Earth's 'hum' may reveal stormier climate
source: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17177-earths-hum-may-reveal-stormier-climate.html
-
-
- JanforGore
- added this
The world is abuzz with climate change – in more ways than one. Swelling waves and rising sea levels can be detected in the way the planet "hums", says an oceanographer.
Peter Bromirski, of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, says that seismic listening stations provide a long-term record of how the amount of energy reaching the world's shores is changing with climate change.
Most geologists who study seismology try to eliminate background noise in their data, but a handful of researchers have started to take a closer look at it.
They have identified at least three different types of "noise", including the Earth's hum, which was first discovered in 1998. The other two are called "microseisms" – tiny earthquakes – and have slightly different acoustic properties.
snip
This may all seem academic, but bigger waves carry more energy. As a result, the century-long record of hum and microseisms can reveal how much of a pounding coasts have experienced, and could help predict how much more pounding they can expect.
"This is important from coastal erosion and shoreline change perspectives under rising sea levels," says Bromirski.
Peter Bromirski, of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, says that seismic listening stations provide a long-term record of how the amount of energy reaching the world's shores is changing with climate change.
Most geologists who study seismology try to eliminate background noise in their data, but a handful of researchers have started to take a closer look at it.
They have identified at least three different types of "noise", including the Earth's hum, which was first discovered in 1998. The other two are called "microseisms" – tiny earthquakes – and have slightly different acoustic properties.
snip
This may all seem academic, but bigger waves carry more energy. As a result, the century-long record of hum and microseisms can reveal how much of a pounding coasts have experienced, and could help predict how much more pounding they can expect.
"This is important from coastal erosion and shoreline change perspectives under rising sea levels," says Bromirski.
-
- groups:
- Tech, Green, Earth and Science
-
- tags:
- Green, Tech, Earth and Science, Climate Change, 5 more
-
-
JanforGore
-
The Earth is alive.
- 2 years ago
-
JanforGore
