Are Earthquakes Causing Global Climate Change
Posted by Dexter Nelson: Monday, August 4, 2014 (2:24 PM)
Are Earthquakes Causing Global Climate Change?
This is article is based on a rant that I had begun, but really turned into a research article that I decided to write.
When it comes right down to it, research and sharing those findings are quickly becoming a passion of mine, and it's something that really engages my brain. I'm learning a lot, and it is my hope that instead of just rants and spreading doubt, that people will take a look at the research and learn.
It seems fitting I start with the rant and then get into the research, because they do run together.
I really wish people would stop with the "shock and awe OMG wake up sheeple" posts about the weather and actually learn about what's happening instead of just saying "things are changing" followed by a spew of "I don't know because I never picked up a book on the subject and I'm just guessing" rubbish.
Yes, the weather is changing, and weird things are happening, but do you know why?
Question - What drives our planet's weather?
Answer - A combination of things from the sun's energy, to the ocean currents (like the Gulf and North Atlantic Drift) which absorb heat and distributes it all over the planet, the earth's water cycle.
But all of that is first determined by the tilt of the earth's axis. It's the tilt of earth axis, about 23 degrees that allows equal distribution of the sun's energy. It's also responsible for atmospheric circulation cells to shift.
And by Cells I mean the Hadley, Ferrel and Polar cells, and the Trade Winds. It causes the seasons to change.
The spinning of the earth (day and night) and the rotation of the earth as it travels around the sun causes summer to become winter; combined, they influence our daily weather and global climate, having an effect on wind direction, global temperature patterns, ocean currents and precipitation.
Questions - What would happen if the earth axis shifted by even the slightest amount? What would happen if the ocean currents that help moderate our climate change? What would happen if the sun's energy increased or decreased?
Answer - Our climate would change, and in some cases, drastically.
People fear what they don't understand, and then they look for someone to blame.
Now that you know what drives our climate and temperature, here's understanding.
While the world is in political mode blaming plastic bags and tin cans, scientists and researchers are looking at something else - earthquakes.
Why earthquakes?
Because they have a direct effect on the earth axis and rotation cycles - it's a direct link to our climate.
For example, in 2010, NASA's computer modeling estimate that the Chilean earthquake in 2010 actually shortened the earth's day by milliseconds.
They estimated the same effect in the 2004 Sumatran earthquake.
From that point they started monitoring the changes.
In 2011, they were able to measure it. The Japanese earthquake moved Japan coast 8 feet and shifted Earth's axis.
But it doesn't stop there.
Even though we don't feel all of them, there are several dozen earthquakes every year.
Of the ones considered significant (magnitude 6 or higher), there are a mind boggling amount. For this amateur researcher, I was shocked to find out just how many earthquakes there really are.
Doing a search for all earthquakes of a maginitude of 4 or higher, starting on January 1st of this year to now, USGS asked me to download them before showing them, there were that many.
How many? 9433 earthquakes!
Significant earthquakes were all 6.0 magnitude or higher, so after refining my search, 108 of them were magnitude 6 or higher, including another 7.7 earthquake in Chile in April.
Of the earthquakes that are most likely to affect the earth's axis, the studies I've found showed 7.0 magnitude or greater, so I'm using that as my baseline for the searches.
Using 7.0 as my own criteria for major earthquakes with the potential to shift the earth's axis, there were 8 of them, including an 8.2.
There were 19 in 2013, 16 in 2012, 20 in 2011, 24 in 2010, 17 in 2009, and the counts keep going.
I went back several years and year after year, there were more than a dozen earthquakes that had the potential to affect the earth's axis.
It is a blatant reminder of just how active this planet really is, and just how frequently the earth's plates move.
Over the past few years we've also seen changes in the Earth's oceanic currents, which brings about their own, almost immediate change in our climate (another article on that very soon).
Which brings me back to my rant.
The next time you see something almost unexplainable happening like lakes popping up in the desert, rivers running dry (like the Euphrates), freak cold snaps like in Brazil and the US, and equally freaky storms, instead of the gawking awe, I challenge you to do some research of your own.
Ask questions, search for answers, and keep digging until you find them.
After all, we all all share this planet, and as a bonus, no matter how you look at it, this is some amazingly interesting stuff to learn about!
Here are some resources to help you get started.
PS: If you found this article helpful, please like, share and leave a comment below. I'd love to hear your thoughts. This would be a great discussion starter.
Sources:
- NASA update "Japan Quake May Have Shortened Earth Days, Moved Axis" - http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/japanquake/earth20110314.html
- CNN report summary of Japanese earthquake - http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/12/japan.earthquake.tsunami.earth/index.html
- NASA update "Chilean Quake May Have Shortened Earth Days" - http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/earth-20100301.html
- TIME summary of Chilean Earthquake - http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1969081,00.html
- USGS earthquake tracking - http://earthquake.usgs.gov/
- UK's Metro Office Climate Summary - http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/news/in-depth/weather-and-climate
- Research by Astronomy Online - http://astronomyonline.org/SolarSystem/EarthWeather.asp
- Water Encyclopedia summary on water cycles - "http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/Ce-Cr/Climate-Moderator-Water-as-a.html
- Classzone research on the gulf stream and north atlantic drift - http://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/investigations/es2403/es2403page04.cfm
- Ocean Current's "The Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies" - http://oceancurrents.rsmas.miami.edu/atlantic/north-atlantic.html
