She's Alive... Beautiful... Finite... Hurting... Worth Dying for.
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This is a non-commercial attempt from http://www.sanctuaryasia.com/ and https://www.facebook.com/sanctuaryasiapage, to highlight the fact that world leaders, irresponsible corporates and mindless 'consumers' are combining to destroy life on earth. It is dedicated to all who died fighting for the planet and those whose lives are on the line today. The cut was put together by Vivek Chauhan, a young film maker, together with naturalists working with the Sanctuary Asia network (http://www.sanctuaryasia.com/). Content credit: The principal source for the footage was Yann Arthus-Bertrand's incredible film HOME - shown here in full. The music was by Armand Amar. Thank you too, to Greenpeace and http://timescapes.org/ |
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The girl who silenced the world
for 5 minutes 12 year old Severn Suzuki - UN Earth Summit, Rio de Janeiro, 1992 Earth Changes
In the approach to 2012, Earth is undergoing a variety of major geophysical changes unprecedented in scale and effect. The causes of some of these appear to be manmade, but others appear to be responses to changes in the behaviour of the sun and an increase in cosmic radiation. There is widespread speculation linking these events with a planetary catastrophe in 2012, possibly a reversal of Earth's poles. The fact that Earth's climate is in a state of rapid change is now well established. Climate change is a notoriously difficult area in which to make accurate predictions. One of the major problems is that science has become very specialized, which makes assessing all the different factors that act on a system as large as a planet challenging. While the unusually high concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is certainly having some effect on climate, the influence of solar activity and cosmic rays on global temperature may be equally, if not more, important. If the sun's behaviour changes, Earth's climate is likely to respond. Assessing these trends and the balance of probabilities is a matter of fierce debate. Other important changes are also happening. There appears to be an increase in the number and severity of extreme weather events such as tropical storms, flash flooding, droughts, and tornadoes. There is also evidence that major geophysical events like earthquakes and volcanic activity appear to be increasing substantially. For instance:
Increase in Plasma The increase in plasma entering our solar system affects our planet in a variety of ways. The incoming plasma is magnetized to the poles of the earth and concentrates in these regions, creating the effect of the polar auroras. The radiation belts around the planet and Earth's magnetic field are also affected. Scientists from the Russian Academy of Sciences are predicting wide-ranging and various changes for our planet. The direct effects of increasing cosmic rays include:
The Magnetic Pole Shift Dmitriev's point of view on the pole shift is that it is already happening. In fact, he believes that the shift actually began in 1885. In the last 100 years, Earth's magnetic south pole has travelled almost 560 miles toward, and into, the Indian Ocean. The magnetic north pole has moved more than 170 miles between 1973 and 1994 in the direction of Siberia via the Arctic Ocean. The rate of the magnetic pole's movement has also increased in the last century compared with fairly steady movement in the previous four centuries. Oregon State University researchers investigating the sediment record from Arctic lakes have been able to use carbon dating to track changes in the magnetic field. They found that the north magnetic pole has shifted significantly in the last 1,000 years. It generally migrated between northern Canada and Siberia, but has occasionally moved in other directions. The causes of these magnetic changes are related to changes in behaviour of the electrical flow in the iron at the core of the planet. This, in turn, is influenced by incoming plasma at the poles of Earth. Earth's magnetic field is not uniform and is becoming less so. There are a number of areas called ‘world magnetic anomalies’ that generate a substantial magnetic field independently of the two poles. The four most significant ones are in Canada, Siberia, Antarctica, and Brazil. These anomalies have recently undergone significant growth. Earth's magnetic field has decreased by around 10-15 percent in strength since it was measured by Carl Friedrich Gauss in 1835. Fluctuations in the magnetic field are cyclical, and a downward trend has been observed for around the last 4,000 years. Most scientists believe this trend could just as easily reverse. Dmitriev thinks the movement in the magnetic poles and the growth in magnetic anomalies indicate something very dramatic is going on in the core of our planet. The scale of these changes indicates something beyond even the magnitude of the Gothenburg magnetic flip event that happened around 14,200 years ago, when the magnetic poles migrated to near the equator. He believes the signs suggest a complete magnetic pole reversal is already underway. Dmitriev estimates the speed of this process will increase to around 125 miles or more a year in the near future, and that we should prepare for the consequences of this in a globally co-ordinated way. The appropriate response, he says, should be to draw up a "global, ecology-oriented, climate map which might reveal (the location of) these global catastrophes." The Impact of Technological Civilization on the Biosphere One of the most important and unpredictable variables in the process of rapid magnetic change that Dmitriev reports is the effect our industrial and technological civilization is having on our planet. The extent of human impact on the biosphere is now so great that we are impacting the electromagnetic skeleton of the planet. More than 30 percent of disturbances in the magnetosphere are now caused by electricity production, transmission, or consumption. For example, the Van Allen radiation belts over the eastern United States have moved inward from more than 200 miles above the surface of the planet to slightly more than six miles. This is caused by the massive amount of energy being transmitted between the power stations around the Great Lakes to the eastern seaboard. The transmission route runs along one of Earth's magnetic meridians, and the frequency of electricity transmission in the United States is at 60Hz, which is resonant with the ionosphere. What are the Van Allen radiation belts? These are two belts of plasma surrounding Earth that are held in place by the planet's magnetic field. The inner belt extends 200-6,000 miles from Earth's surface and has a high concentration of protons. The outer belt extends 12,000-26,000 miles and is made of electrons. This is just one of the many ways in which we are changing our electromagnetic environment, potentially with unforeseen consequences. This may well dramatically complicate the changes that already appear to be happening as a result of the extra-solar energy shift. Dmitriev regards these events as irreversible and fundamental. Possible outcomes, he predicts, may include a major re-organization of life on Earth. He concludes that the combination of the manmade technological impact on the planet and the increase of magnetic saturation coming into the solar system mean we are entering a period of rapid and unstoppable geophysical change. Changes in the Magnetic Field Affecting Nature Some species and habitats are more sensitive than others to the effects of these changes. Unfortunately, some of those animals and insects that may be most severely affected occupy key ecological niches in the world's ecosystem. Bees The rapid decline in bee population, known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), may be a symptom of the change in the earth's magnetic polarity. While some scientists believe that bees find their hives by following polarized lines of light in the sky, research at National Tsing Hua University of Taiwan into magnetic reception in bees has shown the presence of magnetite. This suggests they have magnetic homing senses. Changes in Earth's magnetic field and the influence of manmade electromagnetic pollution are possible causes of the dramatic bee decline. A survey commissioned by the Apiary Inspectors of America found losses of more than 30 percent in the bee population from CCD. Some scientists estimate that life on Earth is so dependent on bee pollination that the current human population would be unable to feed itself just eight years after the collapse of the bee colonies. Whales Whales may also have a biomagnetic sense, which allows them to navigate by sensing Earth's magnetic fields. Whales following magnetic field lines could beach themselves in areas where the field lines intersect with the coast. A study in the United Kingdom by Margaret Klinowska found a correlation between local magnetic field lines and sites where whales were stranded on shore. The biomagnetic theory may also explain why there are multiple-species strandings. The use of underwater sonar has also been implicated in whale beachings. Frogs The weakened magnetosphere allows more ultraviolet light to penetrate through the atmosphere to the surface. Frogs and other moist-skinned amphibians are among the species most sensitive to these increases in ultraviolet radiation. There has been a recent sharp decline in frog and other amphibian populations in both tropical and temperate climates. Human Behaviour New Scientist magazine has reported research showing how human behaviour is influenced by changes in Earth's magnetic field. Oleg Shumilov of the Institute of North Industrial Ecology Problems in Russia looked at activity in Earth's geomagnetic field from 1948 to 1997 and found that it grouped into three seasonal peaks every year: one from March to May, another in July, and the last in October. He also found that geomagnetism peaks matched up with peaks in the number of emotional disorders such as depression, anxiety, mood swings, and even suicides in the northern Russian city of Kirovsk. Responding to the Electromagnetic Crisis If the rapid increase in manmade electromagnetic emissions is left unchecked, it seems likely there will be an increase in consequences for human health and the health of the biosphere. The combination of a number of other geophysical effects converging in 2012 may mean that this impact is compounded. These effects include:
One possible scenario is that at the solar maximum around 2012, a massive solar eruption on the scale of the Carrington event could pass through the weakened magnetosphere of Earth. This could massively impact our global communications systems and computer networks and dramatically accelerate the changing motion of the magnetic poles. If the magnetic flux of the flare event is of sufficient magnitude to overwhelm the ring main of Earth's magnetic field, it could theoretically produce a rapid magnetic pole shift. The sun's recent behaviour does suggest that major solar eruptions are quite likely at the next solar maximum. The Carrington event megaflare happened at the end of the 300-year-long solar shutdown of the Maunder minimum period. This was followed by more than 100 years of increased solar activity on the sun. During this period, the strength of the sun's magnetic field more than doubled. The recent decline in the sun's polar magnetic field may mark the end of that warm period. It may be that during the shift to a colder period, the sun's behaviour goes into oscillation between less and much greater activity, increasing the likelihood of megaflare events. It is also possible that a Carrington event megaflare could signal the beginning, as well as the end, of one of these periods of much decreased solar activity and colder temperatures on Earth. The flare that caused the shutdown of the Canadian power grid in 1989 was rated as an X-20 event; a Carrington event flare could be twenty times that size. Electromagnetic Disruption In the event of a really large solar event, not only might our electromagnetic infrastructure be damaged, but the resulting impact on the biosphere may require us to act to stabilize the electromagnetic field of the planet. This may require turning off sources of electromagnetic pollution that are considered essential services. Some of the major industrial sources of electromagnetic disruption include:
Power Lines Power lines lose energy in the process of transmission. Where power lines are very long, they can lose as much as 40 percent of the total energy transmitted. This electromagnetic energy leaking out into the atmosphere has a very pronounced effect on the ionosphere and can cause it to warp and bend. Many major power lines transport currents in the range 750 megavolts and some carry up to 1,500 megavolts. Extremely low frequency (ELF) waves from power lines are probably the biggest source of manmade electromagnetic radiation into Earth's atmosphere. ELF pollution has been doubling every decade for the last thirty years, and the average intensity of the manmade ELF magnetic fields is now more than ten times stronger than the natural planetary and cosmic background. Other significant contributors to ELF pollution include radar stations and hydroelectric power plants. Electromagnetic Warfare The electromagnetic spectrum has been used in the past for more than energy transmission and communication. On July 4, 1976, a radio mast in Kiev started emitting a complex harmonic ELF signal based around 11 Hz that spread across the world. This powerful signal upset radio communications everywhere and was named the Russian woodpecker after the buzz-saw sound it made. The intention behind this was to deliberately broadcast frequencies that were damaging to human health and mental well-being. These transmissions ended after the fall of the Soviet Union, but they illustrate how much influence ELF signals can have. ELF waves will penetrate anything and everything, which is why ELF transmissions are used for submarine communication. HAARP and Disruption of the Ionosphere The highly controversial High-Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) is the most versatile and largest radio-frequency radiation transmitter in the world. The HAARP Ionospheric Research facility based in Alaska is a high-power transmitter and antenna array operating in the high-frequency (HF) range. The transmitter is capable of delivering up to 3.6 million Watts to an antenna system consisting of 180 antennas arranged as a rectangular array. [Note: there are now many similar facilities in various countries around the world. Messenger] HAARP's research focuses on plasmas and the relationship between the sun's energy and events on Earth. There have been some claims that HAARP could perform significant weather-control experiments. Radio operators monitoring HAARP transmissions noticed a correlation between RF output from the station and the growth of hurricanes Katrina and Rita into dangerous storms in 2005. This may be coincidental, but the ionosphere is delicate. High-energy physicist Dr. Elizabeth Rauscher has predicted that if a big enough hole is punched through it, it could pop. A major breach in the planet's ionosphere, on top of its already weakened magnetosphere, could change the effect of a major solar event from severe to potentially disastrous. The ionosphere is part of a complex system responsible for stabilizing the planet's atmosphere. The hole in the ozone layer, which has been caused by the human production of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), is an example of the kind of negative impact human activity can unexpectedly have on the sensitive upper atmosphere. Even radical action to reduce the electromagnetic impact of humans may not stabilize a magnetic pole shift whose progress is already steady and unstoppable. Failure to take action, however, may accelerate the rate of change, which may prove seriously undesirable. A final possibility is that manmade electromagnetic tinkering with Earth's magnetic field may actually induce or catalyze such an event. Magnetic Versus Physical Pole Shift In a physical pole inversion of the planet, the planet actually rolls over on its axis. A physical pole shift would likely be catastrophic for the global ecology. One probable consequence would be major crustal displacement, as the flip causes tectonic plates and continents to collide with each other. Patrick Geryl, author of How to Survive 2012, strongly believes a complete magnetic pole reversal will inevitably trigger a disastrous physical pole shift, simply because Earth's core is iron and therefore will respond to the new polarity. This is an overly simplistic view that is not supported by scientific or historical evidence. There is no evidence that this has happened during previous magnetic pole shifts and nothing to indicate why it should happen this time. An event like this has happened once before in the geological record, but not for many hundreds of millions of years. His belief that a pole shift is certain in 2012 has led Geryl to conclude that the only reasonably safe places to be in such an event will be in special unsinkable ships or deep underground, high up in a major mountain range. Even then, survival is not guaranteed. Geryl believes Earth reversing its direction of spin will initiate the pole shift. This idea comes from Greg Braden's book Approaching Zero Point, in which he examines a scenario where Earth's rotation actually slows, momentarily stops, and then reverses in the opposite direction. This theory would require an unknown force to negate Earth's spin, slow it to a halt without tearing the crust of Earth from its mantle, and then reverse the force so that Earth spins in the opposite direction. The forces responsible for the miniscule slowing which Earth is already undergoing would in no way be adequate to do this, nor would any other known force in our solar system. The Schumann Frequency Another idea put forward in Braden's Approaching Zero Point is that the fundamental frequency of the earth is shifting upward. This change in planetary vibration is said to be responsible for creating the current Earth changes. The frequency Braden is talking about is called the primary Schumann resonance. This is a function of the amount of time it takes for electromagnetic waves to travel around the planet. It is calculated by dividing the speed of light by the circumference of Earth. The primary Schumann frequency is 7.8Hz, and varies slightly with changes in the ionosphere. Neither the speed of light nor the circumference of Earth is changing, so the primary Schumann resonance is not going to fundamentally alter either. Despite the scientific inaccuracy, Braden should be given credit for articulating ideas whose popularity seems to come from their resonance with many peoples' intuitive perceptions of the changes happening on our planet. The vibrations of our planet are changing but in a much more complex way, unrelated to the Schumann frequency. The notion of Earth reversing its direction of spin mirrors in some ways the much more subtle change of polarity represented by the winter solstice meridian crossing the galactic equator. The science may be wrong, but the notions of a pole shift and an ascending planet tap into the popular psyche in a powerful way. Better science can reveal much more and help us get a clearer view, but the value of new ideas and speculations like these is that they get people to ask important questions. The kind of massive tsunami in the movie 2012 would probably only be induced by a physical pole shift rather than a magnetic one. An event of this magnitude could possibly trigger a wave of water a mile and a half high that could circumnavigate the globe. Very little of human civilization would be likely to survive. The mechanism of a magnetic pole reversal is not well understood and the consequences are difficult to quantify, but they are likely to be significant, including major climatic disruption.
The historical record shows, however, that magnetic pole shifts are quite frequent events over a geological time scale and it is inevitable that one will happen sooner or later. This could be as long as a few thousand years away but it will certainly happen at some point, as it has happened many times before. In the last 25 million years, the poles have inverted once every 250,000 years, on average. In the last million years, the inversions have happened closer to once every 125,000 years. Estimates for the amount of time a magnetic field reversal would take to complete vary widely, from 5,000 years to a couple of months. Magnetic Field Drops to Zero As the magnetic field inverts, the strength of the magnetosphere would likely drop to zero. This would mean our main planetary defence against incoming cosmic radiation would be removed. There is a theory that these periods of magnetic cancellation are responsible for jumps in evolution, because the massive increase in cosmic radiation triggers genetic mutations. An extended period of magnetic cancellation and increased exposure to the solar wind could also result in major disruption to life and possible species extinction. In some ways, a rapid pole reversal may be more desirable than a slower one. At least a functioning magnetosphere provides protection from the solar wind. The Chandler Wobble A good indicator of the possibility of changes in the physical poles of Earth is an effect called the Chandler Wobble. This is the change in the spin of the earth on its axis. It's named after Seth Carlo Chandler, an American astronomer who first discovered the wobble back in 1891 after thirty years of observations. The effect causes Earth's physical poles to move in an irregular circle. This wobble has a seven-year cycle. The Chandler Wobble:
The Anomaly of the Wobble For a six-week period beginning in November 2005, there was no discernible wobble motion in Earth. The track of the spin axis began to slow down, and by about January 8, 2006, it ceased nearly all relative motion. Mandeville suggests that the anomaly in Earth's wobble could be a response to the massive earthquake and the devastating tsunami of December 26, 2004. After an initial earthquake that measured 9.3 on the Richter scale, a cluster of several thousand earthquakes followed, including dozens of earthquakes greater than 6.0 in magnitude and at least three above 7.0. This caused substantial uplifting, down-warping, and lateral movement in the two tectonic plates that could have ruptured their mutual junction. The scale of this tectonic activity is by far the greatest on the planet in the last twenty years. Mandeville theorizes this could have caused warping that pushed the Indian continental plate deep enough down into the liquid mantle of Earth to cause a measurable drag on the spin of the equator. Another contributing factor to this anomaly may be the shifting location of the magnetic north pole, which is currently migrating toward the north spin axis of the wobble. During the past eighty years, for unknown reasons, this rate of drift has been accelerating. The change of the wobble and the drifting of the pole may be seen as symptoms of the early stages of a pole reversal. However, neither of these events necessarily means a complete inversion is imminent or likely. Alternate Theories An extended wandering of the poles, also known as a geomagnetic excursion, remains more likely than a complete reversal. The most compelling evidence that a complete pole reversal may be about to occur comes from Dmitriev's theory that incoming interstellar plasma is responsible for current planetophysical changes. The poles of both Uranus and Neptune have flipped within the last decade. If this is due to the influx of interstellar plasma into our solar system, as Dmitriev believes, our own planet is being subjected to these same conditions. It is not necessary to insist that a pole shift must be about to occur in 2012 to conclude that Earth is entering a period of major geophysical change. There are many contributing factors to this, including increasing cosmic radiation, climate change, and the technological impact of humanity. On the other hand, the combination of the weakening of Earth's magnetosphere, the large increase in interstellar plasma, and the solar maximum due in 2012 may produce large-scale effects for life on Earth. Given these circumstances, the possibility of a sudden magnetic pole shift cannot be completely discounted, but it is far from inevitable. However, most scientists think a magnetic pole shift is highly unlikely in the near future and that it would be gradual, rather than sudden, if it did occur. Cited Sources: NASA http://www.markheley.com/?p=43 |
