"we have a responsibility to create global warming" as "life likes warmth". Earthquake prediction Ring attempts to predict earthquakes based on the position of the moon. On his website he says that when the moon (in particular the new moon) is at perigee (closest to the earth) it may affect the Earth's mantle and alter the magnetic field. It may also draw the Van Allen Belt closer, attracting radioactively charged particles towards Earth. Ring believes this combination may be responsible for earthquakes and volcanoes. Ring has predicted 221 days of supposed increased earthquake risk for New Zealand in 2011 and more than half of the time between the start of January and the end of March as earthquake risk. On his weekly Radio Waatea broadcast on 3 September 2010 he said "you’ll be reading about floods and winds and earthquakes and snow over the next week or so, particularly the South Island". Early the next morning a 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck Christchurch. On 7 September 2010 he wrote on his website that there would "probably be an east/west faultline event" in Marlborough or north Canterbury "just before noon" on 20 March 2011. The next day he wrote on Twitter, "The Christchurch earthquake was predictable. And there's another coming in 6 months." He directed readers to his website to find out just when it would be. Another two days later in a Radio Live interview, he told Marcus Lush that "the next one" would be "round about lunchtime on the 20th of March" and that "the South Island is going to be right in the firing line". On 14 February 2011 Ring tweeted "Potential earthquake time for the planet between 15th–25th, especially 18th for Christchurch, +/- about 3 days." A deadly 6.3 magnitude aftershock struck Christchurch on 22 February. Following the earthquakes Ring received a lot of media attention. John Campbell interviewed Ring on Campbell Live on 28 February and was criticised for being arrogant and not giving Ring a fair chance to speak. Campbell later apologised, but his interview may have unintentionally generated sympathy for Ring. Prior to 20 March 2011, Cabinet minister Nick Smith, who has a PhD in geotechnical engineering, said Ring's predictions were "reckless and irresponsible" and suggested that Ring should be "held to account for his predictions of a further earthquake in Christchurch". Smith added that "the last thing needed by thousands of traumatised people in