[01] A. Parker, School of Engineering and Physical Science, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia.

A recent article by Schroeder et al. [1] suggests that geothermal heat may be the trigger of the reducing West Antarctica mostly marine ice sheet. I propose that the geothermal contribution is only a small part of a complex situation that also involves effects of ocean and air temperatures, glacial history, ice thickness, mass balance and sub-glacial elevations that unfortunately are not monitored as they should. Consideration of the simultaneous influences of all these factors are required to come to a meaningful conclusion about the West Antarctic (or the Arctic) ice sheet. A complex puzzle is not solved by a single piece, in this case a geothermal source, in the case of the IPCC [2] proxy data of surface air temperature.

Geothermal Sources, West Antarctica, Antarctic, Sea Ice, Lower Troposphere Temperature

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