Hot Rocks Keep us Alive

From the Discovery Channel News:

If it weren’t for the hot rocks down below Earth’s crust, most of North America would be below sea level, report researchers who say the significance of Earth’s internal heat has been overlooked.

Without it, mile-high Denver would be 727 feet below sea level, the scientists calculate, and New York City, more than a quarter-mile below. Los Angeles would be almost three-quarters of a mile beneath the Pacific.

In fact most of the United States would disappear, except for some major Western mountain ranges, according to research at the University of Utah.

• Earth’s Inner Heat Keeps Cities Afloat