Climate change, which used to be known as global warming, is responsible for creating a greater risk of seismic events if you believe UN advisor İbrahim Özdemir. A resident of Turkey, which along with neighboring Syria recently experienced a horrendous earthquake with loss of life of more than 40,000, Özdemir believes that fossil-fuel companies must be held liable for such events in the future.
Özdemir didn’t come out and directly blame climate change for the devastating quake in Turkey and Syria, but he made it clear that he believes that global warming will create a much more treacherous seismic future for the Earth.
“We do not know for sure what triggered this horrific natural disaster, but we do know there is growing scientific evidence that climate change increases the risk of such tremors, together with tsunamis and volcanic eruptions,” Özdemir, who has a Ph.D. in philosophy, wrote in an op-ed published by Euronews.
Apparently, some researchers believe that if all other factors are in place for a geological event such as an earthquake or volcanic eruption to occur, a slightly warming climate might push it over the edge.
“If a fault is primed or ready to rupture, all that is needed is the pressure of a handshake to set if off…. Environmental changes associated with rapid and accelerating climate breakdown could easily do the job,” University College London’s Bill McGuire said in 2012.
Özdemir repeats an oft-quoted claim that has origins rooted in UN propaganda.
“Climate and weather-related disasters have surged five-fold over the past five decades, killing over two million people, with 91% of the casualties in developing countries. And it is only getting worse,” the philosopher claimed.
But the same UN report that makes that erroneous claim points out, “But the news is far from all bad. Thanks to improved early warning systems and disaster management, the number of deaths decreased almost threefold between 1970 and 2019 — falling from 50,000 in the 1970s to less than 20,000 in the 2010s.”
And as other researchers have pointed out, that “five-fold” surge in “climate and weather-related disasters” over the past five decades is largely explained by increased observational ability and reporting, especially in the area of tropical storms.
According to Özdemir, the fossil-fuel industry bears much of the responsibility for those weather disasters and, apparently, for earthquake activity as well.
“Fossil fuel companies bear significant responsibility for the climate emergency yet enjoy near-total impunity. At the same time, they are consistently reaping record profits — while ordinary citizens across the globe struggle to pay their household bills,” Özdemir writes.
Özdemir’s rant is hardly the first time that a climate hysteric has attempted to blame geological phenomena on climate change.
For centuries, people have claimed that there is such a thing as “earthquake weather,” where hot and calm conditions may lead to an earthquake. This myth has been busted by none other than the climate hysterics at NASA.
A 2019 report by NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Alan Buis explains:
With the advent of seismology — the study of earthquakes — we now know that most quakes are caused by tectonic processes — forces within the solid Earth that drive changes in the structure of Earth’s crust, primarily the rupture of underground rock masses along faults (linear zones of weakness). We also know that most earthquakes occur far beneath Earth’s surface, well beyond the influence of surface temperatures and conditions. Finally, we know the statistical distribution of earthquakes is approximately equal across all types of weather conditions. Myth busted.
But, of course, no good crisis should go to waste, so propagandists such as Özdemir are trotted out to play the Malthusian blame game, and there is no easier target for such blame than fossil-fuel companies, who, with their products, still power the majority of the world in a way that wind and solar could never hope to.
“Governments must take this message seriously by joining forces to end this giant profit-making scheme against the planet,” Özdemir wrote. “Instead of being sued by them, governments should consider whether and how to hold fossil fuel firms liable for the damages their operations have caused to countless victims worldwide. The potential proceeds should be then invested in accelerating net zero.”
With the climate cult, selling fear is the main thing, the driving factor in everything that they claim. Everything from severe acne to flesh eating disease to bovine infertility have been blamed on climate change. Why not earthquakes, too?
