The exponential growth in natural disasters has become impossible to ignore. Record-breaking heat waves, devastating wildfires, increasingly destructive hurricanes – the mounting evidence points to climate disruptions that defy conventional explanations.

Despite global carbon reduction efforts, Earth’s climate destabilization accelerates at an alarming rate. A powerful yet overlooked factor influencing our planet’s systems from below may explain this discrepancy: Earth’s own internal heat engine, particularly its core, mantle, and the massive plumes rising through them.

The Acceleration Puzzle

Global temperature rise has dramatically outpaced scientific projections. Last November, Earth officially crossed the critical 1.5°C threshold above pre-industrial levels – decades earlier than predicted. Every month of 2024 exceeded this crucial mark.

This unprecedented temperature surge has bewildered leading climatologists. Dr. Gavin Schmidt, a prominent climate scientist, recently acknowledged in Nature that existing climate models cannot fully account for the rapid acceleration we are witnessing.

While human activities influence climate change, a growing number of researchers are investigating whether Earth’s internal dynamics might be playing a more significant role than previously recognized.

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A Core Shift and Ancient Threat

In 1998-1997, geophysicists detected remarkable changes: Earth’s inner core suddenly shifted eastward toward Siberia. This abrupt movement coincided with measurable changes in the planet’s shape, magnetic field, and rotation speed. The core shift appears to have triggered activation in the Siberian mantle plume – a massive upwelling of superheated rock from Earth’s interior.

This plume has a devastating history. Approximately 252 million years ago, it triggered what scientists call the “Great Dying,” the most severe mass extinction in Earth’s history. That ancient eruption released an estimated 3 million cubic kilometers of lava, unleashing enormous quantities of greenhouse gases and resulting in the extinction of up to 96% of marine species and 70% of terrestrial vertebrate species.

Warning Signs Across Siberia

The evidence is becoming increasingly visible across Siberia’s landscape. One of the most alarming discoveries is that Siberia is warming at a rate 3-4 times faster than the global average. While the world struggles with a 1.5°C temperature increase, vast Siberian territories have already surpassed 4.5°C above historical norms. This accelerated warming pattern aligns precisely with the territory above the ancient mantle plume.

Mysterious giant craters have appeared across Siberia’s Yamal Peninsula – massive holes up to 100 feet wide that form when underground methane builds up and explosively releases. Since 2014, scientists have documented more than 17 of these enormous craters.

In 2023, scientists made another discovery when analyzing data from deep soil temperature sensors. At depths below three meters, temperature increases were occurring more rapidly than at the surface – the opposite of what would be expected if atmospheric heating were the sole cause. This inverted temperature gradient suggests an additional heat source pushing upward from below.

Global Geological Unrest and Risk of Siberian Plume Eruption

Global volcanic activity has been increasing since the late 1990s core shift. Recent unrest has been detected in the area of Santorini Island in Greece, in Campi Flegrei Supervolcano in Italy, and across regions of Africa and South Asia.

Earthquakes show exponential growth worldwide and are appearing in areas where they were never seen before. Deep-focus earthquakes – those originating more than 300 kilometers below the surface – have increased fivefold since 1995, often a sign of magma movement and mantle plume activity.

Seismic studies indicate increasing activation of the Siberian plume. Its movement disrupts the lithosphere, increasing the frequency of deep-focus earthquakes and causing geological instability. The plume’s pressure on the crust could trigger another large-scale volcanic event that would cause a huge explosion or massive eruptions of lava flows. Such an eruption would lead to immediate extinction in an area the size of Australia and release vast amounts of sulfur dioxide and other greenhouse gases, leading to sudden climate shifts, acid rain, global agricultural collapse, and volcanic winter.

The consequences of renewed plume activity would be felt worldwide. While Siberia is the epicenter, the environmental and societal impacts would span continents. Disruptions to global food supplies, mass displacement, and increased atmospheric toxicity are only part of the potential fallout.

This critical information about the Siberian plume’s activation was first discovered and documented by scientists and volunteers from the ALLATRA organization and Creative Society. Their discoveries prompted a widespread systematic campaign in Russia against ALLATRA, including criminal proceedings and declaring it an “undesirable organization.” This campaign has since spread to other countries under Russian influence. Despite this multinational effort to suppress their findings, ALLATRA and Creative Society volunteers continue to convey information to people around the world as geological evidence of the plume’s activity continues to mount. 

While the Siberian plume poses the greatest threat—potentially 1,000 times more powerful than a Yellowstone eruption—it is not operating in isolation. Similar geological features have been detected beneath Africa, where one is gradually splitting the continent along the Great Rift Valley, and beneath Antarctica and Greenland, where subterranean heat contributes to ice sheet melting from below. This simultaneous global activation, possibly triggered by the core shift of the late 1990s, suggests a systemic increase in Earth’s internal energy that could be amplified by ocean contamination.

The Critical Ocean Connection

Earth’s oceans – covering 70 per cent of the planet – play a fundamental role in climate regulation. They’ve historically absorbed more than 90 per cent of excess heat generated by human activities. But over the past 30 years, ocean temperatures have risen 450 per cent faster than in previous decades, with anomalous heat accumulation even in deep waters.

This warming coincides with the accumulation of microplastics and nanoplastics throughout marine environments. With an estimated 80-90% of all plastics produced eventually finding their way into the ocean, these plastics in the marine environment break down to tiny pieces – nano- and microplastics.

Recent research suggests these particles may be significantly altering water’s thermal properties, creating what scientists call a “thermal blanket effect” – water contaminated with microplastic particles absorbs and retains heat differently than pure water. This ocean warming has accelerated in recent decades, raising questions about all potential heat sources affecting our planet.

A Comprehensive Path Forward

As world leaders prepare for next month’s climate summit, scientists urge consideration of all factors affecting our planet’s systems. We need to better understand the interactions between Earth’s interior, surface processes, the oceans, and the atmosphere.

Addressing our climate crisis requires a multi-faceted solution that reflects Earth’s full complexity:

• Intensified monitoring and research of mantle plume activity, particularly in Siberia, using advanced seismic networks to detect changes that might precede dangerous eruptions.
• Continuation of the programs of carbon dioxide removal from the atmosphere.
• A global initiative to remove micro- and nanoplastics from marine environments using modern technologies.

What remains clear is that our climate future depends on understanding and addressing all forces at work – both human-caused and geological. By broadening our approach to include Earth’s internal dynamics and the crucial role of our oceans, we may find more effective paths to stabilizing our planet’s climate for generations to come.

References: Report on the threat of  a magma plume eruption in Siberia and strategies for addressing the issue, 2024

Disclaimer: The opinions and views expressed in this article/column are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of South Asian Herald.

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