Earth Quakes and Global Warming No Connection

January 2, 2005 – Vol.9 No.41

EARTHQUAKES AND GLOBAL WARMING - NO CONNECTION.

Is there a link between global warming and the massive earthquake on the bottom of Indian Ocean which led to devastating tsunamis and huge loss of life?

Unlikely. Even if a case could be made for a link it wouldn’t be now - would it? Human-induced global warming is supposed to be in the early stages isn’t it?

Still the idea of a link - like all ideas, outlandish or not - is worth discussion, and lively debate.

Scientists at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) do agree that a change in ocean currents can alter the axis of the spin of the earth (ever so slightly). Monsoon rains or the damming of rivers can change the earth’s rotation a tiny fraction.

Seasonal changes in weather, as well, can affect the earth’s rotational speeds. The El Nino in 1998 was said to have increased the length of the day by 0.0006 seconds that year. Don’t worry about resetting your watches, however.

Air currents and the clouds carried in them are another way to slow down the rotation of the earth, NASA says, but again by a barely measurable bit.

Other scientists also believe that when glaciers melt, the land beneath them will pop up as the weight of the ice is removed in a process known as isostatic rebound. The process can be slow and not noticeable, or fast, causing an earthquake. There’s been melting of glaciers worldwide, but this earthquake was underwater.

There is agreement among scientists that global warming will affect weather patterns, air currents and certainly melt a lot of ice. But would those changes be enough to alter the earth’s rotation? And, would altering the earth’s rotation a minuscule amount fraction be enough shift the earth’s crust and cause earthquakes?

Don’t know, but a fascinating topic for discussion.

The real link between global warming and earthquakes is that rising sea levels will make some low lying areas even more susceptible to tsunamis. What should be examined - and probably will be - is why the Maldives, though perhaps closer to sea level (about a meter above) than in all the 3000-mile-long tsunami affected-area, had comparatively little damage and loss of life.

All this is for future discussion. For now thoughts and relief efforts need to focus on how to bring the survivors and family members back to some level of normalcy and to help them cope with the trauma and loss they must feel with this most dramatic natural disaster of modern times.