Volcanic ash can trigger abrupt melting of ice sheets long after the eruption, according to evidence from ancient ice sediment records. While volcanic eruptions and the release of ash into the air generally has a cooling effect on the planet’s atmosphere, deposits of ash onto ice sheets can cause spontaneous melts that contribute to global […]
Tag: ice melt
Retreat of the fastest melting glacier in Antarctica began in 1945
The loss of ice on Pine Island Glacier makes up about a quarter of Antarctica’s melt, and a new study pinpointed the source of its fast retreat to the El Nino event of 1945. Using dating techniques, an international team of researchers studied sediment cores from the glacier’s floating ice shelf. They discovered that the […]
