The recent eruption of a volcano in Iceland demonstrates the folly of the theory of man-made global warming. We cannot clamp down on Western capitalist economies based on what might happen in crude theoretical models of global scale systems. On the contrary, the real, inexorable force of plate tectonics strains our economic development and challenges our very existence—day after day, with no end in sight.
A volcano beneath Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull glacier is erupting for the first time since 1820, causing rapid flooding and a huge steam-driven plume of volcanic ash and smoke. When the volcano erupted in April, thousands of flights were grounded and millions of passengers were stranded. Airlines incurred billions of dollars in uninsured losses. Equally hard-hit were thousands of businesses dependent on rapid, dependable European air cargo flights that transport goods as diverse as Chinese auto parts and fresh African flowers. And ironically, after the airline crash which killed Polish President Kaczynski and decimated his country’s leadership, many world leaders—including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and President Barack Obama—could not make it to the state funeral due to unsafe air travel conditions.
In Iceland, this is not an unusual occurrence, since the whole island is nothing but a massive volcanic complex. Iceland is the only surface manifestation of the planet’s mid-ocean spreading ridge system, which is a 50,000 km long geologically active strip on the ocean floor (Fig. 1). The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is so active in Iceland that lava has built up high enough to breach the ocean’s surface.
Every geologist, oceanographer and atmospheric scientist knows that Earth’s plate tectonic system, oceans and position in the solar system play the major rolesin our climate. These forces are inevitable and uncontrollable. Among scientists, serious discussions regarding potential global climate change take as understood these powerful, long-term, planetary scale forces rule, thus anything that might be happening to the climate in the short term of a human lifespan is relatively minor. But somewhere along the way, some scientists became disingenuous—they realized they could influence both politicians and the public by preying on their collective ignorance of earth science, and the inherent inability of the untrained mind to fully grasp the enormity of geologic time and astronomical distances. These predominately left-leaning scientists now have the ability to influence global politics and economic development by peddling the mantra of man-made global warming.
The Earth’s crust and part of the upper mantle is divided into a set of tectonic plates (Fig. 2). Most seismic and volcanic activity occurs at the plate margins; also, the rock composition of continental crust differs from that of the ocean floor crust. Tectonic plate margins can involve continental collisions (Himalayas, Alps); subduction where oceanic crust slides below continental crust (Peru-Chile Trench, Aleutian Trench); oceanic or continental crust sliding laterally (California, Mediterranean); or oceanic or continental crust rifting apart (East Pacific Rise, African Rift Valley). Most land-based volcanic activity occurs near subduction zones; note the “Pacific Ring of Fire” in Fig 2. However, 75 to 80 percent of all eruptions occur along the mid-ocean ridges. These rift areas are a 50,000 km chain of underwater volcanoes, spewing lava, belching gases and heating seawater. Eventually most of these gases enter our atmosphere.
Oceanic plates separate at different rates: the Arctic Ridge has the slowest rate (less than 2.5 cm/yr) and the East Pacific Rise near Easter Island has the fastest rate (greater than 15 cm/yr). The rifting rate of a ridge segment can change, which in turn dramatically increases or decreases the volcanic activity—vis-á-vis Eyjafjallajokull. Geophysicists do not know why plate motion is non-uniform or why it suddenly accelerates or decelerates. Such activity is as unpredictable as earthquakes. We know where earthquakes are likely to occur, but geoscience has not advanced enough to tell us when they will take place. If an undersea ridge segment acts up, all the carbon taxes in the world cannot offset the gases that will pour out, maybe for 1,000 years non-stop. And some of these gases cool the planet, rather than warm it.
Although humans are “continent-centric," it is well to note in the contemporary climate change debate that oceans cover 70 percent of the planet. The ocean-atmosphere interaction dominates our climate, but remains poorly understood. The historical temperature record of the open ocean is minimal, and even today’s satellite measurements are lacking compared to continental measurements. The oceans are the major source of carbon—including greenhouse gases, carbon dioxideand methane. Oceans are also the major source of the most abundant and active greenhouse gas: water vapor. After nitrogen and oxygen, water vapor is the third most abundant gas in the atmosphere. (Keep in mind, also, that we have more of the unreactive noble gas argon in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide). We do not have any significant control over water vapor levels in the atmosphere, but they certainly control us: without atmospheric water, higher life forms would not exist.
In the northern hemisphere, ocean-atmosphere interactions and atmospheric circulation patterns change over a 30–year cycle, which affects precipitation levels and the severity of winters. However this cycle was only identified in 1913, so we do not have enough complete data cycles to determine whether increasesin snow, rain, hurricanes or tornado frequency have occurred since the Industrial Revolution.
As early as 1988, some scientists started a quiet revolt, seeing their research twisted and debased; nonetheless two decades passed with man-made global warming and its attendant catastrophe being virtual gospel. Then in 2007, British courts ruled that a disclaimer and erratum sheet had to accompany Al Gore’s documentary An Inconvenient Truth, if shown in schools. And in 2009, computer hackers published numerous private emails proving that leading climate scientists at the University of East Anglia's Climate Research Unit conspired to falsify global temperature records and prevent dissenting scientific viewpoints from being published (someone please nominate these folks for the Nobel Prize). The scandal, known as "climategate," gave us perspective on disingenuousness morphing into scientific misconduct, blackballing and criminal misuse of taxpayer funds. Today, the inconvenient truth of volcano Eyjafjallajokull mocks the catastrophists.
-Dr. C. Leigh Broadhurst is a research geochemist and geobotanist.
