Comments for Tsunami A Novel & Red Sky | Novels by Gordon Gumpertz http://www.tsunaminaturaldisaster.com Sat, 07 Jan 2012 09:09:11 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Comment on Vanishing Islands in a Rising Sea by Jennifer Doherty http://www.tsunaminaturaldisaster.com/vanishing-islands-in-a-rising-sea#comment-400 Jennifer Doherty Sat, 07 Jan 2012 09:09:11 +0000 http://www.tsunaminaturaldisaster.com/?p=252#comment-400 While the Earth has always endured natural climate change variability, we are now facing the possibility of irreversible climate change in the near future. The increase of greenhouse gases in the Earth?s atmosphere from industrial processes has enhanced the natural greenhouse effect. This in turn has accentuated the greenhouse ?trap? effect, causing greenhouse gases to form a blanket around the Earth, inhibiting the sun?s heat from leaving the outer atmosphere. This increase of greenhouse gases is causing an additional warming of the Earth?s surface and atmosphere. A direct consequence of this is sea-level rise expansion, which is primarily due to the thermal expansion of oceans (water expands when heated), inducing the melting of ice sheets as global surface temperature increases. Forecasts for climate change by the 2,000 scientists on the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) project a rise in the global average surface temperature by 1.4 to 5.8°C from 1990 to 2100. This will result in a global mean sea level rise by an average of 5 mm per year over the next 100 years. Consequently, human-induced climate change will have ?deleterious effects? on ecosystems, socio-economic systems and human welfare.At the moment, especially high risks associated with the rise of the oceans are having a particular impact on the two archipelagic states of Western Polynesia: Tuvalu and Kiribati. According to UN forecasts, they may be completely inundated by the rising waters of the Pacific by 2050.According to the vast majority of scientific investigations, warming waters and the melting of polar and high-elevation ice worldwide will steadily raise sea levels. This will likely drive people off islands first by spoiling the fresh groundwater, which will kill most land plants and leave no potable water for humans and their livestock. Low-lying island states like Kiribati, Tuvalu, the Marshall Islands and the Maldives are the most prominent nations threatened in this way.“The biggest challenge is to preserve their nationality without a territory,” said Bogumil Terminski from Geneva. The best solution is continue to recognize deterritorialized states as a normal states in public international law. The case of Kiribati and other small island states is a particularly clear call to action for more secure countries to respond to the situations facing these ‘most vulnerable nations’, as climate change increasingly impacts upon their lives. While the Earth has always endured natural climate change variability, we are now facing the possibility of irreversible climate change in the near future. The increase of greenhouse gases in the Earth?s atmosphere from industrial processes has enhanced the natural greenhouse effect. This in turn has accentuated the greenhouse ?trap? effect, causing greenhouse gases to form a blanket around the Earth, inhibiting the sun?s heat from leaving the outer atmosphere. This increase of greenhouse gases is causing an additional warming of the Earth?s surface and atmosphere. A direct consequence of this is sea-level rise expansion, which is primarily due to the thermal expansion of oceans (water expands when heated), inducing the melting of ice sheets as global surface temperature increases.
Forecasts for climate change by the 2,000 scientists on the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) project a rise in the global average surface temperature by 1.4 to 5.8°C from 1990 to 2100. This will result in a global mean sea level rise by an average of 5 mm per year over the next 100 years. Consequently, human-induced climate change will have ?deleterious effects? on ecosystems, socio-economic systems and human welfare.At the moment, especially high risks associated with the rise of the oceans are having a particular impact on the two archipelagic states of Western Polynesia: Tuvalu and Kiribati. According to UN forecasts, they may be completely inundated by the rising waters of the Pacific by 2050.According to the vast majority of scientific investigations, warming waters and the melting of polar and high-elevation ice worldwide will steadily raise sea levels. This will likely drive people off islands first by spoiling the fresh groundwater, which will kill most land plants and leave no potable water for humans and their livestock. Low-lying island states like Kiribati, Tuvalu, the Marshall Islands and the Maldives are the most prominent nations threatened in this way.“The biggest challenge is to preserve their nationality without a territory,” said Bogumil Terminski from Geneva. The best solution is continue to recognize deterritorialized states as a normal states in public international law. The case of Kiribati and other small island states is a particularly clear call to action for more secure countries to respond to the situations facing these ‘most vulnerable nations’, as climate change increasingly impacts upon their lives.

]]> Comment on Japanese Earthquake Catastrophe: Where Will It Happen Next? by Bhaswoti Sarmah http://www.tsunaminaturaldisaster.com/japanese-earthquake-catastrophe-where-will-it-happen-next#comment-330 Bhaswoti Sarmah Sat, 11 Jun 2011 14:57:42 +0000 http://www.tsunaminaturaldisaster.com/?p=283#comment-330 I will be going to Lavalette in New Jersey and Boston...I was wondering can a tsunami happen there?? Please answer as soon as possible. Is it likely for a tsunami to occur in Lavalette? (Lavalette is in Ocean County) I will be going to Lavalette in New Jersey
and Boston…I was wondering can a tsunami happen there?? Please answer as soon as possible. Is it likely for a tsunami to occur in Lavalette? (Lavalette is in Ocean County)

]]> Comment on Japanese Earthquake Catastrophe: Where Will It Happen Next? by Gordon http://www.tsunaminaturaldisaster.com/japanese-earthquake-catastrophe-where-will-it-happen-next#comment-323 Gordon Mon, 11 Apr 2011 15:53:57 +0000 http://www.tsunaminaturaldisaster.com/?p=283#comment-323 Hello Anne: A number of news organizations including CNN and the New York Times interviewed geophysicists at the United States Geological Survey (USGS) after the March 11 Japan earthquake. USGS reported that based on the movement of global positioning stations in that area, the northeast coast of Honshu shifted east by between 7 and 13 feet. Reason given is that Japan is situated on an extension of the North American Plate. The Pacific Plate has been pressing against the North American Plate for hundreds of years, gradually moving the coast of Japan westward. When the fault line rupture occurred, the Pacific Plate slid under the North American Plate, releasing the compression on the North American Plate, and allowing it to snap back and recover some of its lost ground. Hope this helps. Gordon Hello Anne:
A number of news organizations including CNN and the New York Times
interviewed geophysicists at the United States Geological Survey
(USGS) after the March 11 Japan earthquake. USGS reported that based
on the movement of global positioning stations in that area, the
northeast coast of Honshu shifted east by between 7 and 13 feet.
Reason given is that Japan is situated on an extension of the North
American Plate. The Pacific Plate has been pressing against the North
American Plate for hundreds of years, gradually moving the coast of
Japan westward. When the fault line rupture occurred, the Pacific
Plate slid under the North American Plate, releasing the compression
on the North American Plate, and allowing it to snap back and recover
some of its lost ground. Hope this helps.
Gordon

]]> Comment on Japanese Earthquake Catastrophe: Where Will It Happen Next? by Anne Brauer http://www.tsunaminaturaldisaster.com/japanese-earthquake-catastrophe-where-will-it-happen-next#comment-322 Anne Brauer Fri, 08 Apr 2011 15:24:24 +0000 http://www.tsunaminaturaldisaster.com/?p=283#comment-322 I have heard but not read myself in print. "That the nation of Japan shifted 6 feet during the March 11 quake. Please tell me about the shift of the shafts under the water. I have heard but not read myself in print. “That the nation of Japan shifted 6 feet during the March 11 quake. Please tell me about the shift of the shafts under the water.

]]> Comment on Did you know? by Gordon http://www.tsunaminaturaldisaster.com/did-you-know#comment-8 Gordon Sat, 04 Oct 2008 17:08:33 +0000 http://www.tsunaminaturaldisaster.com/?p=28#comment-8 Barbara: According to a report by the California Seismic Safety Commission, California is at risk from both local and distant tsunamis. In the last 150 years, over 80 tsunami events have occurred along the California coast, most of them so small they were measurable only by tidal gauge variations. However, eleven were large enough to cause damage. The two largest were the 1960 Chilean undersea earthquake that sent a major tsunami spreading throughout the Pacific Basin, causing over $1,000,000 in damage to ports and harbors from San Diego to the Oregon border. And the Great Alaska Earthquake of 1964 that sent a tsunami rolling down the coastlines of Canada, Washington, Oregon, and California. A wave 21 feet high struck Crescent City, taking 12 lives and flooding a large part of the city. Two-thirds of California's tsunamis come from distant sources, mostly undersea earthquakes in other parts of the Pacific Basin. The balance are local events and usually small. The only significant local tsunami was caused by the Point Arguello earthquake in 1927. It produced a 7-foot wave that impacted areas near the epicenter. Although a major tsunami hitting Southern California is a distinct possibility, the odds of one happening are low. The nearest location where a major undersea earthquake might occur is the Cascadia Subduction Zone that runs along the seafloor off Oregon and Washington, 800 miles north of Southern California beaches. It has been 300 years since the last major undersea earthquake took place on the Cascadia, causing sudden seafloor deformation and spawning a tsunami comparable to the one that hit Sumatra in 2004. If that were to happen today, it is highly possible that a 15 to 20 foot tsunami would sweep down the coast and strike coastal communities from Santa Barbara to San Diego. There are a series of fault lines in the Santa Barbara Channel that have produced earthquakes of magnitude 6.0 and under, but none have caused measurable tsunamis. The continental shelf is not too far offshore, and undersea landslides on the edge of the shelf could produce a localized tsunami, but no such event that I am aware of has been recorded in the Southern California area. Southern California is not as likely to experience a damaging tsunami as those areas closer to major subduction zones, but the area is considered at risk from both distant and local tsunamis. In all probability, the Alaska and Pacific Coast Tsunami Warning Center will issue a tsunami alert in time to evacuate before a major tsunami from a distant source arrives. Barbara: According to a report by the California Seismic Safety Commission, California is at risk from both local and distant tsunamis. In the last 150 years, over 80 tsunami events have occurred along the California coast, most of them so small they were measurable only by tidal gauge variations. However, eleven were large enough to cause damage. The two largest were the 1960 Chilean undersea earthquake that sent a major tsunami spreading throughout the Pacific Basin, causing over $1,000,000 in damage to ports and harbors from San Diego to the Oregon border. And the Great Alaska Earthquake of 1964 that sent a tsunami rolling down the coastlines of Canada, Washington, Oregon, and California. A wave 21 feet high struck Crescent City, taking 12 lives and flooding a large part of the city.
Two-thirds of California’s tsunamis come from distant sources, mostly undersea earthquakes in other parts of the Pacific Basin. The balance are local events and usually small. The only significant local tsunami was caused by the Point Arguello earthquake in 1927. It produced a 7-foot wave that impacted areas near the epicenter.
Although a major tsunami hitting Southern California is a distinct possibility, the odds of one happening are low. The nearest location where a major undersea earthquake might occur is the Cascadia Subduction Zone that runs along the seafloor off Oregon and Washington, 800 miles north of Southern California beaches. It has been 300 years since the last major undersea earthquake took place on the Cascadia, causing sudden seafloor deformation and spawning a tsunami comparable to the one that hit Sumatra in 2004. If that were to happen today, it is highly possible that a 15 to 20 foot tsunami would sweep down the coast and strike coastal communities from Santa Barbara to San Diego.
There are a series of fault lines in the Santa Barbara Channel that have produced earthquakes of magnitude 6.0 and under, but none have caused measurable tsunamis. The continental shelf is not too far offshore, and undersea landslides on the edge of the shelf could produce a localized tsunami, but no such event that I am aware of has been recorded in the Southern California area.
Southern California is not as likely to experience a damaging tsunami as those areas closer to major subduction zones, but the area is considered at risk from both distant and local tsunamis. In all probability, the Alaska and Pacific Coast Tsunami Warning Center will issue a tsunami alert in time to evacuate before a major tsunami from a distant source arrives.

]]> Comment on Did you know? by B.N.Dunning http://www.tsunaminaturaldisaster.com/did-you-know#comment-6 B.N.Dunning Thu, 18 Sep 2008 17:13:24 +0000 http://www.tsunaminaturaldisaster.com/?p=28#comment-6 Gordon: I loved your book (as have my friends)and I do have a question re the possibilitiy of a Tsunamin hitting the southern coast of California. When the tsunami hit in 2005, the so-called experts said that our coastline was not subject to a tsunami and we weren't to worry. Is that a fact, or sugar-coated to appease us? barbara Gordon: I loved your book (as have my friends)and I do have a question re the possibilitiy of a Tsunamin hitting the southern coast of California.

When the tsunami hit in 2005, the so-called experts said that our coastline was not subject to a tsunami and we weren’t to worry. Is that a fact, or sugar-coated to appease us?

barbara

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