Chinese earthquake could be due to Himalayan glacier-melting - Anthony Marr, Heal Our Planet

[Annces]

The May-12 Richter-7.9 earthquake in the Sichuan province of China may be caused by glacier-melting caused in turn by global warming. The result is so common it even has a name “glacial earthquake”. The Sichuan earthquake could be one of these glacial earthquakes, and if so certainly not the first one, nor the last.

Relevant to Sichuan are the Himalayas. Himalayan glaciers have shrunk due to three factors:

· Higher temperature thaws the glaciers. According to the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), “The average temperature in the Himalayas in the northern part of Nepal rose about 2 degrees between 1970 and 1994; in the rest of Nepal, more than 3 degrees.”
· Global warming changes snow into rain that melts the glaciers, and form glacial lakes · The amount of snowfall has decreased.

The Nepalese Himalayas alone contain more than 3,000 glaciers, each kilometers long and hundreds of meters wide, weighing billions of tons. There are approximately 70 extra-large glaciers in Himalaya, covering about 166 km2 or 17% of the mountain area.

With glacier meltdown comes weight redistribution on a mammoth scale.

The melting of these glaciers has been accelerating.

· Thickness-wise, in the period of 2000-2004, a thinning of about 10 m occurred below 4000 m altitude, and 2 m above 5000 m.
· Length-wise, the Chhukhung Glacier, for example, retreated at about 5 m per year in the late 1970s, which increased to about 20 m per year in and after the 1990s.
· Weight-wise, the shrinking of the AX010 Glacier, which accelerated from 2.7 m per year in the 1980s to 12.5 m in and after the 1990s, resulted in the loss of more than 1 million tons of ice in 20 years through 1999.

The Himalayas and the surrounding mountain ranges are not the most geologically stable region to begin with. The northward incursion of the Indian subcontinent into SE Asia continues and the Himalayas continue being built and elevated, as does the folding of the surrounding ranges, including those in the Sichuan province of China where the earthquake occurred. The redistribution of weight by the glacier melting will cause seismic events in areas where ill-settled sub-plates hang on to each other by their fingernails as it were, slipping violently against each other at the slightest disturbance.

If the above is true, then we can expect more devastating earthquakes to come. Likewise, it can be predicted that the massive melting of the Greenland and Antarctic land-ice will generate earthquakes in and around these regions.

Anthony Marr, founder and president
Heal Our Planet Earth (HOPE)

http://www.all-creatures.org/hope/let-20080513-1.htm

[Ian David]

1. This involves math. Math is hard. Anyone have a good take on this? n/t

[Annces]

3. You could probably email the author

I think he is very active in answering questions.

[email protected]

[Larkspur]

2. Or it could be caused by Tibet and India still being pusined into Asia

New England gets glacial rebound earthquakes but they don't reach more that 4.5 on the Richtor scale. I think a 7.9 earthquake is more like a tectonic plate related incident, not from a melting glacier. We don't know what is going on underneath the Asian continental plate with regards to Tibet and India being pushed into it.

[mac2]

4. Is that area of China on a fault line like San Francisco?

[Squatch]

6. No.

[mac2]

7. Interesting.

Might they have been "harped"? Or a bomb placed in a fault line? It's the world of Neo Con disaster and I'm not convinced anything that happens isn't of their making.

[Squatch]

9. Or, maybe this earthquake is the result of 4.6 BILLION years of plate tectonics?

The depth of the earthquake was 19,000 meters on an extremely active thrust fault

[mac2]

11. Was there a fault line in that area?

[Squatch]

12. Yes.

Of course there was...hence, a magnitude 7.9 earthquake.

Earthquakes occur along fault lines 100% of the time.

[mac2]

13. In the previous post you said no so I had to recheck.

[Squatch]

14. In the previous post I said no to your question which asked

if China (on which this earthquake occured) had a fault line like the one in San Francisco.

The fault on which this earthquake occured was a low-angle reverse (thrust) fault. The fault lines in San Francisco, including the San Andreas fault, are typified by strike-slip types of movement.

[Squatch]

5. I'm sure the effects of alpine glaciers on a reverse fault at 19,000 meters depth is negligible

to non-existent

[twiceshy]

8. Not everything is due to global warming

I think we need to get some perspective........

A complete list of things caused by global warming

Acne, agricultural land increase, Afghan poppies destroyed, Africa devastated, African aid threatened, Africa in conflict, aggressive weeds, air pressure changes, Alaska reshaped, allergies increase, Alps melting, Amazon a desert, American dream end, amphibians breeding earlier (or not), anaphylactic reactions to bee stings, ancient forests dramatically changed, animals head for the hills, Antarctic grass flourishes, Antarctic ice grows, Antarctic ice shrinks, Antarctic sea life at risk, anxiety treatment, algal blooms, archaeological sites threatened, Arctic bogs melt, Arctic in bloom, Arctic ice free, Arctic lakes disappear, Arctic tundra to burn, Atlantic less salty, Atlantic more salty, atmospheric circulation modified, attack of the killer jellyfish, avalanches reduced, avalanches increased, Baghdad snow, Bahrain under water, bananas grow, beer shortage, beetle infestation, bet for $10,000, better beer, big melt faster, billion dollar research projects, billion homeless, billions face risk, billions of deaths, bird distributions change, bird visitors drop, birds confused, birds return early, birds driven north, bittern boom ends, blackbirds stop singing, blizzards, blue mussels return, bluetongue, brains shrink, bridge collapse (Minneapolis), Britain Siberian, British gardens change, brothels struggle, brown Ireland, bubonic plague, budget increases, Buddhist temple threatened, building collapse, building season extension, bushfires, business opportunities, business risks, butterflies move north, camel deaths, cancer deaths in England, cannibalism, cataracts, caterpillar biomass shift, cave paintings threatened, childhood insomnia, Cholera, circumcision in decline, cirrus disappearance, civil unrest, cloud increase, cloud stripping, cockroach migration, coffee threatened, cold climate creatures survive, cold spells (Australia), cold wave (India), computer models, conferences, conflict, conflict with Russia, consumers foot the bill, coral bleaching, coral reefs dying, coral reefs grow, coral reefs shrink , cost of trillions, cougar attacks, cradle of civilisation threatened, crime increase, crocodile sex, crops devastated, crumbling roads, buildings and sewage systems, curriculum change, cyclones (Australia), danger to kid's health, Darfur, Dartford Warbler plague, death rate increase (US), Dengue hemorrhagic fever, depression, desert advance, desert retreat, destruction of the environment, disappearance of coastal cities, diseases move north, Dolomites collapse, drought, ducks and geese decline, dust bowl in the corn belt, early marriages, early spring, earlier pollen season, Earth biodiversity crisis, Earth dying, Earth even hotter, Earth light dimming, Earth lopsided, Earth melting, Earth morbid fever, Earth on fast track, Earth past point of no return, Earth slowing down, Earth spins faster, Earth to explode, earth upside down, Earth wobbling, earthquakes, El Niño intensification, end of the world as we know it, erosion, emerging infections, encephalitis, English villages lost, equality threatened, Europe simultaneously baking and freezing, eutrophication, evolution accelerating, expansion of university climate groups, extinctions (human, civilisation, logic, Inuit, smallest butterfly, cod, ladybirds, pikas, polar bears, gorillas, walrus, whales, frogs, toads, plants, salmon, trout, wild flowers, woodlice, penguins, a million species, half of all animal and plant species, mountain species, not polar bears, barrier reef, leaches, tropical insects) experts muzzled, extreme changes to California, fading fall foliage, fainting, famine, farmers go under, farm output boost, fashion disaster, fever,figurehead sacked, fir cone bonanza, fish catches drop, fish downsize, fish catches rise, fish deaf, fish get lost, fish stocks at risk, fish stocks decline, five million illnesses, flesh eating disease, flood patterns change, floods, floods of beaches and cities, flood of migrants, flood preparation for crisis, Florida economic decline, flowers in peril, food poisoning, food prices rise, food prices soar, food security threat (SA), footpath erosion, forest decline, forest expansion, frog with extra heads, frostbite, frost damage increased, frosts, fungi fruitful, fungi invasion, games change, Garden of Eden wilts, genetic diversity decline, gene pools slashed, giant oysters invade, giant pythons invade, giant squid migrate, gingerbread houses collapse, glacial earthquakes, glacial retreat, glacial growth, glacier wrapped, global cooling, global dimming, glowing clouds, god melts, golf Masters wrecked, Gore omnipresence, grandstanding, grasslands wetter, Great Barrier Reef 95% dead, Great Lakes drop, great tits cope, greening of the North, Grey whales lose weight, Gulf Stream failure, habitat loss, Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, harmful algae, harvest increase, harvest shrinkage, hay fever epidemic, health affected, health of children harmed, heart disease, heart attacks and strokes (Australia), heat waves, hibernation affected, hibernation ends too soon, hibernation ends too late, HIV epidemic, homeless 50 million, hornets, high court debates, human development faces unprecedented reversal, human fertility reduced, human health improvement, human health risk, human race oblivion, hurricanes, hurricane reduction, hydropower problems, hyperthermia deaths, ice sheet growth, ice sheet shrinkage, ice shelf collapse, illness and death, inclement weather, India drowning, infrastructure failure (Canada), industry threatened, infectious diseases, inflation in China, insect explosion, insurance premium rises, Inuit displacement, Inuit poisoned, Inuit suing, invasion of cats, invasion of herons, invasion of jellyfish, invasion of midges, island disappears, islands sinking, itchier poison ivy, jellyfish explosion, jets fall from sky, jet stream drifts north, Kew Gardens taxed, killer cornflakes, killing us, kitten boom, koalas under threat, krill decline, lake and stream productivity decline, lake empties, lake shrinking and growing, landslides, landslides of ice at 140 mph, lawsuits increase, lawsuit successful, lawyers' income increased (surprise surprise!), lives saved, Loch Ness monster dead, lush growth in rain forests, Malaria, mammoth dung melt, Maple production advanced, Maple syrup shortage, marine diseases, marine food chain decimated, Meaching (end of the world), Mediterranean rises, megacryometeors, Melanoma, methane emissions from plants, methane burps, methane runaway, melting permafrost, Middle Kingdom convulses, migration, migration difficult (birds), migratory birds huge losses, microbes to decompose soil carbon more rapidly, minorities hit, monkeys on the move, Mont Blanc grows, monuments imperiled, moose dying, more bad air days, more research needed, mortality increased, mountain (Everest) shrinking, mountains break up, mountains melting, mountains taller, mortality lower, Myanmar cyclone, narwhals at risk, National security implications, natural disasters quadruple, new islands, next ice age, NFL threatened, Nile delta damaged, noctilucent clouds, no effect in India, Northwest Passage opened, nuclear plants bloom, oaks dying, oaks move north, ocean acidification, ocean deserts expand, ocean waves speed up, opera house to be destroyed, outdoor hockey threatened, ozone repair slowed, ozone rise, Pacific dead zone, personal carbon rationing, pest outbreaks, pests increase, phenology shifts, plankton blooms, plankton destabilised, plankton loss, plant viruses, plants march north, polar bears aggressive, polar bears cannibalistic, polar bears drowning, polar bears starve, polar tours scrapped, popcorn rise, porpoise astray, profits collapse, psychiatric illness, puffin decline, railroad tracks deformed, rainfall increase, rape wave, refugees, release of ancient frozen viruses, resorts disappear, rice threatened, rice yields crash, rift on Capitol Hill, rioting and nuclear war, river flow impacted, rivers raised, roads wear out, robins rampant, rocky peaks crack apart, roof of the world a desert, rooftop bars, Ross river disease, ruins ruined, salinity reduction, salinity increase, Salmonella, satellites accelerate, school closures, sea level rise, sea level rise faster, seals mating more, sewer bills rise, severe thunderstorms, sex change, sexual promiscuity, shark attacks, sharks booming, sharks moving north, sheep shrink, shop closures, short-nosed dogs endangered, shrinking ponds, shrinking shrine, ski resorts threatened, skin cancer, slow death, smaller brains, smog, snowfall increase, snowfall heavy, snowfall reduction, soaring food prices, societal collapse, songbirds change eating habits, sour grapes, space problem, spectacular orchids, spiders invade Scotland, squid aggressive giants, squid population explosion, squirrels reproduce earlier, storms wetter, stormwater drains stressed, street crime to increase, subsidence, suicide, swordfish in the Baltic, Tabasco tragedy, taxes, tectonic plate movement, teenage drinking, terrorism, threat to peace, ticks move northward (Sweden), tides rise, tornado outbreak, tourism increase, trade barriers, trade winds weakened, traffic jams, transportation threatened, tree foliage increase (UK), tree growth slowed,, trees could return to Antarctic, trees in trouble, trees less colourful, trees more colourful, trees lush, tropics expansion, tropopause raised, truffle shortage, turtles crash, turtles lay earlier, UK coastal impact, UK Katrina, Vampire moths, Venice flooded, volcanic eruptions, walrus pups orphaned, walrus stampede, war, wars over water, wars sparked, wars threaten billions, water bills double, water supply unreliability, water scarcity (20% of increase), water stress, weather out of its mind, weather patterns awry, weeds, Western aid cancelled out, West Nile fever, whales move north, wheat yields crushed in Australia, wildfires, wind shift, wind reduced, wine - harm to Australian industry, wine industry damage (California), wine industry disaster (US), wine - more English, wine -German boon, wine - no more French , wine passé (Napa), wine stronger, winters in Britain colder, winter in Britain dead, witchcraft executions, wolves eat more moose, wolves eat less, workers laid off, World at war, World bankruptcy, World in crisis, World in flames, Yellow fever.

[mac2]

10. Yes...a very large list of the impact of humans on things.