Quakes vs global warming: Seismic activity found to reduce greenhouse gases, combat acidification in oceans

Chinese team believe movement of earth’s tectonic plates can offset some of the impact of climate change, but say more research required to test hypothesis.

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Another deadly earthquake hit Ya’an city in Sichuan province in April 2013, destroying homes, roads and lives and reviving the debate about reservoir-induced seismicity. But scientists now say there may be a silver lining to these ominous natural disasters. Photo: AFP

Published: 3:45pm, 2 Dec 2015Updated: 6:05pm, 8 Mar 2018

Rather than just being something to fear, earthquakes may be a secret ally in man’s fight against global warming, according to an international study led by Chinese scientists.

Quakes can release chemicals like silicates that not just trap greenhouse gas but also help prevent ecological disasters induced by global warming such as ocean acidification, according to their paper published in the journal Geology, run by the Geological Society of America.

Climate change jumped to the top of the agenda this month as Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Barack Obama joined a host of world leaders and 40,000 delegates in France earlier this week for the formal opening of UN Climate Change Conference in Paris.

The event, which saw Xi urge nations to unite in tackling common challenges, has been billed as “one of the most important international conferences in history”, and Chinese scientists have been exploring various avenues around the topic to understand climate change better.

Quakes, and the silicates they release, are just the latest area of exploration.

Silicates - or alkaline salts that contain silicon and oxygen, among other elements - can absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.