Kind: captions
Language: en
we're at the Long Valley caldera
in the Sierra Nevadas California where a
system of hot springs sits atop one of
the largest super volcanoes in the world
see all that steam it's water vapor that
has been superheated by a vast
underground network of magma other gases
including carbon dioxide are also rising
to the surface through steam vents
when volcanoes erupt they belch carbon
dioxide and other gases into the
atmosphere and even when they aren't
erupting like here co2 seeps out that
co2 traps heat release enough of it into
the atmosphere and it can help warm the
entire planet this is Mount Erebus in
Antarctica the southernmost active
volcano in the world
and even though its surface is frozen
the volcano itself is anything but
Erebus is also pumping co2 in the air
through these ice towers
even during times when the planet was
completely frozen in ice like Antarctica
is today
volcanic activity still persisted
releasing co2 into the atmosphere which
eventually built up to warm the planet
[Music]
to see how Earth's climate has
fluctuated over time play Nova's polar
lab
you