Earthquakes are to blame for the current global warming

New study says earthquakes cause global warming Alarmists have some serious explaining to do about man-made global warming, according to a new study. The study makes a strong, if unusual, argument that global warming is connected to earthquakes. Diandong Ren of the University of Texas claims that carbon dioxide (the greenhouse gas vilified by everyone from James Hansen to Al Gore) is released into the atmosphere by earthquake activity.

The study, published in Geophysical Research Letters, cites mudslides as the reason behind the release of CO2. Mudslides scour plants and topsoil away from the surface in large swaths. The buried plants then decompose, releasing carbon dioxide. The study uses the May 2008 earthquake in Wenchuan, China as an example. The earthquake that killed nearly 70,000 people could have released an amount of CO2 equal to “2% of the annual global emissions from fossil fuel combustion of the new few decades.” The climatologist has also designed a computer model to predict CO2 release from post-earthquake mudslides.

The study, however, creates something of a chicken-or-the-egg debate among global warming critics. In a 2006 report published in The Wall Street Journal, author Sharon Begley argued that melting glaciers actually spur volcanic activity and trigger earthquakes. Begley cites the geologic record and claims that the link between glaciers and earth processes has clear throughout history:

[The link between glaciers and earth processes] has reared its ugly head in the past, especially during periods of rapid climate change such as the end of ice ages. When ice sheets retreated 10,000 years ago, for instance, Iceland experienced a surge in volcanic eruptions. Volcanoes in the Mediterranean, Antarctica and eastern California also seem to have been awakened by retreating ice.
Begley’s argument has been picked up and echoed by many publications, including a recent LiveScience article that says Earth’s rebounding crust is to blame:

One particular feature that can change the balance of forces in Earth's crust is ice, in the form of glaciers and ice sheets that cover much of the area around Earth's poles plus mountains at all latitudes. The weight of ice depresses the crust on which it sits.



The tension between Diandong Ren’s study and the articles blaming earthquakes on man-made global warming is difficult to reconcile. Both cannot be right. If so, the scientific community is trying to wrap its head around a massive vicious circle. If everyone’s claims are correct, earthquakes not only release a high percentage of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, but they effectively cause themselves. I have a hard time believing that any natural process starts and ends with itself. However, studies like Ren’s help quiet claims about man-made global warming and force alarmists to better explain themselves.

http://www.examiner.com/x-3420-Cleveland-Weather-Examiner~y2009m3d5-Earthquakes-to-blame-for-global-warming-study-says