Waking the giant
Subtitle: how a changing climate triggers earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanoes
By: Bill McGuire
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2012
Place of publication: Oxford [England]; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 303
ISBN-13: 9780199592265
Subjects: Environmental aspects; Climatic changes; Tsunamis; Earthquakes; Volcanic eruptions
Other titles: How a changing climate triggers earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanoes
Description: "The ground beneath our feet may seem safe and solid, but earthquakes, volcanic blasts and other hazardous natural phenomena leave us in no doubt that this isn't the case. The Earth is a dynamic planet of shifting tectonic plates that is responsive to change, particularly when there is a dramatic climate transition. We know that at the end of the last Ice Age, as the great glaciers disappeared, the release in pressure allowed the crust beneath to bounce back. At the same time, staggering volumes of melt water poured into the ocean basins, warping and bending the crust around their margins. The resulting tossing and turning provoked a huge resurgence in volcanic activity, seismic shocks, and monstrous landslides -- the last both above the waves and below. The frightening truth is that temperature rises expected this century are in line with those at the end of the Ice Age. All the signs, warns geophysical hazard specialist Bill McGuire, are that unmitigated climate change due to human activities could bring about a comparable response. Using evidence accumulated from studies of the recent history of our planet, and gleaned from current observations and modeling, he argues convincingly that we ignore at our peril the threats that presented by climate change and the waking giant beneath our feet."--Cover.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 271-282) and index.
Table of contents: title: The storm after the calm; title: Once and future climate; title: Nice day for an eruption; title: Bouncing back; title: Earth in motion; title: Water, water, everywhere; title: Reawakening the giant.