THE SHALLOW DEPTH INFLUENCED BY THE REGIONAL RISE IN TEMPERATURE CAUSING MORE EARTHQUAKES IN ALASKA

ABSTRACT

Our entire planet is experiencing the dangers of global warming that have gone beyond what implied by climate change. Recently 2017 has been declared all time second warmest year by NOAA on record for the entire globe, while a BBC report from Alaska “a great thaw of America is coming” suggests that the steady rising trend of summer temperatures every year, making the thaw deeper hence causing the permafrost to become less stable, for which human activity has been the major cause of rise in temperature for past few decades.
Regional studies of Alaska show that global warming due to climate change cannot just trigger volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, and landslides but can also enhance earthquake activity due to rapid melting of glaciers. Because when glaciers melt, the unloading can cause a bounce back also called isostatic rebound which can reactivate the pre-existing faults hence increases seismic activity. The study involves statistical techniques such as Pearson’s correlation coefficient and Regression analysis to establish a link between global warming with the subsurface moments of tectonic plates. The paper also suggests subsurface depth estimates affected due to soaring temperatures causing frequent tectonic disturbances –earthquakes based on a case study from Alaska.

Keywords: Global warming, temperature rise, melting glaciers, frequent earthquakes, shallow earthquakes.