Melting Glaciers Could Reawaken Hundreds of Earth's Volcanoes
According to recent models predicting changes in the magma beneath Patagonia's glaciers, the retreat of ice has the power to shake subglacial volcanoes out of their slumber.
The world isn't at imminent risk of volcanic bombardment, but the findings suggest that today's rapid melting of glaciers could raise the risk of eruptions in the future.
This will likely occur over hundreds, if not thousands, of years, but it's always good to be prepared, especially for places like Antarctica, where more than 100 hidden volcanoes are currently trapped under ice.
Related:
The study is based on the deep history of the Patagonian Ice Sheet, which once used to cover the southern tip of South America. More than 18,000 years ago, when the ice sheet was at its heaviest, magma pooled and crystallized some 10 to 15 kilometers (6 to 9 miles) beneath the surface.
As the climate warmed and glaciers melted, however, the pressure was off. Scientists think Earth's crust bounced upward without the weight of ice pressing down on it, and the gases in underground magma were allowed to expand – a key factor for volcanic eruptions.
Researchers analyzed samples from six volcanoes in Chile to learn more about their eruptive past. One of them, the Mocho-Choshuenco volcano, is now dormant, but according to recent data, its eruptive activity in the past was impacted by the advance and retreat of Patagonia's ice.
It took roughly 3,000 to 5,000 years before the region's ice 'unloading' led to explosive eruptions, so we probably have plenty of time to prepare.
As modern Patagonia loses more of its ice, however, parts of the land are rebounding at unexpectedly rapid rates, and that is worrying some scientists.
"Glaciers tend to suppress the volume of eruptions from the volcanoes beneath them," explains volcanologist Pablo Moreno-Yaeger from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who presented the research at the Goldschmidt Conference.
"But as glaciers retreat due to climate change, our findings suggest these volcanoes go on to erupt more frequently and more explosively."
Scientists studying volcanoes and glaciers in Iceland have noticed a similar phenomenon, but this is one of the first studies to show the same forces at play on a continental scale.
"Our study suggests this phenomenon isn't limited to Iceland, where increased volcanicity has been observed, but could also occur in Antarctica," says Moreno-Yaeger.
"Other continental regions, like parts of North America, New Zealand, and Russia, also now warrant closer scientific attention."
In Antarctica, for instance, scientists have conducted simulations that show if too much ice melts, it could increase future eruptions.
Even if the magma doesn't break through the ice sheet completely, it could melt the structure from within.
"Over time the cumulative effect of multiple eruptions can contribute to long-term global warming because of a buildup of greenhouse gases," explains Moreno-Yaeger.
"This creates a positive feedback loop, where melting glaciers trigger eruptions, and the eruptions in turn could contribute to further warming and melting."
That's the sort of catastrophic future scientists want to see coming from a long way off. Otherwise, there may be no way to stop it.
The findings were presented at the 2025 Goldschmidt Conference in Prague.
Blue Sharks May Be Secret Chameleons, Scientists Discover
Scientists Just Debunked 'Earth's Oldest Impact Crater'
'Chimpfluencers' Are Sticking Grass in Their Ears And Butts in Latest Viral Trend
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Scientists Identify a Trait in Speech That Foreshadows Cognitive Decline
Early signs of Alzheimer's disease may be hidden in the way a person speaks, but it's not yet clear which details of our diction are most critical for diagnosis. A study from 2023 suggests that as we age, how we say something may matter more than what we say. Researchers at the University of Toronto think the pace of everyday speech may be a better indicator of cognitive decline than difficulty finding a word. Lethologica, also known as 'tip of the tongue' phenomenon, is experienced by young and old alike. But as we grow older, finding the name for things can become more challenging, especially over the age of 60. To explore why that is, researchers at the University of Toronto asked 125 healthy adults, between the ages of 18 and 90, to describe a scene in detail. Related: Next, the participants were shown pictures of everyday objects while listening to audio that was designed to confirm or confuse them. For instance, if participants were shown a picture of a broom, the audio might say 'groom', which helps them recall the word through rhyme. But on the flip side, the audio might also offer a related word like 'mop', which can lead the brain astray, momentarily. The faster a person's natural speech in the first task, the more quickly they came up with answers in the second task. The findings align with the 'processing speed theory', which argues that a general slowdown in cognitive processing lies at the very center of cognitive decline, not a slowdown in memory centers specifically. "It is clear that older adults are significantly slower than younger adults in completing various cognitive tasks, including word-production tasks such as picture naming, answering questions, or reading written words," explained a team led by University of Toronto psychologist Hsi T. Wei. "In natural speech, older adults also tend to produce more dysfluencies such as unfilled and filled pauses (e.g., "uh" and "um") in between speech and have a generally slower speech rate." In a 2024 piece for The Conversation, dementia researcher Claire Lancaster said that the study from Toronto "has opened exciting doors… showing that it's not just what we say but how fast we say it that can reveal cognitive changes." Recently, some AI algorithms have even been able to predict an Alzheimer's diagnosis with an accuracy of 78.5 percent using speech patterns alone. Other studies have found that patients with more signs of amyloid plaque in their brain are 1.2 times more likely to show speech-related problems. Amyloid plaques are a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. In 2024, researchers at Stanford University led a study that found longer pauses and slower speech rates were also associated with higher levels of tangled tau proteins, another hallmark of Alzheimer's. Related: "This suggests that speech changes reflect development of Alzheimer's disease pathology even in the absence of overt cognitive impairment," the authors of the study concluded. The groundwork is still being laid, but scientists are getting closer to decoding the nuances of human speech to figure out what our words are saying about our brains. The 2023 study was published in Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition. Massive 16-Year Study Links Wellbeing to Stronger Memory in Aging Your Brain's Youthfulness (or Lack of It) Could Predict How Long You Live This Foot Scan Could Stop Your Small Cut From Costing You a Limb
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Big City Lights Could Be Damaging Your Heart Health
It might be time to invest in some blackout curtains, turn off the TV before bed, and dim those lamps. New research suggests that exposure to light at night could elevate your risk of multiple heart issues. The association makes biological sense. Our bodies use light signals to tell when it's time to sleep, and any disruption to that routine can interfere with our circadian rhythms, which regulate countless internal processes. "Light at night causes circadian disruption, which is a known risk factor for adverse cardiovascular outcomes," writes the international team of scientists in a new study, which is yet to be peer-reviewed or published. "However, it is not well understood whether personal light exposure patterns predict an individual's risk of cardiovascular diseases." Related: To investigate, the researchers analyzed data from 88,905 adults who wore wrist sensors to track light exposure over the course of a week, with follow-up health checks for the next 9.5 years. The volunteers were grouped based on how much light they were exposed to overnight. Compared to the bottom half of the participants, the 10 percent exposed to the most light at night had a significantly higher risk of heart issues, including coronary artery disease, heart attack, heart failure, atrial fibrillation, and stroke. The researchers accounted for factors that impact heart health, including smoking, alcohol consumption, diet, sleep duration, physical activity, socioeconomic status, and genetic risk, to try and better isolate the effect of light exposure at night. The data from this type of study doesn't prove direct cause and effect – only that there's a strong association. It's enough to suggest light at night as a risk factor for heart health problems and that minimizing it could be a simple and effective way of reducing risk. "Relationships of night light with risk of heart failure and coronary artery disease were stronger for women, and relationships of night light with risk of heart failure and atrial fibrillation were stronger for younger individuals in this cohort," write the researchers. The researchers point to the many functions of our bodies that rely on regular, well-defined circadian rhythms – everything from blood pressure to glucose tolerance. Disrupting those rhythms, with night shifts for example, can impact our health. One of the mechanisms at play could be hypercoagulability – an increased tendency for blood to clot, which has previously been linked to disruptions in circadian rhythms. However, there are likely to be numerous reasons for these associations. The researchers hope to see future studies collecting nighttime light data over a longer period of time, and with extra information about the sources of light, which should help improve our understanding of this relationship. Most of us will now have at least one glowing screen inside our bedrooms, and this gives us another reason to turn those screens off: a survey suggests more than half of the US population actually falls asleep with the TV on. "Avoiding light at night may be a useful strategy for reducing risks of cardiovascular diseases," write the researchers. The research has yet to be published in a peer-reviewed journal, but a preprint is available on MedRxiv. Ice Bath Trend Raises Health Concerns. Here Are 6 Tips For Staying Safe. Scientists Identify a Trait in Speech That Foreshadows Cognitive Decline Massive 16-Year Study Links Wellbeing to Stronger Memory in Aging
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
What will the Earth be like in 500 years?
Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you'd like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@ What will the Earth be like in 500 years? — Lotte, Brookline, Massachusetts Scientists can make some pretty accurate forecasts about the future. But predicting what the Earth will be like 500 years from now is a difficult task because there are many factors at play. Imagine Christopher Columbus in 1492 trying to predict the Americas of today! We do know that two main types of processes change our planet: One involves natural cycles, like the way the planet rotates and moves around the Sun, and the other is caused by life forms, especially humans. The Earth is constantly changing. It wobbles, the angle of its tilt changes and even its orbit changes to bring the Earth closer to or farther from the Sun. These changes happen over tens of thousands of years, and they have been responsible for ice ages. Five hundred years isn't very long in terms of geology. The second big influence on the planet is living things. The effects of life on the planet are harder to predict. Disrupting one part of an ecosystem can knock a lot of other things off kilter. Humans in particular are changing the Earth in many ways. They cut down forests and break up important wildlife habitats to build cities and grow crops. They move invasive species around the planet, disrupting ecosystems. They also contribute to global warming. People are causing the climate to change, mostly by burning fossil fuels that release more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than the planet and atmosphere can handle. Normally, greenhouse gases trap heat from the Sun the way the glass of a greenhouse does, keeping Earth warmer than it would be otherwise. That can be useful – until we get too much. The result of too much carbon dioxide is that temperatures rise, and that can lead to dangerously hot summer days and melting ice in Greenland and Antarctica. Melting ice sheets raise the oceans, causing coastal areas to flood. That's what Earth is facing right now. These changes could lead to a very different planet in 500 years, depending in large part on how willing humans are to change their ways. A warming planet can also contribute to extreme weather like heat waves, storms and droughts that can change the land. All of Earth's living forms are at risk. Looking back at the past 500 years, the living part of the Earth, called the biosphere, has changed dramatically. The number of humans has increased from around 500 million people to over 7.5 billion today. More than 800 plant and animal species have become extinct because of human activities over that period. As the human population grows, other species have less space to roam. Sea level rise means even less land, and rising temperatures will send many species migrating to better climates. Not all of Earth's changes are caused by humans, but humans have worsened some of them. A major challenge today is getting people to stop doing things that create problems, like burning fossil fuels that contribute to climate change. This is one global problem that requires countries worldwide and the people within them to work toward the same goal. Getting back to Christopher Columbus, he probably couldn't have imagined a highway full of cars or a mobile phone. Technology will no doubt improve over the next 500 years, too. But so far, tech solutions haven't scaled up fast enough to solve climate change. To keep doing the same things and expect someone else to fix the mess later would be a risky, expensive gamble. So, the Earth in 500 years may be unrecognizable. Or, if humans are willing to change their behaviors, it may persist with its vibrant forests, oceans, fields and cities for many more centuries, along with its most successful residents, humankind. Hello, curious kids! Do you have a question you'd like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to CuriousKidsUS@ Please tell us your name, age and the city where you live. And since curiosity has no age limit – adults, let us know what you're wondering, too. We won't be able to answer every question, but we will do our best. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Michael A. Little, Binghamton University, State University of New York and William D. MacDonald, Binghamton University, State University of New York Read more: Scientists understood physics of climate change in the 1800s – thanks to a woman named Eunice Foote Extreme heat waves in a warming world don't just break records – they shatter them Coral reefs are dying as climate change decimates ocean ecosystems vital to fish and humans The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
