SCIENCE UPDATE
If the volcanoes begin to erupt, they could melt the ice from beneath, triggering a vicious spiral.
Some bees might be... autistic?
A surprising number of big volcanoes are hiding beneath the West- ern Antarctic ice sheet. 2 km under the ice, geologists from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, have discovered 91 volcanoes, which are 100m - 4 km high. Nobody knows if they are active, but if just one of them started to erupt, melting the ice from beneath, the ice sheet could be destabilised, and huge quantities of meltwater would make ocean water levels rise. Active volcanoes could also trigger a vicious spiral. Melting ice would ease the ice pressure on the volcanoes, increasing the risk of eruptions. The most active volcanoes such an the Icelandic ones were once covered by ice. Scientists aim to find out whether the volcanoes are extinct, dormant, or active.