Bill McGuire, writing at The Guardian:
It somehow seems appropriate to imagine the Earth beneath our feet as a slumbering giant that tosses and turns periodically in response to various pokes and prods. Mostly, these are supplied by the stresses and strains associated with the eternal dance of a dozen or so rocky tectonic plates across the face of our world; a sedate waltz that proceeds at about the speed that fingernails grow. Changes in the environment too, however, have a key role to play in waking the giant, as growing numbers of geological studies targeting our post-ice age world have disclosed.
It’s easy to see how a melting glacier can affect river flows, but less obvious how the shifting weight of water affects geologic processes. As it is, we strain to understand the timing of earthquakes and volcanoes. Add another unpredictable system like the climate into the mix and it’s almost too much to fathom.