Volcanoes and Cold

[Kitafox]

I have a simple inquiry which I hope someone can assist me with.

If a volcano was active in the sense of the area around it had steam vents and the water was warmed on say, an island, would it be possible for the island to have a temperate or tropical climate in a latitude akin to say Canada?

[waldronate]

An island like Iceland? As an amusing consideration, Ireland (not Iceland) and Moscow are at about the same latitude. The nice greenery in Ireland is due to a big and warm current (the Gulf Stream) that wanders by on its way to die in the waters off Norway. Of course, Iceland also benefits from that same current, but folks often think of its abundance of volcanic activity.

[ladiestorm]

I'm no expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I would think that if the volcano is active, that means the ground would tend to stay warm, due to the molten lava underneath the surface that radiates heat. Now depending on how close to the surface that lava is, I would believe it would keep the island warm enough (or the waters surrounding it) to support a temperate or tropical climate.

Of course, this is just my thoughts. I have no idea if I'm correct, but it seems to make sense.

[Falconius]

I don't think so. Iceland is very active for instance and they have a winter and their weather is modified more by the aforementioned gulf stream than by any ground activity. Same thing with areas that wander North and South in the Ring of Fire, the weather there is mostly unaffected by tectonic or volcanic activity. (when the weather is affected it tends to be because of giant ash plumes)

[Kitafox]

So then having a warm current flow northwards along with said volcanic activity should in theory keep it the desired temperature?

[Falconius]

I don't think it'd give the results you want. You seem to be searching for an excuse to map something extraordinary, my suggestion is to map it as you want and don't worry overly much on the technobabble (or magibabble as the case may be) used to explain its existence. In other words, you don't need an excuse, just say it exists and poof it exists. When someone asks you, "How could this exist?" Just respond, "It's a mystery, a natural wonder of this world."

[Azélor]

The climate in Canada is temperate... in the same latitude you have all the European continent.
Having a temperate climate at this latitude has nothing special. There are even some places with subtropical climate at this latitude.

Now to answer the question:

realistic answer = no.

But yes if your ok with creating a harsh environment like a primitive Earth.
You would need plenty of thermal vents and magma lakes.
Toxic fumes, the danger of living close to molten rock and the general geologic instability would make the area too dangerous to live there.

I'm saying this but I'm not a geologist (but there is at least one at the Guild), I could be wrong.
Also, I should add that I had the same idea for my own campaign once and I dropped the idea.

[Kitafox]

Thanks to everyone who gave feedback. I greatly appreciate it. ^_^ It may just be that the island of Jericho is one of those "wonders of the world" that just seems to work in fantasy. lol. My biggest problem is that I try to do 'low fantasy' even when I'm creating a 'high fantasy' world.

This is what I'm going for in a WIP format.

VúraradaThermalMap-03.jpg