the old science teacher
Somewhere between our 7th year and 12th year in school we all had that one teacher, the one who might have taught a class when your grandparents went to school. The old teacher would start the class with a science news event like this then ask the class "What do you think this means regarding the current debate about climate change?" Then he or she would let us all ramble on one at a time about whether this finding changed everything, changed nothing, disproved this idea, disproved that idea or proved this or that. But eventually the discussion would turn to the students who saw how the finding generated more questions than answers and disproved very little... that the findings changed the direction of the overall debate by a few degrees only, not by 90 or 180 degrees.
What have we "discovered?" That geothermal heating was a factor on a planet built by geothermal forces? No. That volcanic activity continues under Antarctica? No. We discovered one thing and that was exactly what was stated... the geothermal heating under one part of the Antarctic is more than expected and might be contributing to the localized melting in that part of the Antarctic ice shelf.
Does this disprove anything currently posited about climate change? No. Does this throw into question the concern that climate change is occurring? No. Does this throw into question that it is occurring at a rate and to a degree that could cause significant harm? No. Does this significantly diminish the role that atmospheric changes resulting from human activity are influencing the rate and nature of current climate change? No.
For people who have already concluded that climate science is a hoax, this finding will give them fuel for more chest thumping. For geophysicists worried about being laid off, this finding will give them a tid-bit of hope their work contracts or research grants might get extended or renewed. As to the expansion of Antarctic ice, there is a lot of science news reporting that the expansion is horizontal and not vertical, i.e. it's getting wider but thinner.
If there is an implication from this finding, it could be that, thanks to more than expected or increased geothermal heating in certain key areas, climate change might happening faster than anticipated or predicted.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
