Please don't be rediculous. Ice shelfs are melting, volcanos are misbehaving all over the world, we had the most devasting fires in history in Melbourne this year, and I still don't need a jumper in Perth and it's April.

THERE IS SUCH A THING A GLOBAL WARMING!! It may not be farting cows that is causing it, but whether it's us or a natural phenomina, it's happening.

What on earth does a bunch of little earthquakes and steam venting in Yellowstone and off the coast of Oregon have to do with Global Warming??

There are some rather scathing remarks already left for you here. Some of them use reliable information and suppositions, while others do not.

I read your profile and I understand that you're a senior at college "involved" with Environmental Journalism. Involved with but not majoring in? Even your profile is a little hazy. But I digress…

First, a swarm of volcano related earthquakes occur in great numbers, not amounts. Second and more importantly, a swarm is not measured as an entity unto itself. A swarm consists of hundreds or thousands of quakes, and EACH is measured and given separate values on a numerical scale.

The on-line source of information you evidently buzzed through, without attention to detail, said that the LARGEST individual quake, within the recent swarm of earthquakes, measured 3.9 in magnitude. It is improper and incorrect to say that the SWARM measured 3.9 in magnitude. There’s a huge difference, dear.

As for your assessment of the Oregon quakes, your statements here are also very much in error. If as you say, the quakes in question occurred both on land and at sea, then they are certainly in proximity to a subduction zone, involving both plate activity and potential coastal magma movement. I don’t intend to give you a lengthy lesson in geology here, but again, I highly recommend that you consult with a patient geology professor.

Oh, and then came your parting shot and arbitrary inclusion of global warming, as if climate change was at fault for volcanic activity… Oh… my…

Seriously – If this short article is indicative of the quality of your writing in general, stop trying to write. Just stop. Because it’s likely that some poor, naïve student out there will take what you say as being authoritative on the subject. And sadly, you’re not even close.

You would do better to plagiarize directly instead of paraphrasing inaccurately about something you clearly don’t understand. If you’re truly interested in environment concerns, you might think about taking up vermiculture as an alternative form of expression. The earthworms love shredded paper.

~ T.C. Kennedy

What on earth does a bunch of little earthquakes and steam venting in Yellowstone and off the coast of Oregon have to do with Global Warming??

I would have been glad not to come on here and share this information.

Yellowstone, Jan. 9 2009, 11:17 am local time, a 3.3 magnitude earthquake was recorded. It was recorded on every monitor in the park. Except one. The monitor LKWY at Yellowstone Lake did not register the quake. Why? Also, the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology webicoders LKWY seismogram graph shows a huge gap in readings today. Why? http://www.seis.utah.edu/req2webdir/recenteqs/Map… http://www.seis.utah.edu/helicorder/GIFs/misc/ynpwebcord.gif http://www.seis.utah.edu/helicorder/GIFs/misc/ynp… http://mbmgquake.mtech.edu/earthworm/wavef_disp/welcome.html

If the area at the lake is active why would they have a malfunctioning monitor at this site? It was not working properly during the last few days. The readings stop and start. I don't want to believe that they are hiding something, but the graphs speak for themselves. What's going on? Start making inquiries with the USGS and ask why the readings have discrepencies and large gaps in the data. I am not an American citizen, I cannot call up and demand to know what the hell is going on. Check the data and call a reporter if you think they are hiding something. I don't want to believe it. Check for yourself.

Sincerely,

Robin Marks