Subject: Comment on Question for D.Helvarg

A reader asked the following:

Is there any conceivable connection between atmospheric behavior and

tectonic activity? In other words, could changes to the atmosphere

trigger mantle events?    -- Carole McIntyre, Waynesburg, Penn.

Guess what? There IS such a connection that is

part of what Jim Lovelock and Lynn Margulis might

call a "Gaian feedback mechanism"...

I refer to pages 130-131 of the chapter called METABOLOISM AND

PLANETARY BIOCHEMISTRY, In 'HEALING GAIA'.

"Could Gaia be, even partially, responsible for the plate tectonic

movements of the Earth's Crust? The Earth is certainly, it seems,

exceptional among the known planets in having such movements. It was

the geologist Don Anderson who first speculated that the

sedimentation of limestone on the ocean floor, long ago in life's

history, could have so altered the chemistry and temperature of the

crustal rocks as to make it possible for the machinery of plate

movement to begin. The geological event that changed the crustal

rocks near the continental margins and made the crust unstable is

known as the "basalt-eclogite phase change". The early presence of

the microflora of the oceans, and their constant rain of limestone

tests to form limestone deposits, thus may have been the trigger that

led to the slow swirl of the crustal plates across the globe."

Add to that more carbon in the atmosphere, and you create a

possibility of faster rate of limestone deposition. Add to that the

dynamics of complex, non-linear catastrophic change, and you have the

"forbidden knowledge", perhaps, that could lead us to see a very real

link between increased atmospheric carbon(climate change), tectonic

movements, and thus, tsunami generating events. Just now, both sides

are hagggling over who was stupid enough to suggest that climate

change had anything to do with the tsunamis. Well, maybe it is not so

silly a thought after all! Maybe "The People" have an intuition that

is more than just paranoia; it's more like "meta-noia",that is,

knowledge that goes beyond our official states of denial, so it gets

deflected into rumours of underground nuclear tests. By the way,

there ARE deep underground nuclear reactions going on....only, they

are part of planetary dynamics: the "inner heat" of the earth's

interior is generated partly by radioactivity.

  So, my point is, the answer is a resounding 'YES!'

First Name: Paul

Ideas are a difference that makes a difference.

Personally, I think that we ignore connections between natural disasters and environmental degredation at our peril. (And i'm talking about all kinds of problems here, not just global climate change).  Our ecological mis-steps may not necessarily cause a natural disaster, but they can certainly make it worse.  The current administration has been promoting "salvage" logging as a way to protect homes from forest fires,   but uncontrolled clearcutting in mountainous areas can actually increase the danger of destructive landslides and flooding. All to often, we environmentalists are portrayed as  being more concerned with the wellbeing of birds and fish than  with that of human beings.  We need to point out that things that are harmful to birds, fish, and redwood trees are often not very healthy for us, either.  And, when we are told that poor countries can't afford the "luxury" of environmental protection, we need to respond that they can't afford not to protect their environment.