Earth Changes

Subtle alterations to the geography of the planet could be considered as earth changes. However when talking about the earth and how it will be changing, many people feel that the alterations are going to be large and potentially life ending.

Scientific Confirmation


The scientific community is hesitant to confirm that the planet is undergoing any type of major upheaval. Data collected over the past few decades indicates that earth changes are occurring. Satellite images are sent to computers around the globe offering real time pictures of storms, solar flare and volcanic activity. Computer applications, including weather information, allows people all over the planet to watch and tracks storms of all types.

It has only been a century since people started recording daily temperatures, weather conditions, wind, rain and snowfall amounts. While this information allows scientists to see patterns, data from a hundred years is like a blink of the eye where the planet is concerned. What one scientist may see as a global warming pattern, another may view the same data as confirmation of global cooling. One side of the scientific fence promotes human activity as the cause for severe weather, while the other side staunchly believes these weather patterns are a common cyclic pattern. The only thing that scientists have in common is that they all believe their theories are correct.

Polar Shift


It is a well-known fact that polar shifts have occurred many times since the planet was formed. Ice cores, volcanic sediments and earth core samples have all confirmed that the poles shift every so often. The shortest number of years ever documented between pole shifts was only 5,000. A pole shift occurring a thousand years ago did not affect the human population as it would today. Unlike now, those people used hand tools and communicated through oral and hand written letters. If a pole shift were to occur today, it would cause major earth changes. Nothing electronic would work including telephones, radios, computers and electrical grids. Since there is no written record of how the last pole shift affected migratory birds and animals, scientists can only theorize what the effect will be for them. Keeping additional foods on hand, over the counter medicine and hand tools may be one way to prepare for a pole shift.

Solar Activity


According to the scientific community, our sun is nearing the end of an eleven-year cycle. In the past few months, the sun has been quite active. Solar flares and magnetic storms have swept across the surface of the earth with little to no warnings from the scientific community. Solar flares have classes just like hurricanes and tornados. Class C flares can cause some communication interference and cause the aurora borealis to be brighter and more colorful. Class M flares disrupt communications including satellite feeds, telephones and cell phones. Class X flares can be very destructive shutting down computers and electrical grids. Unfortunately, scientists do not know much about the sun and it can affect the earth. Data is being collected from the sun through the use of space telescopes, un-manned exploration modules and larger more efficient computers that correlate the information collected. Eventually this data will help us understand how the sun can change the lives of those on earth.

Volcanic Activity


Dormant volcanoes around the globe are becoming active. Although hidden from view, underwater volcanic activity has increased as well. The Pacific Ring of Fire, an area in the Pacific Ocean where the sub-oceanic crust is thin, has become more and more active. Yellowstone Park is located over one of the world's biggest magma chambers. The caldera at Yellowstone is big and the ground between the magma chamber and the surface is not very thick. Should the earth's crust become unstable, it is possible that the dormant volcano, that formed the Yellowstone caldera, will become active once again causing severe earth changes.

Earthquakes


Hardly a day goes by without an earthquake being reported. Twenty to fifty years ago, earthquakes were a rarity and even then, they were minor. In the last year, the world has watched Haiti and Chili reel from the affects of unexpected earthquakes. The Chilean quake, which measured 8.8 on the Richter scale, actually moved a town ten feet. Haiti suffered massive devastation from an earthquake that occurred along a previously unknown fault line. Unless there is activity along them, many fault lines go undetected. Even a moderate earthquake in an area that is not expecting one will cause substantial devastation. Earthquakes are events that can change the shape of the earth forever.

Earthquake, volcanic eruptions and severe weather are all types of earth changes. Knowing how to take care of yourself during an emergency and having the supplies on hand to help get you through one will be invaluable.



Original Article

Pat Fisher - Introduced to preparedness, he began learning as much as he could, and now shares that information with you in American Teotwawki

Global Climate Changes - How Can Man Avoid Extinction?

The current global climatic changes are a source of serious worry to mankind. Life on earth is becoming increasingly threatened with extinction as a result of damaging changes in the earth's climate. Many have not come to the realization that it is possible for man to go extinct. But there are evidences in the past and even today that extinction is not a myth.

Paleogeological discoveries show that certain flora and fauna species have gone extinct in the past. Conspicuous among them are the dinosaurs. The dinosaur extinction theories have it that it was caused by abrupt, harsh and sustain climatic changes to which this animal species could not adapt to.

Today, our climate is noticing very serious changes. Changes that are inimical to the continuous existence of man. Melting of the polar ice, heavily polluted atmosphere and water bodies, serious depletion of forests resources, and therefore alteration of the carbon oxide:oxygen balance, changes in rainfall pattern with some areas getting too much and others getting almost none. These are caused mainly by human activities - aggressive industrialization, urbanization, intensive agriculture, poor waste management techniques and other environmental-unfriendly practices.

At present, people in some major cities of the world do not have the privilege of a clean air or water. People wear gas masks during the day in heavily industrialized cities. China is an example. With time if not watched, we might not have any air to breathe.

To Avoid Extinction

We therefore need to have a rethink. We need to slow down and watch our steps in everything we do - our policies, development plans, energy utilization, daily living and waste generation pattern and disposal methods.

To avoid extinction man must begin to place the environment first in everything he does. Proper environment impact assessment must be carried out before any project is executed. Also, concerted effort must be made by government and industrialists to cut down on the emission of polluting gases to tolerable levels. Internationally agreed standards for emissions and waste discharges from industries must be kept to.

Government should formulate policies that would encourage green living and environment conservation and preservation. Industries whose activities pollute the environment should be made to pay adequately for its clean up and restoration through a functional Polluter-Pay-Policy.

People should adopt climate -friendly lifestyle. For instance, aerosol-based air freshener and insecticides should be avoided. Garbage and rubbishes should not be burnt in the open but rather should be property incinerated if at all it should be.

Adopting a green living ideology is the way cut, it would cut-down most drastically the impact of human activities on our climatic and so ensure the continuous existence of man, Let us act today to secure our climate. A threaten climate means a threaten population.

Fortune Ihunweze is a professional Environmental Resources Manager with a passion for the environment. His passion for the environment made him study Environmental Resource Management in his Masters program and since he finished in 2003, he has been committed to the course of a healthy and better environment. His views and articles on the environment are shared in his website: http://www.environmenthighlight.com The website is part of his effort to help mankind recover our damaged, degraded and threatened environment.