Skip to main content Live Science Live Science Search Live Science View Profile Sign up to our newsletter Planet Earth Archaeology Physics & Math Human Behavior Science news Life's Little Mysteries Science quizzes Newsletters Story archive NASA confirms 'interstellar visitor' Buck Moon 2025 Whale Valley Oldest wooden tools Prime Day deals Recommended reading The closer a volcano is to erupting, the greener the trees around it look from space Mystery of Bolivian 'zombie' volcano finally solved Planet Earth Scientists find 'breathing' magma cap inside Yellowstone supervolcano Supernovas may have triggered life-threatening changes in ancient Earth's climate. Scientists say it could happen again Climate change 'The Big One' could rock the Pacific Northwest and fuel sea-level rise and massive flooding NASA satellites show Antarctica has gained ice despite rising global temperatures. How is that possible? Newly discovered comet SWAN just 'erupted' with a bright, icy burst. Is it a cold volcano? Planet Earth Melting glaciers could trigger volcanic eruptions around the globe, study finds Ben Turner 7 July 2025 Glacial melt could increase volcanic activity in North America, New Zealand and Russia, spewing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. Lava erupts from Sundhnukagigar, an active volcano fissure near the town of Grindavik in Iceland, on January 14, 2024. (Image credit: Iceland Public Defence / Handout/Anadolu/Getty Images) Melting glaciers could make volcanic eruptions more explosive and frequent, worsening climate change in the process, scientists have warned. Hundreds of volcanoes in Antarctica, Russia, New Zealand, and North America rest beneath glaciers. But as the planet warms and these ice sheets melt and retreat, these volcanoes are likely to become more active, according to the authors of a new study analyzing the activity of six volcanoes in southern Chile during the last ice age. The researchers will present their findings Wednesday (July 8) at the 2025 Goldschmidt Conference in Prague. You may like The closer a volcano is to erupting, the greener the trees around it look from space Mystery of Bolivian 'zombie' volcano finally solved Scientists find 'breathing' magma cap inside Yellowstone supervolcano "Glaciers tend to suppress the volume of eruptions from the volcanoes beneath them. But as glaciers retreat due to climate change, our findings suggest these volcanoes go on to erupt more frequently and more explosively," study lead-author Pablo Moreno Yaeger, a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said in a statement. Scientists first theorized that melting ice could impact volcanoes in the 1970s. The underlying process is a simple one — the weight of glaciers exerts a downward force on Earth's crust and mantle, so when the ice retreats, subterranean gases and magma expand, leading to pressure buildups that fuel explosive eruptions. Related: 'Cryptic carbon' may leak from volcanoes millions of years after eruptions end This process is already known to have fundamentally reshaped Iceland, which is located above the diverging North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. In 2002, scientists calculated changes to Iceland's volcanic activity as its glaciers retreated at the end of the last ice age, roughly 10,000 years ago. The island's volcanoes responded with a surge of eruptions, blowing at a rate 30 to 50 times greater than they had before or since. Sign up for the Live Science daily newsletter now Get the world’s most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your inbox. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Yet the danger that could be lurking inside continental volcanic systems remains understudied. To investigate it, the geoscientists looked at six volcanoes located in southern Chile, including the now dormant Mocho-Choshuenco volcano, and how they responded to the melting of the Patagonian Ice Sheet thousands of years ago. By using the radioactive decay of argon released by the region's erupting volcanoes as an isotopic clock, and by studying crystals that began forming inside magmatic rocks spewed when the volcanoes erupted, the researchers were able to track the region’s volcanic activity and its relationship to its vanishing ice. They found that between 26,000 to 18,000 years ago, during the peak of the last ice age, ice cover tamped down the volume of eruptions, causing a giant reservoir of magma to accumulate beneath the region's surface. When the ice sheet melted, pressure grew inside this reservoir and was eventually released to form the Mocho-Choshuenco volcano. This threat is planetary in scope: 245 of the world's potentially active volcanoes lie underneath or within 3 miles (5 kilometers) of ice, according to a 2020 study. RELATED STORIES —Antarctica ice melt could cause 100 hidden volcanoes to erupt —Undersea volcano off Oregon coast could erupt this year, geologists predict —The 12 biggest volcanic eruptions in recorded history "The key requirement for increased explosivity is initially having a very thick glacial coverage over a magma chamber, and the trigger point is when these glaciers start to retreat, releasing pressure — which is currently happening in places like Antarctica," Moreno Yaeger said. He added that other regions of concern include North America, New Zealand and Russia, saying these areas "warrant closer scientific attention." Over short time periods, eruptions typically release sulfate aerosols that reflect sunlight back into space. This has led to cooling events following past eruptions, some of which have triggered major famines. Yet over the long term, the greenhouse gases from these volcanoes will likely cause climate change to accelerate, the researchers said. "Over time the cumulative effect of multiple eruptions can contribute to long-term global warming because of a buildup of greenhouse gases," Moreno Yaeger said. "This creates a positive feedback loop, where melting glaciers trigger eruptions, and the eruptions in turn could contribute to further warming and melting." Social Links Navigation Senior Staff Writer Ben Turner is a U.K. based staff writer at Live Science. He covers physics and astronomy, among other topics like tech and climate change. He graduated from University College London with a degree in particle physics before training as a journalist. When he's not writing, Ben enjoys reading literature, playing the guitar and embarrassing himself with chess. You must confirm your public display name before commenting Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name. The closer a volcano is to erupting, the greener the trees around it look from space Mystery of Bolivian 'zombie' volcano finally solved Scientists find 'breathing' magma cap inside Yellowstone supervolcano Supernovas may have triggered life-threatening changes in ancient Earth's climate. Scientists say it could happen again 'The Big One' could rock the Pacific Northwest and fuel sea-level rise and massive flooding NASA satellites show Antarctica has gained ice despite rising global temperatures. How is that possible? 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