Climate Change Causes Volcanoes and Tsunamis

Bill McGuire, a professor of geophysical and climate hazards at the University College London, has discovered that climate change can lead to earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis.

McGuire's work, part of which can be read in "Waking the Giant: How a Changing Climate Triggers Earthquakes, Tsunamis and Volcanoes", suggests that climate change is not only about floods and droughts. It can also lead to increased volcanic activity and increasing numbers of earthquakes.

McGuire believes the Earth is very sensitive to change and even though the Earth's crust seems to be safe, the rapid changes can result in its destabilisation.

In 2010, Eyjafjallajokull - the ice-covered Icelandic volcano that spewed several million cubic meters of ash - brought European air traffic to a grinding halt. Last year, the tsunami that hit the eastern coast of Japan was the result of a cataclysmic earthquake.

According to information in McGuire's book, it is believed that the Earth underwent astonishing climatic transformations some 20,000 years ago. During this period, it transformed from a frigid wasteland of ice to the world we are more familiar with.

The point is that during this dynamic episode, as the ice melted and sea levels subsequently rose, the pressure of the water acting on solid earth increased. The planet's crust then bent and cracked, leading to resurgence in volcanic activity, a proliferation of seismic shocks and burgeoning giant landslides, according to an article McGuire wrote in The Guardian.

McGuire concludes by saying that human activity seems to be increasing risks of a geologic backlash at the most inopportune time.

He stresses that unless there is a dramatic and completely unexpected turnaround in the matter of handling resources and the planet, the long-term impact could be very "grim".