For much of the twentieth century, space
was visualized as a near vacuum, however the astronomical reality now being
discovered is actually quite different.
A Russian team of scientists, headed by the planet
physicist Dr. Alexey Dmitriev, has been following this '2012' phenomenon.
Their research suggests that this influx of plasma may be responsible for
some of the recent dramatic climate changes.
Our solar system moves through something called
the Local Interstellar Space Medium.(LISM).
The LISM is not uniformly empty at all, but has
greater and lesser amounts of plasmic.flux
density created by the presence of highly charged particles. The amount
of energy within empty interstellar space is actually highly variable.
Scientists are now coming to realize that space
has more in common with our terrestrial oceans, with their complex tides
and currents, than was previously recognized and of course, we are never
in the same place again in the universe, as the hologram
set at the beginning of Earth, plays out its program.
The quantity of plasma, in the form of ionized
hydrogen, helium and hydroxyl, that we encounter in the LISM is a critical
variable for what happens in the wider behavior of our solar system. This
increased influx of energy is the fundamental cause of the multiple magnetic
and climatic changes that have recently been observed in the Sun and across
all of the planets.
Dmitriev even goes as far as to say the consequence
of the increase in this interstellar plasmic energy is far more important,
in his opinion, than human greenhouse gas emissions are in the creation
of our planet's current so-called
global warming crisis, so-called because satellite data shows no climate
change in spite
of.persistence
in political position. So, why the position that climate change, meaning
the above, is valid,
when facts show the opposite? Does the word skullduggery
apply here?
Changes in the Heliosphere
The heliosphere itself has exhibited a dramatic
change in behavior over the last ten years. The transition through this
increased plasma flux has expanded the heliosphere's bow shock wave in
front of the solar system more than ten-fold. Dmitriev gives an extensive
catalogue of changes he claims this has caused within the solar system.
Recent Planetary Changes
--Significant physical, chemical and optical changes
observed on Venus; an inversion of dark and light spots detected for the
first time and a sharp decrease of sulfur-containing gases in its atmosphere.
--The first stages of atmosphere generation on
the Moon, where a growing sodium based atmosphere that reaches 5,500 miles
in height has been detected.
--Changes in the atmosphere of Mars, including
a cloudy growth in the equatorial region and unusual growth in ozone concentration.
--Significant melting of the Martian polar ice
caps.
--A doubling of the magnetic field intensity on
Jupiter after the series of impacts from the fragments of the Shoemaker-Levy
comet in 1994; also, the appearance of large auroral anomalies, excessive
plasma generation, and radiation belt brightening.
--The creation of an ionic flux tube between Jupiter
and the volcanic regions of its moon, Io. This stream of plasma is millions
of miles in length and is 1 million amperes in strength. It is affecting
Jupiter's magnetic field and intensifying its plasma genesis.
--Reporting of auroras and a visible increase
in brightness on Saturn.
--Abrupt large scale growth of magnetosphere intensity
and an increase in brightness on Uranus.
--A change in light intensity and light-spot dynamics
on Neptune.
--A growth of dark spots on Pluto.
Dmitriev notes that Uranus and Neptune, which are
magnetically conjugate planets,
have both undergone magnetic pole shifts in recent decades. Earth is magnetically
conjugate to Jupiter, so he theorizes that the dramatic changes on Jupiter
could well have consequences for our planet.
The claim of a direct causal
link between the increase in plasma entering the solar system and recent
planetary changes is still very controversial, but Dmitriev's research
is quite comprehensive and is backed up with extensive scientific references.
It seems likely that the increase in this cosmic energy does have some
role to play in influencing climate, but it may be one of many contributing
factors, rather than a sole cause. Dmitriev himself points out that planetary
changes are complex affairs with many interdependent factors. It is the
total sum of all these influences that actually determines what happens.
X-Ray Flares
After the peak of the last eleven-year sunspot
cycle in 1999, the sun has had a number of extremely large x-ray flare
events. One of these, on April 2, 2001, was so large that it went off the
scale completely. The previous scale ran to X-20 as the highest category,
but this solar flare had to be categorized as an X-22 event. The x-ray
burst was not in the direction of Earth, but a much smaller x-ray flare
in 1989 was responsible for knocking out the whole Canadian power grid.
If the X-22 event had hit Earth, possible consequences
could have included major power outages, interruption of the Internet,
damage to telecommunications and GPS satellites, and even the wiping of
computer hard drives. The most powerful flare observed since then happened
on November 4, 2003. It lasted eleven minutes and produced an x-ray flux
of X-28.
Changes to the Sun
There have also been some recent dramatic changes
to the sun. The Ulysses spacecraft sent by NASA to measure the magnetic
field of the sun found the magnetic fields of the poles enormously diminished.
The magnetic poles of the sun usually reverse at the end of an eleven-year
sunspot cycle. At the end of the most recent cycle, the poles only moved
to the sun's equator and did not completely invert. This behavior alters
everything that was previously believed about the sun's magnetic field.
Effectively, the sun no longer has a single north or south magnetic pole;
instead, it has four poles located in the equatorial regions.
The data gathered by the Ulysses spacecraft showed
that the sun's magnetic field interacts with the rest of the solar system
in a much more complex fashion than previously believed. NASA scientists
determined that the polar magnetic field is much weaker than previously
observed and the amount of cosmic dust entering the solar system is thirty
times more than expected.
The Carrington Event
These recent events, though very significant,
are not actually the largest solar flares ever recorded. That honor goes
to a flare that happened on September 1, 1859. This has become known as
the Carrington event after Richard Carrington, the young English astronomer
who saw the event as it happened from his private observatory.
It was a remarkable piece of luck that he happened
to be observing the sun at the particular moment that the flare erupted,
because the event lasted for less than five minutes. In that time, a huge
knot of sunspots appeared and generated a plume that was by far the biggest
observed in the 160 years records have been kept.
Before dawn on the following day, a huge firework
display of auroral lights bathed Earth, reaching as far south as the Caribbean.
The rainbow-hued lights were so brilliant that it was said to be possible
to read by them as if it were daylight. The Carrington event also caused
major disruption to the telegraph system worldwide.
Conventional astronomy suggests that a flare of
this size may only happen once every 500 years or so, but even greater
flares have been observed on other stars. Some of these stellar megaflares
have emitted quantities of radiation that would be likely to cause major
loss of life on Earth.
The Maunder Minimum
Sunspot activity has been broadly increasing since
the Maunder minimum period from 1645 to 1715, when there were very few
sunspots. At a typical peak of the sunspot cycle, there may be as many
as 1,000 spots a year, but during the Maunder minimum the number of spots
dropped as low as one or two a year for a thirty-year period. This was
also the peak of what has been called the Little Ice Age. This was a period
of approximately 400 years, from the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries,
when the drop in temperature was so great that the winter mortality rate
in Europe increased dramatically. In London, the river Thames froze over
completely every winter. The edge of the Atlantic ice pack moved southward
during the Maunder minimum and glaciers started expanding.
The Maunder minimum was named after the astronomer
Edward
Maunder, who measured and photographed sunspots at the Greenwich Royal
Observatory. It was his studies of this unusual period in history that
led to his discovery of the important eleven-year sunspot cycle.
Sunspot Cycles
The general increase in the sun's activity has
been consistent for more than 100 years, but it seems to have reached a
peak in sunspot cycle 22 from 1986 to 1996. Sunspot cycle 23 began in 1996
and ended in 2008. The cycle was six months late and weaker than normal.
Cycle 24 was due to start in March 2008, but it
is more than a year late already. As of March 2009, there was still no
sunspot activity whatsoever. This is the longest period that the sun has
been spotless for more than 100 years. Considering the maximum of this
cycle is due in 2012, this might seem to suggest that the peak of the cycle
may again be less than the recent average. Yet, generally this cycle is
still predicted to be 30-40 percent more intense than the last one. The
official prediction of the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center is a peak
of ninety sunspots in August 2012. There are also some predictions that
delay in the cycle may cause the sun to suddenly burst into violent activity
with another series of x-ray megaflares in the X-20+ range, or even cause
another Carrington event.
NASA's THEMIS satellite found that a 4,000-mile-thick
layer of solar particles has gathered and is rapidly growing within the
outermost part of the magnetosphere, a protective bubble created by Earth's
magnetic field. This is causing a breach in the planet's magnetic defenses.
This is not a problem at solar minimum, but at peak solar activity it could
allow up to twenty times more plasma to impact Earth, making some of the
worst solar storms in decades possible.
Solar Shutdown
The sharp downturn in the sunspot cycle may mark
the point where solar activity significantly decreases as the sun enters
the beginning of another minimum period. The result of this would be dramatic
cooling; in some ways, it could have worse consequences than global warming.
The lack of activity in solar cycle 24 has prompted concerns about this.
This shift in global temperature could have a substantial
impact on the agricultural belts of Europe, North America, and Russia,
which are responsible for a substantial part of the world's current food
supply These are vulnerable to a downward temperature change of more than
a few degrees. Greater decreases in temperature are certainly possible
if the sunspot cycle fails to gain momentum.
For Europe, the possible collapse of the gulfstream
and its underwater equivalent, the Atlantic warm convector, could signal
a massive change in climate. The warming these currents provide prevents
European countries from being as cold as those on the equivalent latitudes
in North America. Without them, some of the most populated parts of the
European continent would be under Arctic conditions.
Cosmic Rays and Climate
Change
Dmitriev is not the only scientist who thinks
this influx of cosmic rays has a major part to play in the recent increases
in global temperature. Henrik Svensmark is the head of Center for Sun-Climate
Research at the Danish Space Research Institute. In his book The Chilling
Stars: A New Theory of Climate Change, he suggests that when cosmic radiation,
especially protons, hit Earth's atmosphere, the reaction they cause has
the effect of creating clouds. The more cosmic rays there are the greater
the cloud cover.
A shutdown in solar activity and a decrease in
the magnetic field of the sun leave our planet more open to the influx
of plasmic energy from outside the solar system. This then leads to an
increase in cloud cover and the kind of climate change we are now seeing.
Svensmark predicts we could be about to enter a new Maunder minimum-like
period and that global temperatures are about to rapidly cool.
Dr. Nir Shaviv, an astrophysicist, also thinks
cosmic rays affect our planet's climate. By reconstructing the temperature
on Earth over the past 500 million years, Shaviv thinks he has found that
changes in the amount of cosmic rays are responsible for more than two-thirds
of Earth's temperature changes, making it the most important driver of
climate change over long periods of time.
Shaviv hypothesizes that the sun's passage through
the spiral arms of the Milky Way appears to have been the cause behind
the major Ice Ages over the past billion years. He has correlated variations
in the cosmic-ray flux to the solar system's orbit around the center of
the galaxy and through its spiral arms. In the more crowded spiral arms,
like our Orion arm, there is a higher density of cosmic rays. Shaviv agrees
with Svensmark that the result of this increase is that Earth becomes cooler.
The study of meteorites that have hit Earth during
its passage through the arms of the Milky Way have shown up to 10 percent
more cosmic-ray damage than those sustained elsewhere. Shaviv believes
that kind of cosmic ray variation could alter global temperatures by as
much as 15 percent. This would be sufficient to turn the Ice Ages on or
off.
Both Svensmark and Shaviv are considered climate
skeptics who dispute the extent to which the creation of greenhouse gases
is contributing to the current climate change. The year 2012 is significant
in the context of research into cosmic rays because:
--It coincides with the next predicted solar sunspot
maximum, and recently discovered breaches in Earth's magnetosphere make
us more vulnerable to solar-flare events.
--The effects of increased cosmic dust and radiation
entering the solar system will be likely to accelerate by this point, which
coincides with 2012.
According to these scientists, whether the planet
cools or heats up depends on the balance of solar activity and cosmic radiation.
It is not necessary to agree to with their views
on climate change to share their conclusion that an increase of cosmic
radiation may cause significant changes. Svensmark points out that it is
actually well established and uncontroversial that solar activity has a
direct influence on the eleven-year variation of stratospheric pressure
levels found in the upper atmosphere. The electromagnetic fields of our
planet are highly sensitive and respond to a range of influences from solar
wind to tropical storms. A tenfold increase in cosmic radiation is likely
to affect these fields and the upper and lower atmosphere of the planet
in ways that may be unpredictable. The debate is to what extent and how
these changes will manifest.
Earth Changes and the Pole
Shift
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 behavior 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 as
has happened many times in Earth's history, for reasons we don't comprehend.
Earth Changes
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 behavior 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:
In the last fifty years, the number of
tornadoes has doubled and there has been a dramatic increase in the geographical
area in which tornadoes are found.
The number of recorded Earthquakes in the
last century has increased by 500 percent and measurements of volcanic
activity are up by at least 200 percent. This may be at least partly due
to the increase in the number of seismic and volcanic detectors around
the world. The spread of humans into what were once remote parts of the
world may also be a factor.
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:
--Increased plasma generation in the ionosphere.
--Increased magnetic storms in the magnetosphere.
--Increased number of cyclones in the atmosphere.
K. M. Hiremath, from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics
in Bangalore, has studied variations in the Asian monsoons and concluded
that there is a causal connection between solar activity, incoming cosmic
rays, and rainfall. He has also found a significant connection with the
cycles of El Niño.
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 traveled
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 behavior 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 coordinated
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 reorganization 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.
Albert Einstein
said."When the Honeybees
go...we go".
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.
The new dangerous Smart
Meters.(not smart at all;
look it up on Google).are.proven.to
disrupt
nature and humans. Why are they being used at all?
If the amazing bees
are gone, so soon after will man be, as without pollination of plants there
will be no food, oh, excuse me, we still may have dangerous genetically
modified laboratory produced garbage
food to consume.
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.
Humans
New Scientist.(newscientist.com).magazine
has reported research showing how human behavior 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:
--Weakened magnetosphere.
--Solar maximum due in 2012.
--Increase in interstellar plasma and cosmic rays.
--Movement of the magnetic poles.
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 behavior 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 behavior 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:
--Electricity power grids.
--Mobile phone networks.
--Satellite communications networks.
--ELF communication systems.
--Radar.
--Microwave networks like WiFi and CCTV monitoring
systems.
--Auroral research projects like HAARP.
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.
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 bookApproaching
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 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 seem 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 some significant ones, including major climatic disruption.
--Some scientists think that the poles can spontaneously
migrate from one orientation to the other over the course of a few decades
to a few thousand years.
--Others think the geodynamo at the Earth's core
first turns itself off spontaneously and then restarts itself with the
magnetic North Pole pointing either north or south.
--External events such as an asteroid impact are
not thought to cause magnetic field reversals. The ages of impact craters
do not line up with the timing of previous reversals.
--The mainstream scientific opinion is that the
current wandering of the magnetic poles does not foretell a magnetic pole
shift and no such event is likely in our immediate future.
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
defense 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 wobble:
--Produces a very small ocean tide, the pole tide,
which is the only tide not caused by bodies outside Earth.
--Has varied in amplitude since its discovery,
reaching its largest size in 1910 and fluctuating noticeably from one decade
to another.
--Is caused by fluctuating pressure on the bottom
of the ocean, caused by temperature and salinity changes and wind driven
changes in the circulation of the oceans, according to the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory
Independent researcher Micheal Mandeville of Earthchanges-bulletin.com
has been exhaustively analyzing trends in seismic and volcanic activity
from around the world. Using a very detailed statistical analysis, Mandeville
claims to have found correlations between the position and motion of the
pole with increases and decreases in Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
These correlations are sufficiently consistent, he claims, to conclude
that the Chandler wobble stresses Earth's crust, which in turn creates
a cycle of Earthquakes and volcanic activity.
The Anomaly
of the Wobble
For a six-week period beginning in November 2005,
there was no discernable 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 planet physical changes. The poles of both Uranus
and Neptune have both 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.