Saturday, March 12, 2011

Welcome to the Anthropocene


No, nothing human caused a 9.0 earthquake. But the worst parts of the tsunami were very strange. Perhaps unprecedented?


Things are all connected now. We are a force of nature.


at

3 comments:

  1. ozhamletMarch 14, 2011 at 12:49 AM

    While we can't pin the Sendai earthquake on global warming, just as we can't pin any particular extreme weather event on global warming, there is a straight forward mechanism linking global warming to seismic activity: melting ice sheets mainly in Greenland and Antarctica are causing the tectonic plates on which they sit to move upwards in the viscous upper mantle. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isostasy#Isostatic_effects_of_ice-sheets

    ReplyDelete
  2. Michael TobisMarch 14, 2011 at 7:06 AM

    The forces are too small for a major tectonic event once you do the numbers, though there may be smaller quakes in the ice retreat areas.

    ReplyDelete
  3. David B. BensonMarch 14, 2011 at 6:46 PM

    I've seen a picture of a lrage ocean vessel completely washed up on a wide beach in the Bay of Bengal. I assume a tropical cyclone what done it.

    ReplyDelete

Moderation is on. Apologies for any delays.



Err on the side of politesse and understatement please.



Before you speak, ask yourself if what you have to say will improve on silence.