Global warming might lead to deadly tsunamis hitting Britain

Times of India , Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Correspondent : ANI
LONDON: Some of the world's top geologists have warned that if global temperatures continue to rise, Britain might see deadly tsunamis - like those that have hit Asia - head towards it in the future.

According to a report by Sky News, geologists have warned of tsunamis in Britain to huge avalanches in the Alps and volcanic eruptions in Germany, if global warming continues to rise.

They say that evidence from the past reveals that times of dramatic climatic change are characterized by heightened geological activity.

For example, 10,000 years ago at the end of the last ice age, melting ice and rising sea levels triggered a significant rise in volcanic activity.

Professor Bill McGuire, Director of the Benfield Hazard Research Centre at UCL, warned earth's future could be explosive.

"Climate change is very doom and gloom I'm afraid and it's one of those problems that the closer we look at it the worst it seems to get," he told Sky News Online.

"If you want some faint glint of good news from this I suppose that if we see a big volcanic response, the gases pumped into the atmosphere will cool things down at least temporarily, but that's not recommended," he said.

Other experts warn that disintegrating glaciers could cause earthquakes, triggering tsunamis off Chile, New Zealand and Canada, perhaps even sending one across the Atlantic capable of reaching British shores.

"If the temperatures warm and the oceans warm then the hydrates at the sea bed will melt," said Professor David Tappin of the British Geological Survey.

"They will melt catastrophically and in doing so, they'll be forced into the atmosphere but also, they will create submarine landslides which could trigger a tsunami," he added.

 
SOURCE : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/environment/global-warming/Global-warming-might-lead-to-deadly-tsunamis-hitting-Britain/articleshow/5017458.cms
 


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