Lets talk about earthquakes. Im going to link most of my info links in comments below. Yesterdays Napa 6.0 was not near as big as todays 6.9 in Peru which was predicted by scientists after Chiles 8.2 two weeks ago along the same plate line (See Significant Earthquakes and Recent Chilean Earthquakes Signal Potential for Similar Future Events link below). So the two basic questions should we might ask are basically the same as for climate change in general: A) Is there an ominous trend over time, in this case increasing numbers of tremors or increasing quake intensity over time? B) To what degree are human actions involved, so-called induced earthquakes? A) The quick answer to the first question is NO. The highest rate worldwide since 2000 was 2008 (31777 Quakes) followed by 2003 (31419 Q) and 2004 (31194 Q) as compared to 16667 Q for 2012. In the U.S. since 2000 was 2010 (8496 Q) compared to 3836 Q in 2012. Nothing in the 8.0 level in the U.S. in the last decade and weve averaged 1/year in the 7.0 range (See Earthquake “Top 10 Lists & Maps, Earthquake Facts and Statistics, and Earthquake Information for the 1990s links below). B) Are we humans inducing or increasing earthquake rates in local areas due to our activities? Are there some places that are just bad choices for some activities due to their geology because these activities could contribute to earthquakes and other environmental degradations that would endanger humans and other life forms? YES. Scientists at USGS are currently doing research on Induced Earthquakes and have found some interesting correlations with earthquakes over 3.0 magnitude (See Induced Earthquakes link). Specifically in Oklahoma there is growing concern (See Record Number of Oklahoma Tremors Raises Possibility of Damaging Earthquakes, Fracking Is Causing an Earthquake Boom in Oklahoma, and Potentially induced earthquakes in Oklahoma, USA: Links between wastewater injection and the 2011 Mw 5.7 earthquake, links). Solutions: Although many of us would love to see humans evolve their thinking about energy and leave the dirty fossil fuels behind, we need to curtail this dangerous current trend toward fracking. Most of this will have to be done at the state level due to the current corruption in Congress and the constipation in the White House. First and foremost fracking needs to be regulated and monitoring. We should demand the right to know what they are pumping in our ground water and specific quantities in given aquifers. No more Halliburton Loophole which exempts hydraulic fracking from regulation under the Clean Water Act (see The “Halliburton Loophole”: Exemption... link). As it is in the U.S. today, apparently nobody really knows what and how much of these toxic chems they are pumping into our ground water (see Fracking Chemicals May Be Unknown, Even To Gas Drillers, Lawsuit Documents Suggest link). This always makes my brain drift back to the BP spill in the Gulf, toxins which are now in the Gulf Stream headed up to help warm the Arctic Current. I recently asked a formidable Atmospheric scientists at NOAA who works on Climate Change and who seem in command of the global research and he told me, to the best of his knowledge, nobody is tracking that. But I digress. One important historical note for we Westerners is the legislation recently drafted in California where the frackers are required to list the toxins. Environmentalists say the regs dont go far enough (see thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/09/22/2662101/californias-anti-fracking-law-draws-opposition-environmentalists-big-oil/ link). Finally, as a Nevadan, I want to argue that some places are just plain wrong for fracking, just as they are for nuclear waste dumps. The geology is just wrong. Im going to close with the 2014 U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Seismic Hazard Map for Conterminous US, PGA, 2% in 50 years (see link in list provided in the comments). If you think Oklahoma has problems, just look at our geology. In peace and solidarity for a sustainable future. earthquake.usgs.gov/hazards/products/conterminous/2014/2014_pga2pct50yrs.pdf.
Posted on: Mon, 25 Aug 2014 17:03:37 +0000
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