Earth Rising: Lashing Back.....

....with volcanoes, earthquakes and tornadoes.

Earthquakes? Really?

Yup. As far back as 2007 scientists have considered the possibility of Earthquakes being tied to global warming More recently several papers including The Montreal Gazette spawned by the Japanese earthquake, tied the recent plethora of earthquakes to global warming.

How can this be?

Well, global warming not only impacts the atmosphere, but it impacts the Earth's crust, according to a report in Reuters (2009). In the simplest of explanations, it's due to a lot (billions of tons) of weight being lifted off of the tectonic plates, to huge sections of the Earth's crust that shift during what we call an earthquake. As the weight lifts, the plates will start shifting. This lifting of tremendous weight is caused by the melting of glaciers and the polar ice caps. Andrew Hynes, tectonics expert (plates expert) at McGill, indicates that Vancouver Island (part of Greenland) is "bowed", sticking up and if enough weight is released could cause a major quake.

He also talks about the more complicated aspect of this weight shifting is the pressure changes within the crust. As the weight changes so does the change of fluid (molten rock and water) within the crust. This is like having huge wedges inserted and released into the rocks, causing cracking and collapse. He cites the possibility of volcanoes.

Volcanoes? Oh, no.

Yeah. Afraid so, but since volcanoes haven't recently caused mass death, lets stick to the issue and take that up on another day. It's all related. Course. Gaia - Earth, a single self-regulating organism. However, note that as volcanoes erupt, more carbon emissions will be released into the air and the more the Greenhouse Effect could contribute to global warming; and so on and so on.

Can it get worse?

Probably. In 2003 NASA Reported that the melting of Polar Caps would have "great impact on ocean processes." And I couldn't say it better than they have: "Less ice means more open water. More open water means greater absorption of solar energy. More absorption of solar energy means increased rates of warming in the ocean, which naturally tends to yield faster rates of ice loss."

Worse, yet?

In 2006, Time Magazine portrayed polar cap melting as "the tipping point". Not only will the Earth warm as the oceans increase in volume by absorbing more heat, as the ice melts, exposing the permafrost, the newly exposed soil will decompose releasing methane, a carbon emission, and adding to global warming.

And so it goes and so it goes, eh?

"Nature, it seems has had a bellyful of us" (Kluger, Time, 2006). Whether or not you believe that global warming is caused by us (humans) may be a moot issue. Whether one finds it inconvenient or not The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which includes over 500 independent scientists as well as NASA have reported for over twenty years the impact that humans have had on global warming. Seems the only dissent comes from politicians who pander to the economics of those who might contribute to global warming. The Norwegians are taking this very seriously. They have been packing away every kind of seed known in the advent of global catastrophe and everyone is forced to live in the Arctic. You know, just in case civilization has to start over. So?

You wanna take a chance?

That this is either a bunch of hooey, or that it's too late? Hmmm? Or do you want to do something -- just to be safe. You don't have to become an activist, just simply do what you can to reduce your personal carbon footprint. After all, there are 300 million of us here in the U.S. Here are simple things you can do yourself