Question from a non-scientist
A question just occurred to me, and since the only scientist I know in RL is in a WAY different discipline, I figured I'd post here and see if anyone could give a quick answer. (I read the community guidelines and no, this isn't for homework or anything. Also, I apologize if I shouldn't be posting at, since I'm not a scientist. I'm just a science geek without any appreciable math skill. I hope my liberal arts education doesn't prevent me from explaining my point adequately.)
Anyway, I was trying to explain to someone that global warming and volcanoes are not related (and that thus the apocalypse was not well nigh), but then I got to wondering if that's necessarily true. I mean, global warming wouldn't affect just the air and water -- the planet's crust would also have to warm a certain degree. And when matter increases in temperature, it expands. And since there are several tectonic plates already grinding and sliding against each other, wouldn't an expansion (if ever so slight) exacerbate the tension between tectonic plates and along faults? And if so, wouldn't that increase the chances of strong earthquakes (and perhaps to a lesser extent, volcanic eruptions)? And sure, the plates would probably just adjust to any expansion via several smaller quakes without thermal expansion ever causing "the big one," but isn't it at least possible that given the fact the Earth is a closed system, a universal change like a temperature increase could have an impact on just about anything within that system?
Thanks in advance, even if your reply is just to tell me that I should go invest in some basic science books.
Anyway, I was trying to explain to someone that global warming and volcanoes are not related (and that thus the apocalypse was not well nigh), but then I got to wondering if that's necessarily true. I mean, global warming wouldn't affect just the air and water -- the planet's crust would also have to warm a certain degree. And when matter increases in temperature, it expands. And since there are several tectonic plates already grinding and sliding against each other, wouldn't an expansion (if ever so slight) exacerbate the tension between tectonic plates and along faults? And if so, wouldn't that increase the chances of strong earthquakes (and perhaps to a lesser extent, volcanic eruptions)? And sure, the plates would probably just adjust to any expansion via several smaller quakes without thermal expansion ever causing "the big one," but isn't it at least possible that given the fact the Earth is a closed system, a universal change like a temperature increase could have an impact on just about anything within that system?
Thanks in advance, even if your reply is just to tell me that I should go invest in some basic science books.