Answer:
The correct answer is Tectonic plate movement is a long-term environmental change.
Explanation:
When tectonic plates in the earth started to move, this process helped the planet to evolve and to shape the continents as exist today.
Different investigation teams have discovered that plates move approximately 2.5 centimeters per year. This movement is the key to the evolution of life and the development of the planet. This slow process involves mountain formation, rocks exposure, and chemical reactions that could stabilize the temperature on the earth´s surface for millions of years. And this stable weather is essential for the evolution of life. Plates movement carries carbon inside and outside of the planet, regulating the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (greenhouse effect). In this way, it can regulate the temperature. This regulation influence in precipitations, chemical reactions that involve carbon release and minerals such as calcium, the water flow, volcanic eruptions, among other events. Plates tectonic is also responsible for life, as weathering and mineralization of the rocks release elements and nutrients that are necessary for the life of different organisms.
So, up to this point, we can say that tectonic plates movement can not be prevented with planning, it does cause environmental change by regulating temperature, and hence it affects organisms.
There are short term effects and long term effects provoked by tectonic plates movement. Earthquakes are examples of short term effects, while mountain formation, ocean formation and, clime regulation are examples of long term changes.
Plates tectonic movement is a very slow process, that might last many years. The Andes formation, for example, started approximately 200 years ago, and these mountains are still rising. The subduction process has not finished as the plates are still moving.
