First we had Pat Robertson saying that the Haitian earthquake was punishment from God for a pact with the devil. Now Danny Glover seems to say that it is the response for failing to reach a pact on global warming.
Glover told the media:
“What happened in Haiti could happen to anywhere in the Caribbean because all these island nations are in peril because of global warming. When we see what we did at the climate summit in Copenhagen, this is the response, this is what happens, you know what I’m sayin’?”
No, Danny, I honestly do not know what you are saying. While credible theories abound on the wide array of environmental impacts from global warming, earthquakes are not included in those theories . . . any more than attracting asteroid hits.
In fairness to Glover, he was being rush at the end of an interview. (Though I am a bit perplexed by the suggestion that we are not doing enough given a pledge of $100 million personnel and ships from the U.S.) Glover may have been making a different point that the “response” will likely be needed by more island nations in light of global warming. If that is his point, this is a terrible mangling of words. It is certainly true that, with global warming, we are likely to face greater floods and natural disasters (often not calculated in the costs of dealing with pollution). It is not likely, however, to be like Haiti with an entire city leveled in an earthquake. Still, if that is his meaning, it is a commendable point made in a curious way.
He is being lambasted on both liberal and conservative blogs, so here is the full interview to better understand the meaning in context:
Well Danny and I thought you were bright. The way I see it is if they are taking stuff out of the ground like oil and gas and don’t replenish the gas or fluids it creates a vacuum that has repercussions after a while.
That is why they are pumping water into wells that are drilled. Or the earths Teutonic plates could be shifting again.
But what ever it is the people of Haiti are needing our help.
I posted this on the “Pat Robertson” thread,and I think it would fit on this thread also.
Mr. Glover right or wrong is sighting mother nature as its cause.
I know this person could’nt control mother nature but he and his father could have controled mans inhumanity to man,and now he wants to help?
“In an exclusive email to The Daily Beast, Jean-Claude Duvalier, who fled Haiti for France in 1986, offered quake victims comfort and an $8 million pledge of support. ”
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-01-15/baby-doc-speaks/
This is entirely out of context. Glover was talking about the need for a bold, new internationalism in response to such disasters, comparing the future threats posed by climate change to the earthquake in Haiti. If you bother to listen to the 2:00 interview.
I read somewhere that the melting ice caps at the poles release pressure on the earth and that could trigger faultline slippage. Kinda makes sense: think of a balloon blown up, press on one side and the balloon bulges on the other side, release the pressure, and the balloon regains its shape. If the balloon has a weak spot, it may pop.
The energy exerted by glacial pressure has to go someplace as the glaciers melt. I’m not saying all this is factually true, but it seems logical.
Turley, this post is made entirely of FAIL.
That’s NOT what he said and it’s CLEARLY NOT what he meant. It takes an intentional mis-reading of his statement to assume it’s the same kind of magical-thinking effluence from Pat Robertson’s pie hole (a mis-reading that has been featured on FOX all week).
Your blog is usually great and you are spot on 99% of the time, but you’ve really missed the mark here, Turley. NO BISCUIT FOR YOU.
Tim in SF
“…made entirely of FAIL”.
Tim, this is an expression I’ve never seen before and don’t understand. It doesn’t appear to be mistyped as you took the time to capitalize the letters of the last word. It’s the use of that word in the context of your sentence and sentiment which confuses me. Is this a new street or texting phrase? Would you explain, please.
rcampbell: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Failure#Internet_memes
Please, Mr. Glover, the scientific community doesn’t need that kind of help.
Tim
Thank you.
That Glover is closer than Robertson is no surprise.
But neither have evidence that would get past summary judgment.
Many scientists point out that the melting of icecaps and the resultant increase of the volume of ocean water, will cause weight shifts and pressure shifts on the upper crust of the earth.
That could trigger earthquakes which would not otherwise happen.
But there is no evidence that I know of that would allow anyone to pinpoint the effects of that to the island Haiti is on.
It is more likely that they would be in the polar regions near active faults.
Tim, RC
http://failblog.org/
New high resolution pictures on the destruction from the 2010 Haiti Earthquake have been posted from on the ground in Port-Au-Prince and Jacmel
http://www.jlaforums.com/album.php?search=haiti&search_cond=Pic%20Description&sort_order=&start=0
http://www.jlaforums.com/album.php?search=haiti&search_cond=Pic%20Title&sort_order=&start=0
rcampbell,
http://failblog.org/
Bdaman,
My bad. It was so funny I forgot you had just posted it.
Fail.
Tectonic Plates may be making tiny, moderate (for them) adjustments to the redistribution of weight from ice at the polar caps to water in the seas. What is catastrophic for humans is barely a twitch to the planet.
Mr. Glover was in no way saying that anyone deserved what happened, just that we (Humans) need to be more pro-active about natural calamities. Its wonderful to see the outpouring of compassion, but it doesn’t help the 50,000 dead Haitians, or the several million Haitians who have been starving for decades.
Its too bad because obviously Mr Glover wants to address the issue of global warming yet he picked the wrong time and the wrong way to do it. Not to mention inaccurately. It won’t help the efforts to combat global warming and worse it demonstrates him doing what we just got done criticizing Rush Limbaugh for. Politicizing this tragedy.
Maybe it would be good if everyone in the spotlight kept their opinions on how this earthquake ties to their own political agenda to themselves for a little while. At least until we’ve had enough time to bury the dead.
Bdaman:
here is a link you might be interested in:
http://www.assassinationscience.com/climategate/
Thank you, I have not seen this yet. Let me read it and I’ll get back to you on it later. Did you see where the IPCC has now issued their public statement on the Himalaya melt?
UPDATE: I found an article where a scientist, over 2.5 years ago, predicted a volcanic eruption exactly where one did just happen, shutting down European air travel.
http://ecocosmology.blogspot.com/2010/04/global-warming-volcanic-eruptions.html