jdmann@cdp.UUCP (David Yarrow) (10/08/89)
/* ---------- "Earthweek News" ---------- */
/* Written 11pm 10/7/89 by David Yarrow(jdmann) in en.climate */
EARTHWEEK NEWS
a diary of the planet
Source: Syracuse Herald, Monday, Oct 2 by Steve Newman
Included news items:
1 - Antarctic Warming
2 - Ozone Hole Dangers
3 - Pan American Storms
4 - Earthquakes
5 - Volcano
- prepared by David Yarrow, the turtle, for SOLSTICE magazine
***** SOLSTICE: Perspectives on Health and Environment, is published
bimonthly at 201 E. Main St Suite H, Charlottesville, VA 22901 804-979-4427
ANTARCTIC WARMING
Ice in the vicinity of the British Antarctic Survey Base at Rothera has
been melting rapidly. Dr. Lewis Smith of the base said that the melt was
caused by a substantial increase in air temperature during the summer
months (Jan. & Feb.) since 1982. The mean temperature in summer at Rothera
was 34 degrees F between 1982 and 1986, compared with 32.3 degrees between
1977 and 1981. Smith went on to say that although the Greenhouse Effect has
hit the news only recently, "We have evidence it has been going on since
1950, and the Rothera data emphasizes this."
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COMMENTARY: Another feature of this situation is that the Antarctic ice
cap has recently been breaking off in huge chunks which drift north toward
the equator. One last year was as big as Rhode Island, but was only a
notable among an increase in large bergs.
This situation has ramifications not yet discussed in the press. Namely,
that most precipitation occurs near freezing, not at subzero. So a warming
in Antarctica is sure to yield more snowfall and a growing ice pack on the
continent. A similar effect will occur in the Arctic.
Global warming fuels greater ocean boiling in the tropics, putting more
moisture into the atmosphere. More of that moisture will reach the poles to
precipitate out as snow. This is the global "icebox" to cool down Gaia. So
global warming yields increasing "frost" on the polar "freezer."
Increasing snow cover at the poles means one thing: a new ice age. The
last one ended 10,000 years ago, and the last several interglacials have
lasted 10,000 years, which means we are at the beginning of a new cycle.
So it seems.
A further feature of this shift of energy and matter is an increase in
mass (frozen water) at the poles. This alters the angular momentum of our
spinning planet, and also deforms the crust, squeezing it down towards the
equator. This can unstabilize nutations of our planet's wobbles and alter
tectonic balances.
OZONE HOLE DANGERS
Measurements from New Zealand's Scott Base in Antarctica have
discovered that the hole in the Earth's protective ozone layer is far
bigger than previously predicted. When the hole breaks up, it could spread
patches of ozone-depleted atmosphere as far north as New Zealand and
Australia, posing an increased risk of skin cancer.
=============================================================
COMMENTARY: There are two non-chemical factors causing ozone decay
which have not been investigated (or at least reported): nuclear radiation
and geomagnetism. Without denying the case for CFCs, it is critical to
examine other factors.
Nuclear radiation is normally present deep in Earth's crust. Since early
1900's increasing amounts have been dug up, spread across the planet's
surface and spewed into the atmosphere. The release of this "underworld"
energy into biosphere, troposphere and ionosophere has unplanned effects.
This was predicted in the 1950s by Walter Russell; see en.climate topic ...
for more information on walter Russell and his theory.
Earth's magnetic field is decaying, particularly since the beginning of
this century. The Sept (? or Dec?) 88 Scientific American elaborates how
this geomagnetic decline has occurred thousands of times in geologic
history, and precedes a magnetic pole reversal. There is little and all new
information on these geomagnetic phenomenon.
The association between magnetism and gravity (read: heavy transuranic
elements) has received little scientific study in geology and biology.
PAN AMERICAN STORMS
Tropical thunderstorms and torrential rains devastated a large area of
Central America, resulting in at least six deaths in Honduran capital
Tegucigalpa alone. In Guatemala heavy rains caused massive landslides and
crop damage, and cut off several mountain villages. Nearly 3000 people were
evacuated from their homes in Rica when flood waters reached
six feet deep. Flood water also ravaged southern Mexico, with flood swollen
rivers threatening several thousand homes and killing ten people.
=============================================================
COMMENTARY: Global warming yields increased moisture boiling off
tropical regions. While Central America is drenched North America's east
coast has also been deluged all year, most recently by Hugo. Maybe all this
water will flush Noriega out in the wash.
EARTHQUAKES
A strong earthquake struck southwest China's Sichuan province on Sept
22, injured 54 people and destroyed 4,269 homes, according to official
Xinchua News. Two light quakes in California jolted Los Angeles and Eureka.
MT. ETNA ERUPTS
Mount Etna lit up the nighttime Sicilian sky with fire and fountains of
lava spraying from the southeast crater of Europe's most active volcano.
The mountain also spewed ash that blew six miles west toward the small
towns of Milo, Fornazzo and Giarre. Wednesday morning's activity was part
of the eruption that began on Sept 11. Officials called the eruption
spectacular but said it poses no threat to people.
=====================================
COMMENTARY: Increasing volcanism precedes ice ages. Etna's ash is
reaching up into the higher troposphere. Sicily and Mt. Etna sit at the
center of the Mediterranean (Fire amidst Water) where three continents
collide; is it a barometer of tectonic stresses?
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