• Question: How will climate change affect the geology of our planet?

    Asked by to Anna, Jane, Iain, Nick on 17 Mar 2014. This question was also asked by , .
    • Photo: Anna Middleton

      Anna Middleton answered on 17 Mar 2014:

      Hi amanda
      A geologist would be able to offer you a much better answer than I ever could. Here are some excellent pages from The Geological Society that explore the impact of climate change: http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/climatechange

    • Photo: Jane Charlesworth

      Jane Charlesworth answered on 19 Mar 2014:

      I can imagine that climate change could effect geology in all kinds of ways. Geology changes a lot depending on the earth’s climate. For example we see sandstone in areas that used to be under sea, which now aren’t because the climate changed and seas dried up (this is really cool because it exposes fossils that would otherwise be buried deep under the sea). Similarly, glaciers can move rocks for huge distances, leading to some pretty spectacular geology. One possible effect of climate change is that it could disrupt the ocean currents that keep Britain at a nice temperate for most of the year. If this happened we could end up with Britain covered in ice!

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