There are four main reasons why Antarctica’s Larsen C Ice Shelf may be melting. None of them involve human forcing or CO2 concentration changes.
Scientists have recently completed an exhaustive 20-year study of the “most significant causes of melting” of the Larsen C Ice Shelf in the Antarctic Peninsula. [bold, links added]
They have concluded the four main surface melt drivers are:
- Shortwave solar radiation.
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Foehn wind variations.
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Cloud cover changes.
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Natural circulation variations (SAM, ENSO).
Neither anthropogenic forcing nor CO2 emissions are listed as causal factors in Antarctic ice melt processes.
Until 1,000 to 2,000 years ago, Antarctica was up to 5°C warmer than it is presently.
Open-water conditions prevailed throughout most of the Holocene (the last 11,700 years) in the same area where the massive Larsen Ice Shelf exists today (Domack et al., 2001).
In other words, there is nothing even remotely unusual about any Antarctic ice melt or climate trends that cannot be explained by or attributed to natural, non-anthropogenic processes.
h/t Rúnar O.
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The article didn’t mention that the Antarctic Peninsula is home to significant volcanic activity and that has been increasing over the past 50 years.
Agree.
The first, and most, likely cause of Antarctica ice shelf melting is a nearby underseas volcano.