The Nation: End of the World As We Know It?

[marmar]

BLOG | Posted 09/09/2007 @ 1:49pm
End of the World As We Know It?
E.J. Graff


I'm not a climate scientist or geologist, and no, I don't play one on TV. So I can't assess the accuracy of the report below from yesterday's Guardian. But it sure did catch my attention:

"The Greenland ice cap is melting so quickly that it is triggering earthquakes as pieces of ice several cubic kilometres in size break off.

"Scientists monitoring events this summer say the acceleration could be catastrophic in terms of sea-level rise and make predictions this February by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change far too low.

"The glacier at Ilulissat, which supposedly spawned the iceberg that sank the Titantic, is now flowing three times faster into the sea than it was 10 years ago."

The article says that one observer, Robert Corell, chairman of the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, reports that "the glacier is now moving at 15km a year into the sea although in surges it moves even faster. He measured one surge at 5km in 90 minutes - an extraordinary event."

Perhaps my new second-floor apartment, which is about four miles, as the crow flies, from Boston Harbor, will soon be waterfront property. Hmm. Note to self: buy some life jackets and a dinghy.

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion?bid=15

[Demeter]

1. These "Earthquakes" Don't Register on the Global Seismic Monitor

so I'm inclined to think the exaggeration effect is running full bore. It's an ice slide, like a landslide. The difference being, the ice can reform. The earth seldom moves uphill (unless there's a major earthquake).

However, the Eastern Pacific ring is extremely active these past 30 days or so, and Colombia just had a 7.0 this morning---it's not looking good for our left coast, which is not moving to adjust at all...

I hope all of California (with the exception of my ex) stays safe...


http://www.gfz-potsdam.de/geofon/seismon/globmon.html

[Tesla]

2. Oh didn't you hear on Faux News that is just the natural process

This kinda warming has been going on for years!!

It's not pollution doing it, you silly.....:sarcasm:

[InvisibleTouch]

3. Continental glaciers weigh down the earth's crust...

...and when they melt, that area rises. That's what happened to the Canadian Shield at the end of the last Ice Age - and that region is still rising today. If it happens in an area with faults or other geologic instability, I can imagine that could trigger earthquakes.