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Space Weather & Energy Driven Evolutionary Change


The Celestial Deluge &
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Giant South Dakota hailstone breaks US records
Yahoo News, 30th July 2010
VIVIAN, S.D. – The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says a giant hailstone that fell in central South Dakota has broken U.S. records, even though the man who found it says it melted somewhat while waiting to be evaluated.

The NOAA's National Climate Extremes Committee says the hailstone found in the town of Vivian on July 23 measures 8 inches in diameter and weighs 1 pound, 15 ounces. The committee says the South Dakota ice chunk breaks records set by hailstones discovered in Nebraska and Kansas. Ranch hand Leslie Scott says the hailstone was about 3 inches larger when he found it. Scott says he put it in the freezer but that he couldn't prevent some melting because of an hours-long power outage that followed the storm.

Comment: Maybe these should be renamed brickhail...

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Global Temperature And Data Distortions Continue
Canada Free Press, 29th July 2010
Recent reports claim June was the warmest on record, but it seems to fly in the face of reports of record cold from around the world.

Reports from Australia say, “Sydney recorded its coldest June morning today since 1949, with temperatures diving to 4.3 degrees just before 6:00 a.m. (AEST).” “Experts say it is unusual to see such widespread cold weather in June.” In the southern hemisphere reports of cold have appeared frequently but rarely make the mainstream media. “The Peruvian government has declared a state of emergency in more than half the country due to cold weather.” “This week Peru’s capital, Lima, recorded its lowest temperatures in 46 years at 8C, and the emergency measures apply to several of its outlying districts.”

Comment: Strange weather, strange clouds and strange sunsets June 7 clouds photo gallery; they could be new form of clouds & Strange Sunset

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Sussex man hit by meteorite
The Argus, 24th July 2010
Sussex cricket fan Jan Marszel looked up in amazement as he saw a small, dark round object hurtle towards him on the boundary edge.

But it was not one of Luke Wright’s mammoth pulls coming his way – it was a meteorite that had fallen from outer space – and nearly struck him on the head.

It’s thought to be the first extra-terrestrial crash landing in the UK for nearly 20 years.

The 51-year-old had spent Wednesday afternoon in Uxbridge with friend Richard Haynes watching Sussex battle with Middlesex in a county championship division two clash.

Comment: Well, we know that there is a new hazard in space with satellites are being pelted by small space rocks but it seems that some of these rocks are finding their way through Earth's atmosphere and so occasionally, humans are being hit too!

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Amazing videos of a rare debris filled tornado moving through Billings, Montana Sunday afternoon
Jackson Weather Examiner, 21st June 2010
One place you do not hear much about tornadoes is Montana but on Sunday, that all changed after a damaging tornado struck the city of Billings.

The National Weather Service in Billings, Montana issued a tornado warning at 424 pm MDT for Central Yellowstone County, Montana after trained weather spotters reported a tornado on the ground just southeast of the city of Billings. The tornado was only moving at 10 mph to the northeast, which allowed many to capture amazing footage of the tornado as it moved through the heart of the city, causing major damage to the Rimrock Auto Arena at Metra Park, leaving pieces strewn over a ¾-mile area. The tornado also damaged a casino, a bar and a laundry operation in the city’s downtown area and leveled a glass shop and broke some gas mains.

Comment: The videos are awesome...

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Dead penguins wash ashore on Brazil's beaches
Most of the more than 400 birds found in past two months were babes
MSNBC News, 19th July 2010
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil — Hundreds of penguins swept from the icy shores of Antarctica and Patagonia are washing up dead on Rio de Janeiro's tropical beaches. More than 400 penguins, most of them young, have been found dead on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro state over the past two months, according to Eduardo Pimenta, superintendent for the state coastal protection and environment agency in the resort city of Cabo Frio. While it is common here to find some penguins — both dead and alive — swept by strong ocean currents from the Strait of Magellan, Pimenta said there have been more this year than at any time in recent memory. Rescuers and those who treat penguins are divided over the possible causes.

Comment: Here is a recent report about deep ocean sea creatures appearing on beaches, Task force to clean up seashells from Sea View according to an I-Witness YouTube report, this phenomena has been ignored by the Pakastani government and officials for quite a while now, see 2010 Millions of SeaShells appearing on Pakistani Beaches . It is most likely that these incident are unrelated and just signs of ecological stress.

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A Puzzling Collapse of Earth's Upper Atmosphere
NASA News, 15th July 2010
NASA-funded researchers are monitoring a big event in our planet's atmosphere. High above Earth's surface where the atmosphere meets space, a rarefied layer of gas called "the thermosphere" recently collapsed and now is rebounding again.

"This is the biggest contraction of the thermosphere in at least 43 years," says John Emmert of the Naval Research Lab, lead author of a paper announcing the finding in the June 19th issue of the Geophysical Research Letters (GRL). "It's a Space Age record."

The collapse happened during the deep solar minimum of 2008-2009—a fact which comes as little surprise to researchers. The thermosphere always cools and contracts when solar activity is low. In this case, however, the magnitude of the collapse was two to three times greater than low solar activity could explain.

"Something is going on that we do not understand," says Emmert. [...] One possible explanation is carbon dioxide (CO2).

When carbon dioxide gets into the thermosphere, it acts as a coolant, shedding heat via infrared radiation. It is widely-known that CO2 levels have been increasing in Earth's atmosphere. Extra CO2 in the thermosphere could have magnified the cooling action of solar minimum.

"But the numbers don't quite add up," says Emmert. "Even when we take CO2 into account using our best understanding of how it operates as a coolant, we cannot fully explain the thermosphere's collapse."

Comment: Hmmm... This is a problem that is facing many different Earth sciences. Even if scientists think they understand what's going on, another set of parameters appear which makes it seem like the rules have changed. Btw the thermosphere has been generally referred to as the ionosphere and in the December 2008, NASA press release Boundary Between Earth's Upper Atmosphere And Space Has Moved To Extraordinarily Low Altitudes, NASA Instruments Document, the term thermosphere was NEVER used!

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Paradise found: Water and life return to Iraq's 'Garden of Eden'
The Guardian, 9th July 2010
One of Saddam Hussein's greatest acts of ecological destruction – the draining of the Mesopotamian marshes – has been reversed as birds and rivers return to the region

Saddam Hussein's draining of the Mesopotamian marshes of Iraq – recorded as the Garden of Eden in the Bible - was one of the most infamous outrages of his regime, leaving a vast area of once-teeming river delta a dry, salt-encrusted desert, emptied of insects, birds and the people who lived on them. But nearly two decades later the area is buzzing and twittering with life again after local people and a new breed of Iraqi conservationists have restored much of what was once the world's third largest wetland to some of its former glory. The story of this once almost impossible restoration is told in an exhibition of photographs that has opened in the UK.

Comment: A little bit of hope amongst the chaos and destruction and a reminder that nature cooperates and takes advantage of the forces of destruction and creation.

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'Doomsday Ark' to be Housed on the Moon
Daily Galaxy, 4th July 2010

“Eventually, it will be necessary to have a kind of Noah’s ark there, a diversity of species from the biosphere."
--Bernard Foing, Chief Scientist/Research, European Space Agency

If the human species should be destroyed on Earth, our future may reside on the Moon if plans being drawn up for a “Doomsday ark” on the moon by the European Space Agency are carried through. The Ark will contain the essentials of life and human civilization, to be activated in the event of earth being devastated by a giant asteroid or nuclear war.

The construction of a lunar information bank, discussed at a conference in Strasbourg last month, would provide survivors on Earth with a remote-access toolkit to rebuild the human race.

A basic version of the ark would contain hard discs holding information such as DNA sequences and instructions for metal smelting or planting crops. It would be buried in a vault just under the lunar surface and transmitters would send the data to heavily protected receivers on earth. if no receivers survived, the ark would continue transmitting the information until new ones could be built.

The vault could later be extended to include natural material including microbes, animal embryos and plant seeds and even cultural relics such as surplus items from museum stores.

Comment: This idea has been around for years, and I think it's just talk. I imagine with the fierce space weather that we have been getting, the Van Allen radiation belts will cook astronauts fairly quickly, but we don't know how far advanced space agencies are with spacecraft that utilise a plasma shield against radiation. They would need to create these plasma shields on the moon too. Also: please note WHY these people think Earth is due for destruction, this is explained in my latest essay The Greatest Transition in the History of Mankind

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The earthquake lights (EQL) of the 6 April 2009 Aquila earthquake, in Central Italy
Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, July 2010
"A physicist from the University of Perugia surveyed local residents after the strong Aquila earthquake and found about 1,000 phenomena were reported, 241 of which were luminous in nature, and 99 of those occurred before the quake. It turns out that "Globular lights, luminous clouds and diffused light were more frequent before the quakes." Courtesy: anomalist.com

Comment: The research paper can be downloaded here, but quite delighted to find this research, as earthlights or quakelights associated with earthquakes are now becoming quite common as the planetary refresh enters the final stages. If you have not seen the video taken by missionaries of the massive orange orb that lifted off before the Haiti earthquake, then it's a must see, link

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Mexico Declares Emergency In Northern Areas After Hurricane Alex
Wall Street Journal, 2nd July 2010
Mexico's Interior Ministry on Friday declared an emergency in 21 northern municipalities in the wake of Hurricane Alex, including in the industrial city of Monterrey, capital of Nuevo Leon state.

Meanwhile, state electricity firm Comision Federal de Electricidad, or CFE, said it had restored power to most of its customers in the Gulf-coast state of Tamaulipas, where Alex made landfall near the Mexico-U.S. border early Thursday. The Interior Ministry said disaster relief includes emergency funds for food, clothing, shelter and the health-care needs of those forced from their homes.

Local media published pictures of flooded streets and broken-up pavement in the Monterrey metropolitan area after rivers broke their banks amid heavy rainfall. The newspaper El Norte reported several deaths and said six northern states had been affected by rainfall.

Comment: Apparently Monterrey was the wealthiest city in Mexico, but it's been flooded by run off from surrounding mountains. The pictures and videos of the damage from Alex are unbelievable, but apparently this was only a cat 2 hurricane. See Video: Monterrey Flood & Images Monterrey Flood Aftermath

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Staring into the abyss: Traffic halted as five metre crack tears through Malaysian road
Daily Mail, 1st July 2010
A five metre wide chasm has mysteriously opened in a busy road. The enormous crevice tore through the ground late last night, causing traffic chaos in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. Miraculously no one was killed, although one truck was overturned by the force of the collapse. Officials have no explanation for why the giant hole has appeared but confirmed they were looking into it.

Comment: Well, maybe it's not just sink holes, but massive cracks appearing now too...

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A Very Scary Light Show: Exploding H-Bombs In Space
NPR News, 1st July 2010
Since we're coming up on the Fourth of July, and towns everywhere are preparing their better-than-ever fireworks spectaculars, we would like to offer this humbling bit of history. Back in the summer of 1962, the U.S. blew up a hydrogen bomb in outer space, some 250 miles above the Pacific Ocean. It was a weapons test, but one that created a man-made light show that has never been equaled — and hopefully never will. Here it is:

[...] The scientific basis for these proposals is not clear. Fleming is trying to figure out if Van Allen had any theoretical reason to suppose the military could use the Van Allen belts to attack a hostile nation. He supposes that at the height of the Cold War, the most pressing argument for a military experiment was, "if we don’t do it, the Russians will." And, indeed, the Russians did test atomic bombs and hydrogen bombs in space.

In any case, says the science history professor, "this is the first occasion I've ever discovered where someone discovered something and immediately decided to blow it up."

Comment: We have some very rare video footage here. I have highlighted the research of eco-warrior Dr. Rosalie Bertell, who documented the history of US military experiments in our atmosphere. It's very difficult to understand the mentality, but obviously the scientists involved did not think this would destroy the Earth, but it's more likely that the the H-bomb created more negative effects and tightened the noose of radiation around planet Earth. If the real plan was to blast a hole in the Van Allen radiation belts to get into outer space, it failed.

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Minor 5.0 earthquake causes damage in Canada, stories across Michigan
Mlive.com, 23rd June 2010
First, the ground shook. Next came amazement and a flurry of story-swapping from many West Michigan residents stunned to feel tremors from a 5.0 magnitude quake at 1:45 p.m. on the Ontario-Quebec border.

"It just felt like we were wiggling back and forth, and we all kind of stopped and looked at each other," said Metro Health employee Angie Gravelyn in Wyoming.

"It just kind of kept doing it for 20 seconds or so. We thought maybe part of the building was sinking into the ground

Comment: The short video clip is quite funny... Well, things are heating up..., there were rainbow clouds and reports of 2 tornadoes too, see

YouTube Video: Cloud Rainbow? Toronto 2010-06-20
Well I have been talking about these very low frequency emissions that are precursor to earthquakes and they are becoming much more prevalent. The planetary refresh is going into the final stages and quite frankly things are starting to get hazardous. Society at large has not been interested so it's all coming as a bit of a shock and even those who claim to be spiritual, many are parroting their way into a New Age, and obviously don't understand what is happening.

Suspected tornado sparks state of emergency - Ontario, Canada
"Substantial damage"

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Global Seed Vault: National Geographic Explores The Arctic Facility (VIDEO)
Huffington Post, 18th June 2010
Take a look inside the global seed vault in this clip from National Geographic's upcoming 3-night special, "How The Earth Changed History".

The seed vault, built to protect the world's food supply in the event of a global crisis, is located on a remote Norwegian island in the Arctic Svalbard archipelago. It was built high enough to avoid rising sea levels, and deep enough into the mountain to be able to withstand a nuclear explosion. The vault is kept at a constant temperature of zero degrees to preserve its contents.

Comment: This 'Doomsday' seed vault has been organised in case of a global disaster where it was intitially claimed that one cause could be the complete break down of the world's electricty grid. Of course, as part of my Space Weather research, I picked that up immediately and the information was placed in the introduction of my book. Actually, I think there must be other vaults, because Svalbard does get the occasional earthquake... So, here we get a little look at what the elite have organised... maybe some need a little reassurance that everything will be alright... for them...

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Planet alignment raises tsunami fears
Bangkok Post, 12th June 2010
Reports that the alignment of the planets might cause a tsunami in Andaman coastal provinces have led to emergency evacuation drills being conducted on an island in Surat Thani. [...]

The drill also included practice search and rescue operations for passengers of capsized vessels using a helicopter and a police patrol boat.

Earlier, Kongpop U-yen, a Thai engineer who works at the US National Aeronatics and Space Administration (Nasa), said the alignment of the planets today could cause natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis. NDWC chief Smith Dharmasarojana agreed with the forecast, saying it was backed by scientific data. The forecast, however, met with criticism from the scientific community as authorities did not clarify the prediction.

Mr Smith recently said during a TV interview that a solar eclipse was due to occur on June 12 as a result of the alignment of the Earth, the moon and the sun. He said the alignment would release considerable cumulative energy, which could affect the Earth. Mr Smith, quoting Mr Kongpop, said the phenomenon would have a direct impact on the Earth in the forms of climate disruption, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

As to which part of the world would be affected by the disasters, Mr Kongpop said that depended on the time the sun unleashed its energy. It was hard to exactly locate the target area as the Earth revolved around the sun, he said. Mr Smith said that Southeast Asia could be the first region to be affected if the planetary alignment, due to occur at 6.30pm local time, triggers natural disasters. A 7.0-8.5 magnitude earthquake on the Richter scale could occur, possibly causing a tsunami.

Comment: Well, times are certainly changing! It was not that long ago that scientists refused to believe that planetary alignments had any impact on Earth. Btw, the prediction was correct, there was a 7.7 earthquake and now there is a tsunami warning in progress, see below...

Tsunami alert for Indian Ocean after earthquake hits India's Nicobar Islands
News.com.au, 13th June 2010
"THE Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre has issued a regional tsunami watch for all areas of the Indian ocean following a 7.7 earthquake near India's Nicobar Islands."

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China: cracks in the Three Gorges Dam, so 300,000 people can wave goodbye to their homes
Telegraph Blog, 7th June 2010
In China, cracks are appearing – in the neighbourhood of the massive Three Gorges Dam, the country’s great prestige project, and also in the Great Internet Firewall of China, enabling the ominous news to leak out. Three years ago stories were already emerging in the Chinese media about landslides, ecological deterioration and accumulation of algae further down the river. And less and less effort seems to be made to plug the leaks. Recent media reports tell of a series of landslips, minor earthquakes and cracks appearing in roads and buildings along the central section of the Yangtse, between the dam and the city of Chongqing. Almost 10,000 “dangerous sites” have been identified,

Comment: Well, the Three Gorges Dam is the biggest hydroelectric power station in the whole world, so if it breaks and the authorities are slow, it could be a massive disaster. Folks are talking about the prophecy of Raging Wind Blackfoot, which is quite interesting, so we do not have long to see whether we have changed timelines, but the fact the dam has cracks and the prophecy is relatively recent, seems like it could be fulfilled.

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Sudden Sinkhole Outbreak Raises Fear in China
Epoch Times, 7th June 2010
While the Guatemalans are wondering if the giant sinkhole formed on June 1 in their capital city is an isolated case, on the other side of the globe, the Chinese have discovered at least eight sinkholes that suddenly formed in the past two weeks across their country, and many more have appeared during the past two months. The latest known sinkhole formed at 12:25 a.m. Beijing time on June 4, in the middle of a freeway in Zhejiang Province on the nation’s eastern coast. The sinkhole measured 20 feet deep and 27 feet wide. [...]

The outbreak of sinkholes has struck fear in Chinese people. Though reports in official media always quote “experts” that conclude such holes are not warning signs of another major earthquake, people have little trust in such comments.

Comment: I was very undecided about the Guatemalan sink hole, even after more major media outlets confirmed it was genuine. However, there just seems to be a rising tide of reports, so maybe something major is occuring. See also, Tropical storm leaves more than 115 dead in Central America & A family of 4 dies in sinkhole in Canada - photo gallery . There have been quite a few other stories, but in terms of an explanation, I can't understand just how clean cut those sides are... See also: 13 of the Biggest, Strangest, and Most Devastating Sinkholes on Earth Update:
Guatemala Sinkhole Created by Humans, Not Nature

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Ryanair's Michael O'Leary claims ashcloud 'was mythical'
Independe News, 1st June 2010
Michael O'Leary has refused to soften his stance on compensation as he admitted the volcanic ash cloud cost the airline around €50m.

Ryanair's chief executive said his airline was gearing up for a legal challenge against "unfair" EU regulations, which forced carriers to cover the costs of refreshments and accommodation for passengers who could not get home. Mr O'Leary said the firm planned to use the top 20 "most ludicrous" claims as part of a test case in the courts.

He said one customer stranded in the Canary Isles, hoping to return to Dublin, put in a claim for €3,000 for a luxury apartment. The outspoken boss said the "mythical" cloud had left his business with a bill of around €50m so far. "There was no ash cloud," he told a press conference on Tuesday.

"It was mythical. We've not been able to find it." He went on: "It's become evident the airspace closure was completely unnecessary."

Comment: Well, I am intrigued! So, my strange thought that maybe airspace over Europe was closed down in order to investigate UAP phenomena might not be so far fetched. If the ash cloud really was mythical, and quite frankly, the ash cloud models looked convincing, then I am sure there must be a few wondering what was really going on...

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Giant ash cloud threatens flights in Pacific
PhysOrg.com, 31st May 2010
A giant plume of volcanic ash is disrupting flights in the Pacific and threatening villagers in Vanuatu, echoing similar problems which caused chaos in Europe, scientists and officials said Monday.

Forecasters in New Zealand said the cloud, spewing from Vanuatu's Mount Yasur volcano, was about 6,000 feet (1,800 metres) high and covered an area of about 132 square miles. Tourists have been urged to stay away from the volcano on Tanna island, which has disrupted domestic flights in neighbouring New Caledonia. Peter Korisa of the National Disaster Management Office, who is on Tanna to assess the situation, said lava and hot rocks had been spewing from the volcano and ash was raining down on nearby villages. "There are 6,000 people in the villages around the volcano, we're not moving them out yet," Korisa told AFP.

"All tourists and tourist operators have been asked to not access the volcano. The access is restricted."

Comment: More volcanoes going up, meanwhile people just complain about disruptions, however some of these volcanoes could wipe out life on vast parts of Earth...

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What happens if a hurricane hits the Gulf Oil Slick?
Watts Up With That, 30th May 2010

There’s been a lot of worry and speculation over what will happen if a hurricane and the gulf oil spill collide. In response, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) has prepared a document answering some of the questions. There’s of course, a lot of uncertainty too.

What will happen to a hurricane that runs through this oil slick?

• Most hurricanes span an enormous area of the ocean (200-300 miles) — far wider than the current size of the spill.
• If the slick remains small in comparison to a typical hurricane’s general environment and size, the anticipated impact on the hurricane would be minimal.
• The oil is not expected to appreciably affect either the intensity or the track of a fully developed tropical storm or hurricane.
• The oil slick would have little effect on the storm surge or near-shore wave heights.

Comment: Written by meteorologist Anthony Watts. I thought this might help some who are very concerned about this escalating disaster.

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Ring of fire in the sky: Storm clouds form an astonishing circle at sunset in Hungary
Daily Mail, 26th May 2010
A circle of clouds forms a ring of fire above the Hungarian countryside as the sun sets after a day of torrential rain and hail storms which brought havoc to the country and much of central Europe. This dramatic picture was taken after more than 2,000 people were forced from their homes in northern Hungary as flash floods triggered by heavy weekend rains blocked off villages and cut power in parts of the country. Unusually bad weather, with heavy gusts of wind and two months' worth of rain in some areas, sent water levels surging to record highs on smaller rivers.

Comment: Don't these clouds just look angry! There seems to be more examples lately too... I note the comments that people do not believe the cloud formation type given here, it does not matter because we are tracking the occurrence of these highly electrified clouds.

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'Rain cloud is mostly made of bacteria'
The Times of India, 25th May 2010
BOZEMAN (MONTANA): Walking across the campus of Montana State University here, David Sands, a plant pathologist, says the blanket of snow draped over the mountains around town contains a surprise. The cause of most of it, he said, is a living organism, a bacterium, called pseudomonas syringae.

In the last few years, Sands and other researchers have accumulated evidence that the well-known group of bacteria, long known to live on agricultural crops, are far more widespread and may be part of a little-studied weather ecosystem. The principle is well accepted, but how widespread the phenomenon is remains a matter of debate.

Comment: Yes, it's a surprising fact, but the skies are filled with bacteria that act as cloud condensation nuclei, but as the universe is filled with dust – that is mostly dessicated bacteria – it should be no surprise, but the education system tends to avoid the subject.

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Bridge’s St. Vitus dance
RT News, 21st May 2010
Motorists using a bridge in the southern Russian city of Volgograd were given the ride of a lifetime by a powerful gust of wind.

Comment: No, I don't think this was caused just by a gust of wind! The bridge experienced energy at it's resonant frequency and hence it started to 'dance'.

"Flutter is a self-starting and potentially destructive vibration where aerodynamic forces on an object couple with a structure's natural mode of vibration to produce rapid periodic motion. Flutter can occur in any object within a strong fluid flow, under the conditions that a positive feedback occurs between the structure's natural vibration and the aerodynamic forces. That is, that the vibrational movement of the object increases an aerodynamic load which in turn drives the object to move further." Flutter

The next question is: why does the bridge not dance more often, because wind is not a rare phenomena? I would suggest that slightly different atmospheric conditions combined to generate the necessary aerodynamics. Maybe, the bridge reacted to a shock wave from something man-made or natural like the jet-stream touching down. At the moment, geomagnetic conditions have been quiet to unsettled. The natural hypothesis has to be considered as we are now regularly experiencing a wide variety of "rare" atmospheric phenomena where scientists appear to not fully understand the factors involved. There are also frequent stories now of "rogue waves". Another link here Thanks Romanov for the tip! Update: Europe's longest bridge closed after it wobbles
"A seven-kilometre-long bridge over the Volga River has been closed after the structure started to wobble. The bridge in Volgograd, southern Russia was built last year at a cost of £55m, and opened in October 2009."

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Hail Storm Oklahoma City [US]
YouTube, 16th May 2010
This was the most insane hail storm or storm in general I have ever seen! it was May 16th 2010. Sorry about all of the 'oh my Gods'. I was just in shock.

Comment: Wild, wild wild! Classic footage, however it falls short because we don't know whether there were some brick sized conglomerates, tennis balls, cricket balls, or baseball sized, but I think we can rule out golf balls, especially after the hail storm really gets going....

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Rainbow similar to before China and Chile quake seen over Los Angeles
The Weather Space, 13th May 2010
San Diego residents are reporting shaking continuing in the area. The shaking, according to the USGS, is likely due to the Easter quake this year which rocked the region.

Twitter is rolling with reports of rainbow cloud over Los Angeles today. Reports are coming in that this looks similar to before both the China and Chile quakes where residents reported and took photos of such events in the sky.

While no one can be sure what it means, people should always be prepared for a major Earthquake in Southern California as it is seismically active.

Comment: I think the best advice is that people should be prepared... There are very low frequency EM emissions that can be detected – even from satellites in space. Most systems are experimental because there does not seem anyway to tell if something will occur within a day or a week. Larger image: Twitpic - Fire rainbow over downtown LA

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Weird Clouds Look Even Better From Space
Wired News, 12th May 2010
Clouds are fascinating because they take on so many different, beautiful shapes and are constantly changing. Cloud-watching from Earth can be endlessly entertaining, but some of the most amazing cloud patterns can only be properly appreciated from space.

Satellites can take in thousands of miles of the Earth’s surface in one shot, revealing complicated and intriguing cloud patterns we could never see from below. We’ve gathered here some of the best cloud formations to see from above.

Comment: Some very intriguing images.

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The Crystals at the Center of the Earth
Wired News, 11th May 2010
The iron alloys in the solid inner core of the Earth appear to have crystallized in such a way that it’s easier for energy to pass on the north-south axis than on the east-west, as described in a new study led by Maurizio Mattesini, a geologist at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, which appeared in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“The structure of the atoms looks different in one direction than the other,” explained Norm Sleep, a Stanford geologist who was not part of the new study, [...] “The center of the earth is literally a crystal,” said Stephenson. Over time, it grew and now is no longer a single crystal but an aggregate of them.

In the mid-1990s, geologists began to notice an interesting thing. Seismic waves traveling north-south were reaching their destinations about 3 percent faster than waves moving along east-west paths.

“It’s one of these things that’s been detected for some time but kind of why it occurs has been somewhat of a puzzle,” Sleep said. They didn’t know why, but then again, the middle of the globe is perhaps the most difficult place to gather data on Earth.

Comment: Well, it's taken scientists quite some time to publish some new information on Earth's crystal core. Unfortunately the article does not mention that the latest research reveals a better solution has been found for the data to explain the properties of the inner core. Again, no discussion of whether the core is actually a plasma crystal which would seem more logical.

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Whatever Happened to the Hole in the Ozone Layer?
Yahoo News, 6th May 2010
Three British scientists shocked the world when they revealed on May 16th, 1985 - 25 years ago - that aerosol chemicals, among other factors, had torn a hole in the ozone layer over the South Pole. The ozone layer, which protects life on Earth from damaging solar radiation, became an overnight sensation. And the hole in the ozone layer became the poster-child for mankind's impact on the planet.

Today, the ozone hole - actually a region of thinned ozone, not actually a pure hole - doesn't make headlines like it used to. The size of the hole has stabilized, thanks to decades of aerosol-banning legislation. But, scientists warn, some danger still remains. [...]

The ozone layer has also thinned over the North Pole. This thinning is predicted to continue for the next 15 years due to weather-related phenomena that scientists still cannot fully explain,

Comment: Hmmm... see archives for previous comment on the link between cosmic rays, the Earth's magnetic field and the real cause of the hole in the ozone layer. By the way there is no real hole, it's just places in the statosphere (15 - 30km) in the Earth's upper atmosphere where the layer of ozone just gets very thin. This region is also over the poles and not over the industrialised areas because of the Earth's magnetic field. However, it seems obvious to me that since the Earth's magnetic field is now quite unreliable, and we are getting flooded with cosmic rays, that the Ozone hole is MUCH more likely to be getting thinner. I am also surprised that researchers have revealed that the link between the size of the 'hole' and global temps and the media have picked this up. Meanwhile Spaceweather.com DON'T BE ALARMED and CNN, Sun's halo - 'gift from God,' 'end of days' or just pretty? have reported alarmed folk in Cebu City, the Philippines. Now, if this was a common occurence, why would they be alarmed! Yes, the conventional explanation is ice crystals but there is another phenomena of 'diamond dust'. There is also some discussion of light reflecting through the thin ozone layer causing the ring but this is much more speculative.

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Cannes struggles to prepare for festival as unseasonal wind and waves batter coast
The Guardian, 5th May 2010
Waves up to 10 metres high overturn cars and damage restaurants in Côte d'Azur a week before film festival

France's Côte d'Azur was struggling today to retain its seasonal spirit after huge waves and strong winds left the coastline badly damaged a week before the world's rich and famous are due to arrive for the 63rd Cannes film festival.

Waves between four and 10 metres high crashed into the Promenade des Anglais in Nice and the Croisette in Cannes yesterday afternoon, overturning cars and battering seafront restaurants.

Comment: Oh well, how inconvenient for the rich and famous! So, if the Earth's tilt has changed even if ever so slightly, it will explain all the stories of freak waves, but at this moment in time, I am not linking stories about a coming Ice Age with the examples of inclement weather, but others are. Also:

• Video: Snow in May? In Southern France?
  It looks like the dead of winter....
  
  
• It's snowing in Mexico in May!
  

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RED RAINBOW: Muncie, Indiana [US]
Spaceweather.com, 5th May 2010
Yesterday in Muncie, Indiana, the sun was just about to set when--"Wow! This red rainbow popped up out of nowhere," reports Mike Hutchinson. "It hung there for about 15 minutes--just enough time to grab my camera and snap a rain-splattered picture."

What made the rainbow red? Simple. The sun itself was red. "The sun was low in the west and strongly reddened by atmospheric scattering and ominous-looking clouds," says Hutchinson.

The real question. according to Hutchinson, is why the inside of the rainbow was so much brighter red than the outside. Atmospheric optics expert Les Cowley has the answer: "A rainbow is not just a set of colored rings, but rather a set of colored disks. The sky inside is bright because raindrops direct light there, too." All rainbows have this property, but it is particularly evident when the sky above the 'bow is dark and cloudy--as it was on May 3rd in Muncie, Indiana.

Comment: I had to get my book book out again, Rare Halos, Mirages, Anomalous Rainbows and Related Electromagnetic Phenomena by William R. Corliss. Apparently red rainbows are rare but explainable and examples from 1922, 1928, 1978 and one with no date were given, but interestingly, 3 out of 4 of these examples were reported in the UK, the other was in Montana, US. I am not sure we can accept the explanation here as adequate! Corliss writes: "When the sun is low in the sky, the shorter wavelengths in sunlight are scatteredby the atmosphere, leaving the longer wavelengths -- predominately red-- to form a rainbow. Corliss cites the example with no date, but recorded in 1974 as there being a red rainbow for about 30 secs, but the sun had already set! I'm not even sure I am satisfied with this. What is causing the scattering in THIS PARTICULAR INSTANCE and is DIFFERENT TO NORMAL? REMEMBER THIS IS RARE!

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Laser creates clouds over Germany
New Scientist, 2nd May 2010
A laser has been used to generate small clouds on demand in lab, and real-world experiments suggest this could be a way to call down rain when it's needed. [...]

In the lab the team fired extremely short pulses of infrared laser light into a chamber of water-saturated air at -24 °C. Linear clouds could be seen to form in the laser's wake, like a miniature airplane contrail. Kasparian says that the laser pulses generate clouds by stripping electrons from atoms in air, which encourage the formation of hydroxyl radicals. Those convert sulphur and nitrogen dioxides in air into particles that act as seeds to grow water droplets. [...]

However, conditions of extremely high humidity at low temperature like those of the lab experiment are unlike those seen in the atmosphere, says Daniel Rosenfeld, an atmospheric scientist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. "Whatever has been documented in this experiment is of little relevance to natural clouds," he says.

Comment: Some people would argue that cosmic rays are actually plasmas and that this process occurs naturally to create clouds, see articles on Svensmark's cosmoclimatology (cosmic ray cloud formation and climate modulation hypothesis). What's interesting is the short video clip and the spiralling plasma demonstrating a Birkeland current.

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New evidence may solve mystery of the origin of water on Earth
Times Online, 29th April 2010
Scientists have found new evidence that the water on Earth was delivered by asteroids during the earliest years of the solar system. The development comes after two teams of scientists independently discovered the first “wet” asteroid, paving the way for the first experimental proof of a longstanding mystery surrounding the origin of water on Earth.

Scientists believe that the Earth was formed barren. During a period of intense bombardment, between 4.1 and 3.8 billion years ago, ice-covered comets and asteroids could have delivered water. It had been assumed that these asteroids would have now dried out.

Comment: Well, a reliable metaphysical source has already confirmed that Earth got it's water by a massive cosmic delivery. More evidence that Earth is not a closed system by any means and that universal intelligence is at work organising life on this planet.

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Is the Earth's core solid?
Discovery News, 26th April 2010
The core is composed mostly of an iron-nickel alloy and, as Princeton geosciences professor Jeroen Tromp explains, it didn't always possess a solid center. "The inner core is basically the result of the slow cooling of the outer core," Tromp says. "The temperature drops below the melting point at the inner core boundary so over time, slowly, the inner core has crystallized within the liquid outer core. That will continue and eventually there won't be a liquid outer core anymore. It will be gone." The solidification of the outer core will take billions of years, but future inhabitants of Earth certainly will notice the difference. The liquid portion of the core is crucial to the processes that produce Earth's magnetic field. Without that magnetic field, the planet would be much more exposed to solar wind, a deadly stream of highly charged particles.

Comment: The article is not very informative, Tromp tells us that the Earth's core is crystalline and nobody gets serious and tells us about the impact of plasma from the solar wind spiralling down the polar cusps at the poles to make an impact inside the core. This is more interesting and probably relevant: Lopsided Growth at the Earth's Core "Their data pinpoints specific regional variations in the structure of the core that are in addition to the hemispheric east-west lopsidedness, and may likewise be attributed to the preferential alignment of iron. On top of that, the patterns of variations these researchers found in the Earth’s core match up directly with the shape of the Earth’s magnetic field—a finding that suggests the core’s growth has been coupled to the planet’s magnetic field since it first formed."

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Remember that ash cloud? It didn't exist, says new evidence
Daily Mail, 26th April 2010
Britain's airspace was closed under false pretences, with satellite images revealing there was no doomsday volcanic ash cloud over the entire country. Skies fell quiet for six days, leaving as many as 500,000 Britons stranded overseas and costing airlines hundreds of millions of pounds. Estimates put the number of Britons still stuck abroad at 35,000. However, new evidence shows there was no all-encompassing cloud and, where dust was present, it was often so thin that it posed no risk.

Comment: Sometimes you really have to wonder. I am in Switzerland and I could taste dust in my mouth for a few days and I could even see where I had walked a very fine white ash into my home. But as I have already outlined, the flight ban may have served another purpose.

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The 'UFO' that's an IFO, and volcanic lightning
Komon News, 22nd April 2010
It looks like a cross between something seen on "V" and a beret, but actually this circular cloud pictured above is just a harmless lenticular cloud. The photo was taken by Annie Roehr over the weekend. (Larger resolution version here.) The cloud might look like a hat, but it's actually several thin layers of clouds stacked upon each other like a stack of pancakes.

Comment: Hmmm... there are some strange and menancing looking clouds these days...

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Airlines Blame Flawed Computer Modeling For Up To $1.7 Billion Loss
WUWT, 21st April 2010
The Met Office has been blamed for triggering the “unnecessary” six-day closure of British airspace which has cost airlines, passengers and the economy more than £1.5 billion.–The Telegraph 19 April, 2010 [...]

Global airlines have lost about $1.7bn of revenue as a result of the disruptions caused by the Icelandic volcanic eruption, a body has said. Giovanni Bisignani, chief executive of IATA, criticised governments for the haste with which they closed airspace, and called on them to provide compensation to the airlines. “Airspace was being closed based on theoretical models, not on facts. Test flights by our members showed that the models were wrong.” –BBC, 21 April 2010

Comment: The last few days have seen lots of conflicting reports, so I thought I would wait for the dust to settle, if you can excuse the pun. Here the issue is the discrediting of the UK Met Office and computer models. This is looking very bad for science that seems to have lost it's way in trying to model reality when the truth is they do not understand all the natural laws and this will become more acute as scientists realise that Earth is not a "closed" system. Anyway, the refrain now, which will be most meaningful for the British is, 'it was the wrong kind of ash'.

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Reports of Luminous Seas
Edge Science, April 2010
[...] Luminous phenomena like those seen by Chief Officer Peter Newton are so elusive, so impossible to drag into the lab, that they are likely to remain a mystery for a long time. Until then, those who have seen them will believe, and those who have not are likely to laugh. When Newton is back home in England, he keeps his mouth shut about what he saw in the Gulf of Oman. “It’s not something I would bring up at a party or a bar” he says. “They would think I was mad. But people at sea believe me. Seamen tend to believe each other. There is no reason not to. You see many strange things at sea.”

Comment: In the past I have linked this Lightwheel phenomena to crop circles but really it's still a big mystery and maybe humans will have to accept for a while that this Universe is much more complex and diverse than we are able to imagine.

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A rare Earthquake hits Australia. Does this place look familiar? Is a picture emerging?
Colin Andres, 20th April 2010
It should if you have been following the unexplained strange symbols appearing on Australian weather radar since January 15th just over three months ago.

The first strange ring reported to me and that started my research was near Kalgoorlie- Boulder in West Australia, at the same location as today’s Earthquake. Today’s rare quake does raise the obvious question: Is it part of the radar story or is it ‘The’ story? And of course they may be totally unconnected.

Comment: This is interesting...

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Ash cloud models – overrated? A word on Post Normal Science by Dr. Jerome Ravetz
WUWT, 19th April 2010
“We sent ten Boeing 747 and Airbus 340 jets on transfer flights from Munich to Frankfurt,” Lufthansa spokesman Klaus Walther told the paper. The planes were moved in order to be in the most useful place once the ban is lifted, he explained.

“Our machines flew to a height of 24,000 feet, or around 8,000 metres. In Frankfurt the machines were examined by our technicians. They didn’t find the slightest scratch on the cockpit windscreens, on the outer skin nor in the engines.”

“The flight ban, which is completely based on computer calculations, is causing economic damage in the billions. This is why, for the future, we demand that dependable measurements must be available before a flight ban is imposed.”

Comment: Oh dear! This is really not looking good for environmental computer modelling.
Quote : dickmnixon (08:24:28) : All of this has been based on the MET’s computer models????

‘Air Berlin CEO Joachim Hunold criticized the fact that the results of test flights had no influence on the decision of the air traffic control authorities as to whether to reopen airspace in countries across Europe. “In Germany, no one has even sent up a weather balloon to measure if volcanic ash is in the air, and if so, how much,” Hunold told the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.’ link

There is also a massive breaking story here if it is true... see Comment: RajKapoor (08:20:17) : See below email exchange on Iceland volcano links to money and climate change. Seems like something is rotten in the state of Iceland!!!

• APOD: Ash and Lightning Above an Icelandic Volcano
  
  
• UK flights grounded again by new ash cloud
  Radar Link to Flights over Europe here, at 13.00 GMT, there were planes flying over the UK.
  

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Volcanic ash grounds Britain for days to come
Times Online, 18th April 2010
BRITAIN faces being grounded for the coming week as the cloud of volcanic ash hovering over the country threatens to stay put until Friday. The Met Office warned that northerly winds are pushing it south from Iceland rather than sending it eastwards towards Scandinavia. All flights to and from Britain have been cancelled until at least 1pm today but this deadline may be pushed back again. BA and Ryanair said their earliest flights would be tomorrow. The crisis is costing cash-strapped British and Irish airlines £28m a day. Worldwide, airlines are losing £130m a day.

Comment: There are lots of mainstream and alternative commentators talking about karma and they are quite serious...

Limbaugh: Volcanic ash cloud is God’s punishment for health care
Raw Story, 17th April 2010

Airlines search for safe paths through ash as travel pressure mounts
Times Online, 18th April 2010

Airlines carry out test flights in Europe's ash-filled skies
LA Times, 19th April 2010
"Air France, KLM and Lufthansa send out jets carrying only crew members in an attempt to show that flying conditions are safe despite the volcanic ash. The flights landed without incident, they say."

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VOLCANIC SUNSET ALERT:
Spaceweather.com, 16th April 2010
A cloud of ash from Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano is drifting across Europe today. This has caused a massive disruption in air travel, as many countries have grounded their planes. On the bright side, the cloud is causing sunsets of rare beauty. Europeans should look west at the end of the day. Images: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10.

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The Big Picture: Iceland's disruptive volcano
Boston.com, 15th April 2010
Today, British civil aviation authorities ordered the country's airspace closed as of noon, due to a cloud of ash drifting from the erupting Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland. The volcano has erupted for the second time in less than a month, melting ice, shooting smoke and steam into the air and forcing hundreds of people to flee rising floodwaters. The volcanic ash has forced the cancellation of many flights and disrupted air traffic across northern Europe, stranding thousands of passengers. Collected here are photos of the most recent eruption, and of last month's eruptions, which were from the same volcano, just several miles further east. (18 photos total)

Comment: Great Pictures, but this is not the volcano that they were worried about... See, Iceland's eruptions could have global consequences

"Scientists say history has proven that when the Eyjafjallajokull volcano erupts, Katla follows — the only question is how soon. And Katla, located under the massive Myrdalsjokull icecap, threatens disastrous flooding and explosive blasts when it blows." Also,

Iceland volcano from space: The dramatic ash plume engulfing Britain and 'nightmarish face' seen from above

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Volcanic ash shuts air space across Europe
Heathrow, world’s second busiest airport, and much of Europe affected
MSNBC News, 15th April 2010
LONDON - Ash clouds from Iceland's spewing volcano disrupted air traffic across Europe on Thursday as authorities closed air space over Britain, Ireland and the Nordic countries.

Tens of thousands of passengers were stranded as flights were canceled and it was not clear when it would be safe enough to fly again.

Britain's Civil Aviation Authority said non-emergency flights would be banned in all airports until at least 6 p.m. (1 p.m. EDT). Irish authorities also closed their air space for at least eight hours, along with closures by aviation authorities in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland.

Comment: As some climate scientists have long known, volcanic eruptions help Earth to self-regulate any increases in atmospheric temperatures, but humans will have to be concerned about the effect on food production. WUWT Satellite images

Countries Airspace Status

UK Airspace closed:

Republic of Ireland Airspace closed:

Norway Partial or planned closures:

Sweden (total closure by 2000 GMT)

Denmark (total by 1600 GMT)

Finland (northern airspace closed till 1200 GMT Friday)

Belgium (total from 1430 GMT)

Netherlands (being shut progressively)

France (northern airports by 2100 GMT)

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