgehog]

28. I'm not saying it's true, but I think it's possible. After all, how many

people claim that we couldn't possibly be warming the earth because we weren't producing that much heat? They neglected the secondary effects of gases in the upper atmosphere. I can also offer the example of the occasional earthquakes here in Upstate New York that occur as the bedrock continues to rebound from the weight the Ice Age glacial sheet.

[HughMoran]

29. Damn those Vulcans!

Live short and poor.

[Raschel]

32. "there is always vulcanism going on...."

[MineralMan]

36. Indeed. The Vulcan Krewe Rules!

[Dreamer Tatum]

33. Plus one, because I just farted. nt

[DCBob]

42. This sounds like the same argument the GW deniers use...

The planet has warmed before so dont worry about it.

[MineralMan]

46. Not at all. Global climate change is real.

The cause is complex.

[DCBob]

50. I am skeptical of the connection between volcanism and GW but..

I try to keep an open mind.. nature is indeed complex and sometimes little changes can have big and far reaching effects.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

53. People burning fossil fuels.

There. That's the reason.

Not that complex.

[MineralMan]

54. OK. That makes sense.

Thanks.

[ChickMagic]

55. I hope this doesn't bode ill for the Yellowstone supervolcano

That would suck big mighty. :scared:

[MineralMan]

57. Who knows when that might blow again?

We're not very good with predicting such things. The only thing that's certain is that it's still an active area.

I remember Mt. St. Helens so very well, some time back. I believe that was long before climate change theories started up. Mt. Lassen, too, way back in the early 19th century. There are so many volcanic eruptions in history and new ones every year. It's the nature of the planet, it seems.

The huge ones, like Krakatoa and others, are pretty infrequent but, boy, do they affect the world mightily. We're likely to experience one such during any lifetime, somewhere in the world.

Who remembers the new volcanic island off Iceland that suddenly appeared a few decades ago? I do. It was pretty amazing. Iceland is very active in a volcanic sense. Always has been. It should be no surprise to see vulcanism in that area. It's been going on for millions of years.

[ChickMagic]

65. The violence of Mt. Saint Helens was kind of a surprise

if I remember correctly. That was amazing. This Icelandic volcano
may have an even bigger eruption, or a volcano near it may erupt
according to folks who study these things.

One thing about the Yellowstone caldera - it's going to go boom
at some point. Seismologists say it's due. I hope that's not
the one we experience in our lifetimes.

[MineralMan]

94. Actually, Mt. St. Helens wasn't really a surprise.

There was a lot of warning. Most people listened and bailed out of the area. A few stayed...and died for their trouble.

The vulcanologists who were studying the volcano before it erupted gave several days warning, and it erupted right on schedule. The science has gotten pretty good, and volcano monitoring has prevented much loss of life.

[MineralMan]

58. Information on historical vulcanism near and on Iceland:

"Iceland has a high concentration of active volcanoes due to unique geological conditions. The island has about 130 volcanic mountains, of which 18 have erupted since the settlement of Iceland. Over the past 500 years, Iceland's volcanoes have erupted a third of the total global lava output.<1> Although the Laki eruption in 1783 had the largest eruption of lava in the last 500 years, the Eldgjá eruption of 934 AD and other Holocene eruptions were even larger.

Geologists explain this high concentration of volcanic activity as being due to a combination of the island's position on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and a volcanic hotspot underneath the island. The island sits astride the boundary between the Eurasian and North American Plates, and most volcanic activity is concentrated along the plate boundary, which runs across the island from the south-west to the north-east of the island. Some volcanic activity occurs offshore, especially off the southern coast. This includes wholly submerged submarine volcanoes and even newly formed volcanic islands such as Surtsey and Jólnir.

The most recent volcanic eruption in Iceland was that of Eyjafjallajökull, which started on April 14, 2010. The Eyjafjallajökull eruption closely followed an eruption in Fimmvörðuháls, which had erupted on March 20, temporarily quiesced by April 12, and then erupted with a large ash plume (due to magma coming out under ice) on April 15th."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcanism_of_Iceland

This volcanic eruption shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone, nor is there any need to look for current causes.

[mzteris]

121. Icelander vulcanologists . . .

REUTERS: A thaw of Iceland's ice caps in coming decades caused by climate change may trigger more volcanic eruptions by removing a vast weight and freeing magma from deep below ground, scientists said on Friday.

"Our work suggests that eventually there will be either somewhat larger eruptions or more frequent eruptions in Iceland in coming decades," said Freysteinn Sigmundsson, a vulcanologist at the University of Iceland.

"Global warming melts ice and this can influence magmatic systems," he told Reuters. The end of the Ice Age 10,000 years ago coincided with a surge in volcanic activity in Iceland, apparently because huge ice caps thinned and the land rose.

"We believe the reduction of ice has not been important in triggering this latest eruption," he said of Eyjafjallajokull. "The eruption is happening under a relatively small ice cap."

Carolina Pagli, a geophysicist at the University of Leeds in England, said there were risks that climate change could also trigger volcanic eruptions or earthquakes in places such as Mount Erebus in Antarctica, the Aleutian islands of Alaska or Patagonia in South America.

MAGMA

"The effects would be biggest with ice-capped volcanoes," she said. "If you remove a load that is big enough you will also have an effect at depths on magma production."

She and Sigmundsson wrote a 2008 paper in the scientific journal Geophysical Research Letters about possible links between global warming and Icelandic volcanoes.

That report said that about 10 percent of Iceland's biggest ice cap, Vatnajokull, has melted since 1890 and the land nearby was rising about 25 millimetres (0.98 inch) a year, bringing shifts in geological stresses.

********
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 35, L09304, 5 PP., 2008 doi:10.1029/2008GL033510

Will present day glacier retreat increase volcanic activity? Stress induced by recent glacier retreat and its effect on magmatism at the Vatnajökull ice cap, Iceland

Carolina Pagli: Faculty of Sciences, Technology and Communication, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg

Freysteinn Sigmundsson: Nordic Volcanological Center, Institute of Earth Sciences, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland

Global warming causes retreat of ice caps and ice sheets. Can melting glaciers trigger increased volcanic activity? Since 1890 the largest ice cap of Iceland, Vatnajökull, with an area of ∼8000 km2, has been continuously retreating losing about 10% of its mass during last century. Present-day uplift around the ice cap is as high as 25 mm/yr. We evaluate interactions between ongoing glacio-isostasy and current changes to mantle melting and crustal stresses at volcanoes underneath Vatnajökull. The modeling indicates that a substantial volume of new magma, ∼0.014 km3/yr, is produced under Vatnajökull in response to current ice thinning. Ice retreat also induces significant stress changes in the elastic crust that may contribute to high seismicity, unusual focal mechanisms, and unusual magma movements in NW-Vatnajökull.

******

JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 112, B08405, 12 PP., 2007 doi:10.1029/2006JB004421

Glacio-isostatic deformation around the Vatnajökull ice cap, Iceland, induced by recent climate warming: GPS observations and finite element modeling

Carolina Pagli: Nordic Volcanological Center, Institute of Earth Sciences, University of Iceland, Reykjavík, Iceland

Freysteinn Sigmundsson: Nordic Volcanological Center, Institute of Earth Sciences, University of Iceland, Reykjavík, Iceland

Björn Lund: Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

Erik Sturkell: Nordic Volcanological Center, Institute of Earth Sciences, University of Iceland, Reykjavík, Iceland

Halldór Geirsson: Icelandic Meteorological Office, Reykjavik, Iceland

Páll Einarsson: Institute of Earth Sciences, University of Iceland, Reykjavík, Iceland

Thóra Árnadóttir: Nordic Volcanological Center, Institute of Earth Sciences, University of Iceland, Reykjavík, Iceland

Sigrún Hreinsdóttir: Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA

Glaciers in Iceland began retreating around 1890, and since then the Vatnajökull ice cap has lost over 400 km3 of ice. The associated unloading of the crust induces a glacio-isostatic response. From 1996 to 2004 a GPS network was measured around the southern edge of Vatnajökull. These measurements, together with more extended time series at several other GPS sites, indicate vertical velocities around the ice cap ranging from 9 to 25 mm/yr, and horizontal velocities in the range 3 to 4 mm/yr. The vertical velocities have been modeled using the finite element method (FEM) in order to constrain the viscosity structure beneath Vatnajökull. We use an axisymmetric Earth model with an elastic plate over a uniform viscoelastic half-space. The observations are consistent with predictions based on an Earth model made up of an elastic plate with a thickness of 10–20 km and an underlying viscosity in the range 4–10 × 1018 Pa s. Knowledge of the Earth structure allows us to predict uplift around Vatnajökull in the next decades. According to our estimates of the rheological parameters, and assuming that ice thinning will continue at a similar rate during this century (about 4 km3/year), a minimum uplift of 2.5 meters between 2000 to 2100 is expected near the current ice cap edge. If the thinning rates were to double in response to global warming (about 8 km3/year), then the minimum uplift between 2000 to 2100 near the current ice cap edge is expected to be 3.7 meters.

[Lucian]

59. That is the most logical post I've read all day.

:thumbsup:

[CreekDog]

73. What if all those eruptions cause the earth to deflate?

:shrug:

[Naturalist111]

75. If the center of the earth is molten lava and the earth is

heating up, then there definitely is a link to volcano activity and global warming. There is something else going on at the center than just molten lava. There could be a nuclear reation at the core, no one knows. I don't know about you but it is hard to BBQ in the winter time with my Weber. It is much easier in the summer. It only stands to reason that there would be more volcanic ativity during periods of warmer global atmospheric temperature than during the ice age.

[MineralMan]

97. Ahh...the scientific method at work, I see...

:rofl:

[Naturalist111]

117. as good as it gets!

:-) I'm right and the scientists are still trying to prove me so :-P

[Rex]

77. Global warming could have some effect on the ocean plates

causing this volcano to erupt, comparing that to the rapture is silly. Please stop.

[MineralMan]

100. Actually, it could not have. It's just as likely that Jebus did

it to announce his return. Is Geology one of your specialties? Somehow, I doubt it, given your statement.

[protocol rv]

113. Let me think about this for a second

Global warming COULD have some effect on the ocean plates. For example, if the sun were to become a red giant, it will surely warm the earth quite a bit, which we could theoretically call a global warming event - I don't think there's any doubt about things getting warmer around here if this were to happen. So, if the whole planet starts to melt, of course this will have some effect on the ocean plates. I can even envision, after the oceans evaporate, the plates will begin to move a lot faster as the rock softens and loses viscosity. Eventually they would melt completely, and then disappear as the earth is vaporized. There you are.

[JuniperLea]

80. You are correct, Sir!

Volcanoes can affect the weather, but the weather cannot affect volcanoes.

Maybe this action will cool us down a bit.

Kinda off topic... I have this cool old chalk/pastel picture that belonged to my great grandparents... I think it's a Krakatoa picture... I've read of such things but have never actually seen one... I don't think, anyway.

[flvegan]

86. The eruption in Iceland was the fault of Top Gear.

James May is quite diabolic.

[amborin]

87. and the Colima, Mexico volcano is active on and off....so, too, others in

central america...fuego, etc.....

[MineralMan]

99. Yup. And the largest volcanic eruptions in memory had absolutely

nothing to do with any sort of climate issues. All one has to do is look back in history.

Popocatepetl, in Mexico, has a long, long history of eruptions, just outside of Mexico City.

[Swamp Rat]

102. THE MAYANS WERE WRONG!!!

and the angry Moon people are about to invade the Earth because we broke their home.

[Naturalist111]

118. I'm lazy but I guess it had to be done

Researchers here have discovered the pivotal role that volcanoes played in a deadly ice age 450 million years ago.

Perhaps ironically, these volcanoes first caused global warming -- by releasing massive amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. When they stopped erupting, Earth’s climate was thrown off balance, and the ice age began.

http://www.astrobio.net/pressrelease/3293/volcanoes-set-the-stage-for-an-ice-age

[Quantess]

119. Interesting thread.