Vast ranges of volcanoes hidden under the oceans are presumed by scientists to be the gentle giants of the planet, oozing lava at slow, steady rates along mid-ocean ridges. But a new study shows that they flare up on strikingly regular cycles, ranging from two weeks to 100,000 years\u2014and, that they erupt almost exclusively during the first six months of each year. The pulses\u2014apparently tied to short- and long-term changes in earth\u2019s orbit, and to sea levels–may help trigger natural climate swings. Scientists have already speculated that volcanic cycles on land emitting large amounts of carbon dioxide might influence climate; but up to now there was no evidence from submarine volcanoes. The findings suggest that models of earth\u2019s natural climate dynamics, and by extension human-influenced climate change, may have to be adjusted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-74815","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n