On September 13, the National Public Radio (NPR) published an article titled “Climate change-related landslides 'shaked' the Earth for nine days, researchers say.” Other media published similar headlines The Guardian's, “The entire Earth shook for nine days after a massive climate-induced tsunami.” [emphasis, links added]
While the part about seismic activity being detected around the world for nine consecutive days is true, Attempts to link landslides to climate change are misguided and can be easily refuted by anyone who examines history.
“In September 2023, the climate crisis triggered landslides and a massive tsunami in Greenland that shook the entire planet for nine days, a scientific investigation has found.” The Guardian wrote.
NPR says:
According to research published in the journal Science by Svennevig and nearly 70 co-authors, the signal can be traced to a massive avalanche in Dixon Fjord in eastern Greenland, which was triggered by melting glaciers caused by climate change.
About 1.2 kilometers (3/4 mile) above the remote fjord, a mountaintop collapsed, sending more than 25 million cubic meters of rock and ice into the water. Researchers say the material is large enough to fill 10,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
Researchers said the tsunami was as high as 200 meters (656 feet). As the energy of the waves is trapped in the rocky fjords, the water sloshes back and forth, creating a phenomenon called seiche, a pattern that scientists have tracked in seismic signals detected by sensors from the Arctic to Antarctica.
Facts refute scientists’ assertions that avalanches are linked to climate change, such as:
- Glaciers melt, calve, and trigger local tsunamis. This is what they do and have been doing for thousands of years. The same goes for rock slides. Nothing new here. No need for climate change.
- Seismic waves produced by calving glaciers are nothing new; in fact, they occur “all the time” in Antarctica, according to the University of Leeds. At best, this was a novelty, as the signal lasted nine days.
- A University of San Diego press release sparked this story and many others Exaggerate the drama and alarm and downplay the science. The press release linking the event to climate change is highly misleading, especially since no mechanism other than the melting of glaciers that occurs every summer is proposed. They also use the term “megatsunami” for dramatic effect.
- “Tidal tsunamis” and continuous seismic waves occur only because Narrow fjords mean kinetic energy has nowhere to go. If it disintegrated into the open ocean, it would be another normal occurrence on seismic radar.
- Finally, the most important thing is Megatsunamis are nothing new. They have all happened throughout recorded history. Wikipedia lists many examples:
Examples of modern megatsunamis include those associated with the 1883 Krakatoa eruption (volcanic eruption), the 1958 Lituya Bay megatsunami (a landslide that triggered an initial wave of 524 meters (1,719 ft)), and the Vajont Dam Landslides (caused by human activity that destabilizes the valley sides). Prehistoric examples include the Storega landslide (landslide) and the Chicxulub, Chesapeake Bay, and Eltanin meteor impacts.
Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are the most common causes of landslides that trigger tsunamis.
Of course, landslides can also occur when receding ice and snow no longer support rock surfaces, as was the case here. But how did researchers determine that climate change was the culprit? Normal short-term weather events can also cause landslides.
The U.S. Geological Survey lists common causes of landslides:
Slopes already on the verge of movement can trigger landslides due to rainfall, snowmelt, changes in water levels, stream erosion, groundwater changes, earthquakes, volcanic activity, human disturbance, or any combination of these factors.
Climate change is not listed.
Not listed, Because it has nothing to do with landslides. They reported the findings in the latest scientific assessment by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) There are no new signals linking climate change to landslides, and they don't anticipate any future landslides.
The following is Table 12.12 in Chapter 12 on page 90 of the United Nations IPCC Sixth Assessment Report – the emergence of climate impact drivers (CID) in different periods.
Color corresponds to the confidence in areas with the highest confidence: white indicates where there is little evidence of a climate change signal or where no signal exists, resulting in an overall low confidence in emerging signals.
Scientists claim that recent landslides in Greenland were caused by climate change, but there is no evidence to support this claim.
Sadly, the mainstream media pounced on this highly polished press release because it contained mind-blowing claims that fit the climate catastrophe narrative they seemed obsessed with, regardless of the facts.
In their rush to publish, They did not conduct due diligence to determine whether the climate link claims had any merit, they simply rebutted the claims as if they were fact.
This is the sad state of our mainstream media today.
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