Melting glaciers and ice caps could unleash wave of volcanic eruptions, study says

Mount Erebus in Antarctica. The biggest risk of reawakening volcanos is in west Antarctica where at least 100 lie under the ice, say researchers.

The melting of glaciers and ice caps by the climate crisis could unleash a barrage of explosive volcanic eruptions, a study suggests.

The loss of ice releases the pressure on underground magma chambers and makes eruptions more likely. This process has been seen in Iceland, an unusual island that sits on a mid-ocean tectonic plate boundary. But the research in Chile is one of the first studies to show a surge in volcanism on a continent in the past, after the last ice age ended.