Antarctic Peninsula Greening Likely Subglacial Heat, Not ‘Climate Change’

Written by James Edward Kamis on October 30, 2024. Posted in Current News

A recently released research study concluded that several small, scattered areas in the northern portion of the Antarctic Peninsula have lost all their glacial ice from 1986 through 2021

This ice loss exposed subglacial rock and soil layers, providing an environment where green vegetation has begun to grow (Figure 1 below) (see here and here).

Based on this data, the study’s authors concluded that this melting and greening process is further evidence of ‘climate change’ negatively impacting many aspects of the planet.

However, the study’s authors failed to incorporate significant amounts of relevant atmospheric and geological information into their analysis.

By including this data, it becomes clear that heat emitted from a molten lava accumulation beneath West Antarctica, rather than climate change, likely caused the “green” areas (Figure 1 below).

The following evidence supports this assertion.

Atmospheric Information

Figure 1 shows Antarctica’s fifty-year average surface temperature, compiled from data gathered between 1957 and 2027 by Dr. Eric Stieg (see here).

Researchers measure the surface temperature approximately 20 feet above the Earth’s land, glacial ice, and ocean water—in this case, 20 feet above the top of the glacial ice sheet.

The validity of Figure 1 sparked debate for many years because it did not align with a key tenet of climate change theory that global atmospheric temperature is uniform across the Earth’s atmosphere.

However, Figure 1 reveals two distinct surface temperature zones across Antarctica.

The study also reported that the atmospheric temperature of the Antarctic Peninsula rose by 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit from 1950 to 2024, which equals 0.07 degrees Fahrenheit per year.

In comparison, Earth’s atmospheric temperature has risen by 0.11 degrees Fahrenheit per year since 1880. Therefore, the claim that “vegetation is spreading at an alarming rate in a place where temperatures are soaring” lacks validity.

The formation of these two distinct surface temperature zones resulted from the 3,000-mile-long, 500-mile-wide, and 18-mile-deep West Antarctic Rift Fault System.

To address how heat from the subglacial rock layer rises upward through the overlying ice without melting it completely, consider the process of gradual melting.

As the heat begins to melt the glacial ice, it generates vertical fractures and micro-fractures. These fractures allow the heat to rise upward and release into the lower 20 feet of the atmosphere.

Geological Information – South Shetland Islands

The South Shetland Islands Volcanic Complex is a 450-mile-long and 50-mile-wide chain of volcanically active islands that parallels the Antarctic Peninsula (Figure 2).

The chain contains nine semi-active volcanoes, one frequently erupting volcano, and an extremely active ocean-floor volcano situated atop a massive molten lava chamber that is rising toward the surface.

When the upward movement of the lava chamber accelerates, it shakes the solid rock layers above, generating earthquakes.

Between August and November of 2020, the fault that formed the South Shetland Islands and a northwest-oriented fault connected to the South Shetland Fault experienced 85,000 earthquakes (Figure 4).

These earthquakes resulted from the sudden uprising of a massive accumulation of molten lava from deep within the Earth. The point where these earthquakes converge is an ocean-floor volcano called ORCA.

The three-mile-wide Deception Island caldera-type volcano and its five smaller volcanoes have erupted nine times in the modern era: 1800, 1827, 1899, 1912, 1969, 1970, 1972, and 1987 (see Figure 3).

This volcano is located at the southern end of the South Shetland Islands. Although it is not currently erupting, it continues to emit substantial amounts of heat into the ocean bay. This two-mile-wide circular bay formed when a supervolcanic eruption blew the volcano’s top off.

Larsen Volcanic Plateau

The Larsen Volcanic Plateau (see here) is located south of the Deception Island Volcano. This plateau spans an area of 50 miles long and 10 miles wide and is home to 16 small active volcanoes, one shown in Figure 4.

None of the 16 small volcanoes have glacial ice covering them. They have been volcanically active over the past 125 years, as evidenced by sightings of fresh black volcanic ash on top of white glacial ice by early explorers.

Reports from a Chilean university noted black volcanic ash surrounding some of the volcanoes during a flyover, along with observations of a volcanic eruption on the ocean floor off the coast of the Larsen Plateau and an unusual melting pattern of sea ice present on all sides of the plateau (see here).

Not Enough Data to Support the Study’s Conclusions

To establish the validity of a scientific study’s conclusions, researchers must gather sufficient data and information that instills confidence in the reasonableness of those conclusions. This requirement is not met in the Antarctic Climate Change “Greening” study.

Here are the numbers:

The study states that the area of “Greening” increased by five square miles from 1986 to 2021. The Antarctic continent covers 5,500,000 square miles, and the increase in the ‘green’ area represents just 0.00001 percent of its glacial ice sheet.

This minor change does not provide enough evidence to confidently assert that the so-called climate change-induced greening will significantly impact the melting of Antarctica’s glacial ice sheet.

The authors also claim that the atmospheric temperature of the northern part of West Antarctica increased by 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit over the last 74 years, which they describe as extremely anomalous.

However, this increase averages only 0.1 degrees Fahrenheit per year. From 1880 to 2021, the Earth’s atmospheric temperature rose by 0.11 degrees Fahrenheit per year.

Summary

A just-released study concluded that the rapid increase in atmospheric temperatures is from heat emitted by human activities. This increase supposedly facilitates the rapid melting of Antarctica’s entire ice sheet, including the northern part of the Antarctic Peninsula, soon.

The study cites the development of several scattered, small areas of green vegetation in barren rock or soil layers, both absent of overlying glacial ice, as evidence supporting this claim.

Numerous media articles state that this melting and vegetation growth provides definitive proof that immediate action is necessary to save the planet’s biological and physical environments, which enable human survival.

However, the study’s conclusion does not rely on enough data or information to prove its validity.

There is no doubt that the conclusion of the study is likely incorrect, and some would argue it may be misleading.

See more here climatechangedispatch

Header image: Earth-Sky

About the author: James Edward Kamis is a retired geologist with 47 years of experience, a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology from Northern Illinois University (1973), and a Master of Science degree in Geology from Idaho State University (1976). Nearly five decades of research have convinced him that geological forces significantly influence, or in some cases completely control climate and climate-related events as explained in detail at the Plate Climatology Theory website. Kamis’ new book, Geological Impacts on Climate, is available now.

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