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12/1/03: What is going on at the South Pole? The South Pole Seismic Station is normally very quiet and sensitive. Here is a 20 year map. Is there now some huge quake activity? Compare here. The activity doesn't show up on this map. Is this a record of ice breaking up? The BBC reported on Friday, April 17, 1998 that "Satellite images have revealed that a large section of a giant Antarctic ice shelf has broken away. It confirms the fears of scientists who warned that the Larsen B ice shelf was under threat because of global warming." Just three months ago, spacedaily reported "The largest ice shelf in the Arctic has broken, and scientists who have studied it closely say it is evidence of ongoing and accelerated climate change in the north polar region."
11/3/03: What is wrong with a healthy forests plan? This administration's "healthy forest" plan is unhealthy for forests:
The "plan proposes logging national forests as a means of reducing wildfire hazard. Yet, the country's top forest scientists, including the Forest Service's own scientists, have found that logging actually can increase fire risk and make fires more frequent and more intense. In addition, the plan would:
- - Eliminate the statutory right of citizens to appeal Forest Service logging projects.
- - Restrict a core principle of our democracy: the right of Americans to seek redress in the court for grievances involving the federal government. The bill limits preliminary injunctive relief to 45 days, and forces any U.S court to render a final decision on the merits of a case within 100 days.
- - Not include any specific measures to protect homes or communities from wildfire. forestsforever.org
10/6/03: Strange rain: On September 19, 2003 in Berlin, Connecticut it rained frog eggs, but that's nothing. Other things that have been reported to rain from the sky by reputable news sources include: Frogs, Fish, Flesh and Blood, tons of periwinkles and hermit crabs, an edible substance (lichen) consisting of small yellow spherules, a luminous object estimated at 4 feet in diameter, and so on. Of all the one's I've read, this is my favorite. "In 1877, several one-foot-long alligators fell on J. L. Smith's farm in South Carolina. They landed, unharmed, and started crawling around, reported The New York Times." - about.com
9/16/03: Since 1830, the terrestrial magnetic field has been decreasing in strength. According to ABC News, "the planet’s magnetic field flip-flops from pole to pole every 200,000 years on average. ... Scientists have noted that Earth’s magnetic field has been declining for the past 150 years. This has led some to speculate that a field reversal is under way. While the earth’s magnetic field is reversing, the magnetosphere and ionosphere [the electrically conducting level of the atmosphere] would be different from what they are today’. ... "no correlation has been established between reductions in the magnetosphere and mass extinction as a result of exposure to the solar wind". "during reversal the magnetic field does not go away, it only gets weaker and develops several more magnetic poles, at unpredictable locations." The field you can measure varies from place to place on the Earth largely due to solar flares and solar storms.
8/27/03: Minor earthquakes shake New Jersey, Los Angeles County and Hawaii. Ready for the big one? The big volcano? (see below) More signs: quake shakes Yellowstone.
8/26/03: Flash floods are killing people in CA. Here are some flash flood safety tips! More here.
8/25/03: Where is our fresh water going? ( 13,000 gallons per minute according to Paul Dean of the Dow Chemical Company at one site in Texas) "Of the total 341 billion gallons of fresh water the United States withdraws each day, ground water is estimated to be 76.4 billion gallons, or 22 percent." If lakes and rivers were being tapped to create giant man made underground reservoirs to supply underground cities, would we know it? "Many river systems on the western side of the USA - and California in particular - have been so plundered of their waters, they dry up long before they reach their natural outlet - be it sea or lake."
8/25/03: Nuclear experiment scheduled in 2004 at Nevada Test Site. "The National Nuclear Security Administration said last week that it will conduct a subcritical experiment, named Unicorn, in a cavern about 1,000 feet beneath the Test Site, roughly 85 miles northwest of Las Vegas". Caverns under the test site? According to one source, "The United States has spent billions in recent years digging massive holes and caverns under New Mexico, Arizona and Nevada. More massive excavations are to take place under Texas." Yes, bombs can be used to dig.
8/25/03: Why spend billions building underground cities? Perhaps because every 600,000 years, life on Earth is pushed to near extinction by super volcanoes and the last one was 640,000 years ago and we are overdue. Could this also explain why some people believe that past civilizations escaped by going underground?
11/1/02: Climate Change: US Holds Back Agreement on Global Warming. The refusal of the United States to support the Kyoto Protocol continues to hamper negotiations at the United Nations climate change conference.
The current administration's EPA issued a report to the United Nations acknowledging that Global warming is largely caused by human activities and will have dramatic effects on the US environment (summary here), but still we see statements to the contrary. Rush Limbaugh, who also vilifies windmills, says global warming is bogus. Is it? I don't know about you, but I think the whole idea of a deaf talk show host is pretty strange.
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