http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2005/01/07/muck_tsunami/print.html
Dirtying the waters
Right-wingers are using the tsunami to attack enviros on global
warming. Here's why it doesn't wash.
From <http://www.gristmagazine.com>
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By Amanda Griscom Little
<http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2005/01/07/muck_tsunami/print.html>
<http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2005/01/07/muck_tsunami/email.html>
Jan. 7, 2005 | What did global warming have to do with the recent
catastrophic tsunami in the Indian Ocean? Not a damn thing.
Global warming is an atmospheric phenomenon caused by a buildup of
airborne greenhouse gases, and though it's expected to increase the
frequency and severity of any number of natural disasters,
earthquakes -- which are triggered by shifting tectonic plates -- are
not among them. In fact, Muckraker could not find one creditable (or,
hell, even noncreditable) scientist or environmentalist claiming a
causal relationship between climate change and the tsunami.
But you wouldn't know that from listening to the global-warming
skeptics who see green conspiracies everywhere they look.
"I am appalled that environmentalists are trying to ride on the backs
of 160,000 dead people to push their global-warming agenda without
any factual basis," Pat Michaels told Muckraker. This Cato Institute
scholar and author of "Meltdown: The Predictable Distortion of Global
Warming by Scientists, Politicians, and the Media" made similarly
bizarre comments in a
<http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/12-28-2004/0002721976&EDATE>press
release he put out at the end of December. Myron Ebell of the
Competitive Enterprise Institute and other right-wing flat-earthers
have echoed his accusations.
These unfounded rumors have even spread Down Under. "The earthquake
and tsunami apparently had something to do with global warming,
environmentalists say, caused of course by greedy American
motorists," wrote Gerard Baker in his
<http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,11813903%5E7583,00.html>column
for the Australian on Dec. 31.
Without so much as a trace of irony, Michaels referenced Michael
Crichton's new thriller "State of Fear" in his criticisms against
green activists. "It's just as Crichton describes it: Global warming
ambulance-chasers often assume things to be true that simply are
not," he said, unconcerned that he was referencing a work of
conspiracy fiction. "This tsunami reaction is a perfect example of
this phenomenon."
Enviros are baffled by these charges. "I've never heard of anybody in
the environmental community who thinks global warming causes
earthquakes or tsunamis," said Nicole St. Clair, spokeswoman for the
Natural Resources Defense Council's Climate Center. "I'm reluctant to
even dignify this with a response. It's a sham."
When pressed to name an environmentalist who had claimed a causal
link between global warming and the South Asian tsunami, Michaels
referenced comments made by Tony Juniper, director of Friends of the
Earth U.K., and Stephen Tindale, executive director of Greenpeace
U.K., in a Dec. 29 article about the tsunami and other natural
disasters of 2004 in the British newspaper the Independent (reprinted
in
<http://www.pretorianews.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=667&fArticleId=2357413)>Pretoria
News. But while both environmental leaders were quoted remarking on
an increase in natural disasters potentially related to global
warming last year, neither mentioned the tsunami.
What some journalists, scientists and environmentalists have done is
point out that two human-driven phenomena increase the potential
havoc wreaked on coastlines by tsunamis and tropical storms: rising
sea levels and a reduction of natural barriers (like coral reefs and
mangrove swamps) that shelter coasts from oceanic damage. Both of
these can be traced to human actions, including global warming, but
have no causal relationship with tsunamis.
Michaels doesn't see the distinction. "Ludicrous!" he says of recent
reports on these issues from
<http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=scienceNews&storyID=7185892>Reuters
and other news outlets. "It's a tremendous overreach to draw these
connections and it will backfire on environmentalists."
Michael Oppenheimer, Princeton University professor of geosciences
and global warming expert, disagrees. "This is a perfectly defensible
scientific argument," he said, noting that coral reefs and mangroves
"provide a buffer that dissipates the ocean's force" and that these
natural defenses are being destroyed by global warming and
ill-planned development.
According to a recent
<http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/04/international/worldspecial4/04maldives.html>New
York Times article, islands in the Maldives paid a much lower human
price than other areas battered by the tsunami (only 85 people died
in the archipelago) thanks to large surrounding coral reefs that
absorbed much of the impact of the waves. The Maldives have an
unusually healthy population of coral reefs, while worldwide some 70
percent of coral reefs have been destroyed or are threatened by
global warming and other human impacts.
Mangroves -- tropical trees and shrubs that grow densely along
shorelines -- aren't faring much better. Fifty years of coastal
development have ravaged mangrove forests along Indian Ocean coasts,
and that in turn has led to ravaged human settlements, reports Emily
Gertz in <http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/001835.html>
Worldchanging.com. "Mangrove destruction may have factored hugely in
the loss of human life to the South Asia tsunamis, and mangrove
restoration may be key to mitigating future disasters," she writes.
M.S. Swaminathan, a leading agricultural scientist in India, agrees:
"It is now found that wherever the mangroves have been regenerated,
the damage due to the tsunami is minimal," he told
<http://society.guardian.co.uk/environment/story/0,14124,1383851,00.html>the
Guardian.
Global warming could also adversely affect mangroves, as they grow in
swampy coastal areas that could be flooded by rising seas. Global sea
levels increased by four to eight inches on average during the 20th
century, and an additional rise of up to a staggering 2.5 feet is
expected by the year 2100 given current trends, according to a 2001
report by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
An even more chilling statistic, in the wake of the recent tsunami,
is that half of the planet's inhabitants currently live within 50
miles of ocean coastlines, according to Oppenheimer. "If there's a
relationship to tsunamis and global warming, it's a reminder that
billions of people live in coastal regions," he said. "And sea levels
are rising at the same time that the natural protection of the coasts
is being destroyed."
In raising these issues, environmentalists, along with those
advocating for improved early-warning systems and more robust
international disaster relief mechanisms, are working to reduce the
human toll of future disasters. Ideologues on the right, engaged in
their characteristic blend of projection and shadowboxing, might
consider whether their time would be more productively spent joining
the effort.
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About the writer
Amanda Griscom Little is a columnist for
<http://www.gristmagazine.com>Grist Magazine. Her articles on energy,
technology and the environment have appeared in publications ranging
from Rolling Stone to the New York Times Magazine.
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: Pahtoo@aol.com
Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2005 16:45:07 EST
Subject: Re: [Stumps] Fw: Right-wingers are using the tsunami to attack
enviros on gl...
In a message dated 1/10/2005 1:34:53 P.M. Pacific Standard Time,
lance@wildrockies.org writes:
But first a reminder on where NRDC stands........
"I've never heard of anybody in the
environmental community who thinks global warming causes earthquakes or
tsunamis," said Nicole St. Clair, spokeswoman for the Natural Resources
Defense Council's Climate Center. "I'm reluctant to even dignify this with
a response. It's a sham."
Of course NRDC's Ralph Cavanagh said that ENRON taking over PGE would
be "good for the economy and the Oregon environment." Once the PGE
foundation passed out "walking around" grants to Oregon's
establishment greens, they all agreed, pimped for ENRON and it was a
done deal.
Oh yeah, it was an unmitigated disaster for both the economy AND the
environment.
Talk about "shams!" (And when you do, put NRDC at the top of the list.)
MD
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: Lance Olsen <lance@wildrockies.org>
Subject: Re: [Stumps] Fw: Right-wingers are using the tsunami to attack
enviros on global warming
> http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2005/01/07/muck_tsunami/print.html
Dirtying the waters
Right-wingers are using the tsunami to attack enviros on global warming.
> Here's why it doesn't wash.
It doesn't wash?? Well, let's not be so damned hasty here. Just this morning,
I reminded a climate list of some interesting evidence that the link from
climate to quakes DOES wash. I'm re-posting that report (NASA) below.
But first a reminder on where NRDC stands........
> "I've never heard of anybody in the
> environmental community who thinks global warming causes earthquakes or
tsunamis," said Nicole St. Clair, spokeswoman for the Natural Resources
> Defense Council's Climate Center. "I'm reluctant to even dignify this with
a response. It's a sham."
Poor Nicole. She's gonna wanna take those words back.
Unaware of the links between climate and planet, she and NRDC seemed to have
missed the relevant reports. Here's a sample, from 5 months ago! And, earlier
today, I sent another related item to Stumps, indicating that changes
in the SHAPE
of this planet can largely be explained by climate change.
Again, the big, well-funded, metropolitan area greens are behind the curve!
Lance Olsen
Project Director
Cold Mountain, Cold Rivers
(a greatly underfunded grassroots groups in the boonies of western Montana)
***************
NASA News
08.02.04
http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/environment/glacier_quakes.html
Retreating Glaciers Spur Alaskan Earthquakes
Could an extra warm summer cause an earthquake in your backyard?
Probably not... unless you live in Alaska. You probably know that
friction in the earth's crust causes earthquakes, but did you know
that a little extra sunshine might increase your chances of
experiencing an earthquake if you live where glaciers are present?
That's because as glaciers melt, they retreat and lighten the load on
massive rocky slabs of Earth's crust called tectonic plates. This
frees the plates up to move against each other and cause the friction
needed to make earthquakes.
Scientists at NASA and United States Geological Survey (USGS) are
using NASA satellite and global positioning system receivers, as well
as computer models, to study movements of Earth's plates and
shrinking glaciers in southern Alaska. Glaciers here are very
sensitive to climate change. Higher temperatures and changes in
precipitation over the last 100 years appear to be contributing to an
increase in glacier melting in the area.
Southern Alaska is also prone to earthquakes because a tectonic plate
under the Pacific Ocean is pushing into the coast, building up lots
of pressure. The weight of a big glacier on top of these earthquake
active areas can help keep things stable. But, as the glaciers melt
and their load on the plate lessens, there is a greater likelihood of
an earthquake happening to relieve the large strain underneath. Even
though shrinking glaciers make it easier for earthquakes to occur,
the forcing together of tectonic plates is the main reason behind
major earthquakes.
Scientists believe that a 1979 earthquake in southern Alaska, called
the St. Elias earthquake, was promoted by rapidly melting glaciers in
the area. The earthquake had a magnitude of 7.2 on the Richter Scale.
Pressure from colliding tectonic plates had been building since 1899
when the last big earthquake had occurred in this area. Between 1899
and 1979, many glaciers in this region thinned by hundreds of meters
and some completely disappeared.
To study the link between melting glaciers and the St. Elias
earthquake, scientists used aerial and ground photography along with
satellite and ground measurements to estimate how much ice was lost.
Then they calculated how much instability the loss may have caused in
the Earth?s crust. They found the loss of ice would have been enough
to encourage the 1979 St. Elias earthquake.
Using what they know about the St. Elias earthquake, scientists are
continuing to look at Alaska's glaciers with new satellite technology
to get a better grasp on the relationship between rapidly melting
glaciers and the likelihood of earthquakes.
Sarah Dewitt
Goddard Space Flight Center
Last Updated: September 22, 2004
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