The Quaking Discovery About Global Warming

Earthquakes have been quite prominent in the news recently, from Haiti to Chile it seems they are causing problems everywhere. People are beginning to wonder why are they are occuring so often and with such a high magnitude. Earthquakes are measured on a Richter scale for magnitude and are rated 1 through 12 on a Mercalli scale. Below is a Modfied Mercalli scale which is a simplified way to understand earthquakes.

Notice the higher the magnitude, the higher the higher the rating.

• Haiti: magnitude of 7.0 and a rating of 10
• Chile: magnitude of 8.8 and a rating of 12
• Japan: magnitude of 6.6 and a rating of 9

Its barely March and there has been a record breaking amount of deaths this year compared to the past decade. What is causing these earthquakes, could it be related to global warming?

Global warming is a touchy subject because not everyone is convinced its true. My opinion? Yes, its real- our atmospheric temperature is rising and causing changes around the globe. Is it caused by humans? Not neccesarily, there have been cycles of higher and lower atmospheric temperatures since our earth has been in existance. We may possibly be entering one of those higher temperature eras and maybe humans are just magnifying its effects. Either way, many scientists are now looking at global warming as the cause of the recent rise in earthquakes.

Earthquakes occur when plates of the earth's crust shift- they can move away from eachother, push into eachother, or overlap. Plates are, in essence, floating on top of the earth's hot core which is molten lava.

Here are the two reasons global warming may be causing earthquakes.

Melting ice caps- As atmospheric temperatures rise, ice caps are melting at an alarming rate. As the ice melts, pressure is getting released from the plates under the ice caps. The lower pressure on the ice caps can cause the plates to shift and rise.

Increasing ocean water- After the ice melts, it has to go somewhere- into the ocean. In addition to increased ocean water the warmer atmospheric temperatures cause the water to expand, called thermal expansion. As the mass of water is increasing, it creates more pressure pushing down on the plates beneath the oceans. Ocean plates are being pushed down on and thus shifting.

Overall, scientists are avidly researching the correlation between global warming and earthquakes. Although there is no data saying yes or no, the evidence pointing to global warming affecting the number of severe earthquakes around the world is increasing. So far, 2010 has been a quaking year; only time will tell if more will occur and if global warming is the cause.

Information is a summary of three articles with my personal input and knowledge of global warming and plate tectonics.

Washington Post interview with USGS Earthquakes Hazards Programs: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2010/03/08/DI2010030802570.html

Live Science Journal: http://www.livescience.com/environment/070830_gw_quakes.html

College of Charleston: http://scearthquakes.cofc.edu/SCEQ/SCEQSize.html