End of the world

[Guest Stevie]

Right through history people have spoken about the end of the world, but the worlds not going to end for 2 billion years is it when the sun will swallow it up, but the way we talk about the end of the world we mean, the end of the human race as a functional force.

 

There have been 600,000 predictions about what we mean by the end of the world, all of them to date, have been wrong. I think the December 21st 2012 has more supporters than any of them, primarily because it coincides with the end of the Mayan calendar and other unconnected calendars in Asia. It could just be a coincidence, or maybe not and it means fuck all.

 

I don't want to sound depressive here, because I'm happy go lucky most of the time, but I reckon it will be a miracle if we are still here in 150 years time.

• Global warming, if it continues as it is and the best case scenario the forecasters are looking at a 2C increase in 80 years, well we're all likely to be fucked anyway
  
• Food shortages will get worse as the climate goes up, and there's every indication if current trends continue the population will be double what it is now when there is already a global food shortage
  
• Human nature to be the strongest, to dominate, and to fight
  
• More sophisticated terrorism devices which will surely be 100 times more frightening in thirty years time
  
• Nuclear war, an inevitability as long as rogue states like Iran exist, and cunts like America try to police the world
  

It's bleak as fuck, and I can't see the toon winning anything in the next 50 years so am fucked. I think all these conspiracy theorists believe the top jews in the world and the perhaps non existent illuminati, realise that we have odds stacked against us as a race, and the only way is a new world order, and one government. I think they're right as well.

Edited January 25, 2010 by Stevie

[ChezGiven 0]

Blatantly been on the cowies all weekend.

[Guest Stevie]

Blatantly been on the cowies all weekend.

Fuckin hell, very astute you actually don't know what a good call that is, but I believe what I said.

[ChezGiven 0]

Blatantly been on the cowies all weekend.

Fuckin hell, very astute you actually don't know what a good call that is, but I believe what I said.

You might have a point about the new world order or whatever it is, they might well just be right. In that American Stonehenge thing i posted the other week it has something about 600,000 being the sustainable number of people on the planet.

[manc-mag 1]

Right through history people have spoken about the end of the world, but the worlds not going to end for 2 billion years is it when the sun will swallow it up, but the way we talk about the end of the world we mean, the end of the human race as a functional force.

 

There have been 600,000 predictions about what we mean by the end of the world, all of them to date, have been wrong. I think the December 21st 2012 has more supporters than any of them, primarily because it coincides with the end of the Mayan calendar and other unconnected calendars in Asia. It could just be a coincidence, or maybe not and it means fuck all.

 

I can see why it would currently have more supporters than the previous 600,000 theories like.

[Gemmill 34440]

Monday mornings not bad enough for you lot?

[Park Life 70]

Right through history people have spoken about the end of the world, but the worlds not going to end for 2 billion years is it when the sun will swallow it up, but the way we talk about the end of the world we mean, the end of the human race as a functional force.

 

There have been 600,000 predictions about what we mean by the end of the world, all of them to date, have been wrong. I think the December 21st 2012 has more supporters than any of them, primarily because it coincides with the end of the Mayan calendar and other unconnected calendars in Asia. It could just be a coincidence, or maybe not and it means fuck all.

 

I don't want to sound depressive here, because I'm happy go lucky most of the time, but I reckon it will be a miracle if we are still here in 150 years time.

• Global warming, if it continues as it is and the best case scenario the forecasters are looking at a 2C increase in 80 years, well we're all likely to be fucked anyway
  
• Food shortages will get worse as the climate goes up, and there's every indication if current trends continue the population will be double what it is now when there is already a global food shortage
  
• Human nature to be the strongest, to dominate, and to fight
  
• More sophisticated terrorism devices which will surely be 100 times more frightening in thirty years time
  
• Nuclear war, an inevitability as long as rogue states like Iran exist, and cunts like America try to police the world
  

It's bleak as fuck, and I can't see the toon winning anything in the next 50 years so am fucked. I think all these conspiracy theorists believe the top jews in the world and the perhaps non existent illuminati, realise that we have odds stacked against us as a race, and the only way is a new world order, and one government. I think they're right as well.

 

We line up with the black hole at the center of our galaxy at the end of 2012. The planet will be hit by some kind of radiation/electromagnetic sea at that point which wipes away our own magnetic field which protects us from our sun.

[NJS 3978]

You forgot to mention super volcano eruptions, asteroid collision or viral pandemics - I think we need to develop the means to escape the planet in the next 500 years or we're fucked.

[Park Life 70]

You forgot to mention super volcano eruptions, asteroid collision or viral pandemics - I think we need to develop the means to escape the planet in the next 500 years or we're fucked.

 

There are already underground cities.

[Guest Stevie]

Right through history people have spoken about the end of the world, but the worlds not going to end for 2 billion years is it when the sun will swallow it up, but the way we talk about the end of the world we mean, the end of the human race as a functional force.

 

There have been 600,000 predictions about what we mean by the end of the world, all of them to date, have been wrong. I think the December 21st 2012 has more supporters than any of them, primarily because it coincides with the end of the Mayan calendar and other unconnected calendars in Asia. It could just be a coincidence, or maybe not and it means fuck all.

 

I don't want to sound depressive here, because I'm happy go lucky most of the time, but I reckon it will be a miracle if we are still here in 150 years time.

• Global warming, if it continues as it is and the best case scenario the forecasters are looking at a 2C increase in 80 years, well we're all likely to be fucked anyway
  
• Food shortages will get worse as the climate goes up, and there's every indication if current trends continue the population will be double what it is now when there is already a global food shortage
  
• Human nature to be the strongest, to dominate, and to fight
  
• More sophisticated terrorism devices which will surely be 100 times more frightening in thirty years time
  
• Nuclear war, an inevitability as long as rogue states like Iran exist, and cunts like America try to police the world
  

It's bleak as fuck, and I can't see the toon winning anything in the next 50 years so am fucked. I think all these conspiracy theorists believe the top jews in the world and the perhaps non existent illuminati, realise that we have odds stacked against us as a race, and the only way is a new world order, and one government. I think they're right as well.

 

We line up with the black hole at the center of our galaxy at the end of 2012. The planet will be hit by some kind of radiation/electromagnetic sea at that point which wipes away our own magnetic field which protects us from our sun.

I think them cowies were even better than what I had.

 

NJS Stephen Hawking said that. The only way we can move on is if 80% of the population of the world die, and we start being more sensible.

[Park Life 70]

Right through history people have spoken about the end of the world, but the worlds not going to end for 2 billion years is it when the sun will swallow it up, but the way we talk about the end of the world we mean, the end of the human race as a functional force.

 

There have been 600,000 predictions about what we mean by the end of the world, all of them to date, have been wrong. I think the December 21st 2012 has more supporters than any of them, primarily because it coincides with the end of the Mayan calendar and other unconnected calendars in Asia. It could just be a coincidence, or maybe not and it means fuck all.

 

I don't want to sound depressive here, because I'm happy go lucky most of the time, but I reckon it will be a miracle if we are still here in 150 years time.

• Global warming, if it continues as it is and the best case scenario the forecasters are looking at a 2C increase in 80 years, well we're all likely to be fucked anyway
  
• Food shortages will get worse as the climate goes up, and there's every indication if current trends continue the population will be double what it is now when there is already a global food shortage
  
• Human nature to be the strongest, to dominate, and to fight
  
• More sophisticated terrorism devices which will surely be 100 times more frightening in thirty years time
  
• Nuclear war, an inevitability as long as rogue states like Iran exist, and cunts like America try to police the world
  

It's bleak as fuck, and I can't see the toon winning anything in the next 50 years so am fucked. I think all these conspiracy theorists believe the top jews in the world and the perhaps non existent illuminati, realise that we have odds stacked against us as a race, and the only way is a new world order, and one government. I think they're right as well.

 

We line up with the black hole at the center of our galaxy at the end of 2012. The planet will be hit by some kind of radiation/electromagnetic sea at that point which wipes away our own magnetic field which protects us from our sun.

I think them cowies were even better than what I had.

 

NJS Stephen Hawking said that. The only way we can move on is if 80% of the population of the world die, and we start being more sensible.

 

It will happen. It's some kind of solar wind that hits us every 48,000 years. All electrical and electomagnetic things will be fucked for ever. Any digital data will be wiped etc...Mob phones, planes, cars with computers, pacemakers, computer controlled machines of any kind will be fuked. If you want to save your laptop you'll have to bury it in a lead box.

[Anth 54]

There called Deep Underground Military Bases (DUMBS) and are connected to each other with underground trains that reach speeds over Mach 1. They are populated by Humans as well as reptillians. If David Icke is to be believed

[Guest Stevie]

Right through history people have spoken about the end of the world, but the worlds not going to end for 2 billion years is it when the sun will swallow it up, but the way we talk about the end of the world we mean, the end of the human race as a functional force.

 

There have been 600,000 predictions about what we mean by the end of the world, all of them to date, have been wrong. I think the December 21st 2012 has more supporters than any of them, primarily because it coincides with the end of the Mayan calendar and other unconnected calendars in Asia. It could just be a coincidence, or maybe not and it means fuck all.

 

I don't want to sound depressive here, because I'm happy go lucky most of the time, but I reckon it will be a miracle if we are still here in 150 years time.

• Global warming, if it continues as it is and the best case scenario the forecasters are looking at a 2C increase in 80 years, well we're all likely to be fucked anyway
  
• Food shortages will get worse as the climate goes up, and there's every indication if current trends continue the population will be double what it is now when there is already a global food shortage
  
• Human nature to be the strongest, to dominate, and to fight
  
• More sophisticated terrorism devices which will surely be 100 times more frightening in thirty years time
  
• Nuclear war, an inevitability as long as rogue states like Iran exist, and cunts like America try to police the world
  

It's bleak as fuck, and I can't see the toon winning anything in the next 50 years so am fucked. I think all these conspiracy theorists believe the top jews in the world and the perhaps non existent illuminati, realise that we have odds stacked against us as a race, and the only way is a new world order, and one government. I think they're right as well.

 

We line up with the black hole at the center of our galaxy at the end of 2012. The planet will be hit by some kind of radiation/electromagnetic sea at that point which wipes away our own magnetic field which protects us from our sun.

I think them cowies were even better than what I had.

 

NJS Stephen Hawking said that. The only way we can move on is if 80% of the population of the world die, and we start being more sensible.

 

It will happen. It's some kind of solar wind that hits us every 48,000 years. All electrical and electomagnetic things will be fucked for ever. Any digital data will be wiped etc...Mob phones, planes, cars with computers, pacemakers, computer controlled machines of any kind will be fuked. If you want to save your laptop you'll have to bury it in a lead box.

They've already got technology which protects electrical equipment from a hypothetical electromagnetic pulse, which the Russians would use in a nuclear war. What they'd do is detonate a nuke 100 miles above a country, basically frying every electrical circuit, but they've been able to counter that and some electrical equipment is protected, so it would be from that too. At least there'd be a boom in the electrical trade if I'm wrong.

[Christmas Tree 3997]

The human race will always survive.

 

Even though morally and socially fucked, the people of southwick still eek a living on the banks of the wear.

 

 

[Park Life 70]

There called Deep Underground Military Bases (DUMBS) and are connected to each other with underground trains that reach speeds over Mach 1. They are populated by Humans as well as reptillians. If David Icke is to be believed

 

Small cities is a more apt description. America has about 30 odd of these.

 

The greys have been helping breed a new kind of human that can live underground and needs little food and water.

 

The metal core of our planet will make a new field but nobody knows how long that takes.

Edited January 25, 2010 by Park Life

[Park Life 70]

Right through history people have spoken about the end of the world, but the worlds not going to end for 2 billion years is it when the sun will swallow it up, but the way we talk about the end of the world we mean, the end of the human race as a functional force.

 

There have been 600,000 predictions about what we mean by the end of the world, all of them to date, have been wrong. I think the December 21st 2012 has more supporters than any of them, primarily because it coincides with the end of the Mayan calendar and other unconnected calendars in Asia. It could just be a coincidence, or maybe not and it means fuck all.

 

I don't want to sound depressive here, because I'm happy go lucky most of the time, but I reckon it will be a miracle if we are still here in 150 years time.

• Global warming, if it continues as it is and the best case scenario the forecasters are looking at a 2C increase in 80 years, well we're all likely to be fucked anyway
  
• Food shortages will get worse as the climate goes up, and there's every indication if current trends continue the population will be double what it is now when there is already a global food shortage
  
• Human nature to be the strongest, to dominate, and to fight
  
• More sophisticated terrorism devices which will surely be 100 times more frightening in thirty years time
  
• Nuclear war, an inevitability as long as rogue states like Iran exist, and cunts like America try to police the world
  

It's bleak as fuck, and I can't see the toon winning anything in the next 50 years so am fucked. I think all these conspiracy theorists believe the top jews in the world and the perhaps non existent illuminati, realise that we have odds stacked against us as a race, and the only way is a new world order, and one government. I think they're right as well.

 

We line up with the black hole at the center of our galaxy at the end of 2012. The planet will be hit by some kind of radiation/electromagnetic sea at that point which wipes away our own magnetic field which protects us from our sun.

I think them cowies were even better than what I had.

 

NJS Stephen Hawking said that. The only way we can move on is if 80% of the population of the world die, and we start being more sensible.

 

It will happen. It's some kind of solar wind that hits us every 48,000 years. All electrical and electomagnetic things will be fucked for ever. Any digital data will be wiped etc...Mob phones, planes, cars with computers, pacemakers, computer controlled machines of any kind will be fuked. If you want to save your laptop you'll have to bury it in a lead box.

They've already got technology which protects electrical equipment from a hypothetical electromagnetic pulse, which the Russians would use in a nuclear war. What they'd do is detonate a nuke 100 miles above a country, basically frying every electrical circuit, but they've been able to counter that and some electrical equipment is protected, so it would be from that too. At least there'd be a boom in the electrical trade if I'm wrong.

 

The solar radiation coming at us without our electormagnetic (van allen belt) will fry anything walking....There is no protection against that, that I know of unless everyone will be given a space suit or summat. Tiny amount of this radiation gives you fast breeding cancer.

[NJS 3978]

I mentioned before Stephen Baxter's book about a global flood - the sequel tell the story of an attempt to find a new planet for a small expedition but interestingly theres also a parallel move to move into the crust and mentions how bacteria live in molten rock and suggests an evolutionary future involving gene splicing with such creatures.

[Guest Stevie]

Right through history people have spoken about the end of the world, but the worlds not going to end for 2 billion years is it when the sun will swallow it up, but the way we talk about the end of the world we mean, the end of the human race as a functional force.

 

There have been 600,000 predictions about what we mean by the end of the world, all of them to date, have been wrong. I think the December 21st 2012 has more supporters than any of them, primarily because it coincides with the end of the Mayan calendar and other unconnected calendars in Asia. It could just be a coincidence, or maybe not and it means fuck all.

 

I don't want to sound depressive here, because I'm happy go lucky most of the time, but I reckon it will be a miracle if we are still here in 150 years time.

• Global warming, if it continues as it is and the best case scenario the forecasters are looking at a 2C increase in 80 years, well we're all likely to be fucked anyway
  
• Food shortages will get worse as the climate goes up, and there's every indication if current trends continue the population will be double what it is now when there is already a global food shortage
  
• Human nature to be the strongest, to dominate, and to fight
  
• More sophisticated terrorism devices which will surely be 100 times more frightening in thirty years time
  
• Nuclear war, an inevitability as long as rogue states like Iran exist, and cunts like America try to police the world
  

It's bleak as fuck, and I can't see the toon winning anything in the next 50 years so am fucked. I think all these conspiracy theorists believe the top jews in the world and the perhaps non existent illuminati, realise that we have odds stacked against us as a race, and the only way is a new world order, and one government. I think they're right as well.

 

We line up with the black hole at the center of our galaxy at the end of 2012. The planet will be hit by some kind of radiation/electromagnetic sea at that point which wipes away our own magnetic field which protects us from our sun.

I think them cowies were even better than what I had.

 

NJS Stephen Hawking said that. The only way we can move on is if 80% of the population of the world die, and we start being more sensible.

 

It will happen. It's some kind of solar wind that hits us every 48,000 years. All electrical and electomagnetic things will be fucked for ever. Any digital data will be wiped etc...Mob phones, planes, cars with computers, pacemakers, computer controlled machines of any kind will be fuked. If you want to save your laptop you'll have to bury it in a lead box.

They've already got technology which protects electrical equipment from a hypothetical electromagnetic pulse, which the Russians would use in a nuclear war. What they'd do is detonate a nuke 100 miles above a country, basically frying every electrical circuit, but they've been able to counter that and some electrical equipment is protected, so it would be from that too. At least there'd be a boom in the electrical trade if I'm wrong.

 

The solar radiation coming at us without our electormagnetic (van allen belt) will fry anything walking....There is no protection against that, that I know of unless everyone will be given a space suit or summat. Tiny amount of this radiation gives you fast breeding cancer.

Well how come humans survived 48,000 years ago?

[Park Life 70]

Right through history people have spoken about the end of the world, but the worlds not going to end for 2 billion years is it when the sun will swallow it up, but the way we talk about the end of the world we mean, the end of the human race as a functional force.

 

There have been 600,000 predictions about what we mean by the end of the world, all of them to date, have been wrong. I think the December 21st 2012 has more supporters than any of them, primarily because it coincides with the end of the Mayan calendar and other unconnected calendars in Asia. It could just be a coincidence, or maybe not and it means fuck all.

 

I don't want to sound depressive here, because I'm happy go lucky most of the time, but I reckon it will be a miracle if we are still here in 150 years time.

• Global warming, if it continues as it is and the best case scenario the forecasters are looking at a 2C increase in 80 years, well we're all likely to be fucked anyway
  
• Food shortages will get worse as the climate goes up, and there's every indication if current trends continue the population will be double what it is now when there is already a global food shortage
  
• Human nature to be the strongest, to dominate, and to fight
  
• More sophisticated terrorism devices which will surely be 100 times more frightening in thirty years time
  
• Nuclear war, an inevitability as long as rogue states like Iran exist, and cunts like America try to police the world
  

It's bleak as fuck, and I can't see the toon winning anything in the next 50 years so am fucked. I think all these conspiracy theorists believe the top jews in the world and the perhaps non existent illuminati, realise that we have odds stacked against us as a race, and the only way is a new world order, and one government. I think they're right as well.

 

We line up with the black hole at the center of our galaxy at the end of 2012. The planet will be hit by some kind of radiation/electromagnetic sea at that point which wipes away our own magnetic field which protects us from our sun.

I think them cowies were even better than what I had.

 

NJS Stephen Hawking said that. The only way we can move on is if 80% of the population of the world die, and we start being more sensible.

 

It will happen. It's some kind of solar wind that hits us every 48,000 years. All electrical and electomagnetic things will be fucked for ever. Any digital data will be wiped etc...Mob phones, planes, cars with computers, pacemakers, computer controlled machines of any kind will be fuked. If you want to save your laptop you'll have to bury it in a lead box.

They've already got technology which protects electrical equipment from a hypothetical electromagnetic pulse, which the Russians would use in a nuclear war. What they'd do is detonate a nuke 100 miles above a country, basically frying every electrical circuit, but they've been able to counter that and some electrical equipment is protected, so it would be from that too. At least there'd be a boom in the electrical trade if I'm wrong.

 

The solar radiation coming at us without our electormagnetic (van allen belt) will fry anything walking....There is no protection against that, that I know of unless everyone will be given a space suit or summat. Tiny amount of this radiation gives you fast breeding cancer.

Well how come humans survived 48,000 years ago?

 

That's classified.

[Guest Stevie]

Right through history people have spoken about the end of the world, but the worlds not going to end for 2 billion years is it when the sun will swallow it up, but the way we talk about the end of the world we mean, the end of the human race as a functional force.

 

There have been 600,000 predictions about what we mean by the end of the world, all of them to date, have been wrong. I think the December 21st 2012 has more supporters than any of them, primarily because it coincides with the end of the Mayan calendar and other unconnected calendars in Asia. It could just be a coincidence, or maybe not and it means fuck all.

 

I don't want to sound depressive here, because I'm happy go lucky most of the time, but I reckon it will be a miracle if we are still here in 150 years time.

• Global warming, if it continues as it is and the best case scenario the forecasters are looking at a 2C increase in 80 years, well we're all likely to be fucked anyway
  
• Food shortages will get worse as the climate goes up, and there's every indication if current trends continue the population will be double what it is now when there is already a global food shortage
  
• Human nature to be the strongest, to dominate, and to fight
  
• More sophisticated terrorism devices which will surely be 100 times more frightening in thirty years time
  
• Nuclear war, an inevitability as long as rogue states like Iran exist, and cunts like America try to police the world
  

It's bleak as fuck, and I can't see the toon winning anything in the next 50 years so am fucked. I think all these conspiracy theorists believe the top jews in the world and the perhaps non existent illuminati, realise that we have odds stacked against us as a race, and the only way is a new world order, and one government. I think they're right as well.

 

We line up with the black hole at the center of our galaxy at the end of 2012. The planet will be hit by some kind of radiation/electromagnetic sea at that point which wipes away our own magnetic field which protects us from our sun.

I think them cowies were even better than what I had.

 

NJS Stephen Hawking said that. The only way we can move on is if 80% of the population of the world die, and we start being more sensible.

 

It will happen. It's some kind of solar wind that hits us every 48,000 years. All electrical and electomagnetic things will be fucked for ever. Any digital data will be wiped etc...Mob phones, planes, cars with computers, pacemakers, computer controlled machines of any kind will be fuked. If you want to save your laptop you'll have to bury it in a lead box.

They've already got technology which protects electrical equipment from a hypothetical electromagnetic pulse, which the Russians would use in a nuclear war. What they'd do is detonate a nuke 100 miles above a country, basically frying every electrical circuit, but they've been able to counter that and some electrical equipment is protected, so it would be from that too. At least there'd be a boom in the electrical trade if I'm wrong.

 

The solar radiation coming at us without our electormagnetic (van allen belt) will fry anything walking....There is no protection against that, that I know of unless everyone will be given a space suit or summat. Tiny amount of this radiation gives you fast breeding cancer.

Well how come humans survived 48,000 years ago?

 

That's classified.

[Park Life 70]

Plasma Changes in the Solar System

The increasing amount of plasma that has been entering our solar system over the last couple of decades has been receiving a lot of attention in the run up to 2012. A Russian team of scientists, headed by the planet physicist Dr. Alexey Dmitriev, has been following this phenomenon. Their research suggests that this influx of plasma may be responsible for some of the recent dramatic climate changes.

 

The Role of Plasma in Recent Solar System Changes

A team from the Siberian Russian Academy of Sciences has been investigating changes in the heliosphere, the electromagnetic envelope that surrounds our solar system. The heliosphere acts like a giant protective sheath surrounding our sun and the entire solar system as we travel through space. Normally, it functions as a giant deflector, protecting us from a potentially harmful influx of cosmic radiation and keeping conditions within the inner solar system relatively stable. However, it is now being bombarded with so much radiation that an unprecedented amount is breaking through. This is reaching our sun and all of the planets of the solar system, including our own.

What is a plasma?

A plasma is a partially ionized gas and is sometimes called the fourth state of matter. The behavior of plasma is quite unlike those of solids, liquids, and gases. In nature, plasmas are usually found in gas-like clouds, as in the case of interstellar nebulae. Other examples of plasmas include ball lightning and the phenomenon of the aurora borealis.

The increase in incoming interstellar plasma, Dmitriev suggests, is dramatically impacting the behavior of our sun and its solar system. "Strong evidence exists that these transformations are being caused by highly charged material (in) interstellar space which have broken into the interplanetary area of our solar system," Dmitriev wrote in 1997.

 

Changes in Interstellar Space

For much of the twentieth century, space was visualized as a near vacuum. The astronomical reality, it is now being discovered, is actually quite different. 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.

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 global warming crisis.

 

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.

 

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."

[Park Life 70]

Only that there are some cases where the energy of the particles increased very quickly near the center of the Van Allen belts without the influence of an outside source, a fact never before proven. "We were trying to assemble a snapshot of the missing data pieces," says Reiner Friedel, astrophysicist and co-author of the study. And using the array of satellites "allowed us to see things that we couldn't see with a single satellite."

 

It is hoped that a new NASA mission, the Radiation Belt Storm Probe, to be launched in 2012, will solve the rest of the problem by identifying the mysterious force pushing electrons toward the Earth with no apparent reason, causing a temporary failure in Earth's defense mechanism."

[Guest Stevie]

Plasma Changes in the Solar System

The increasing amount of plasma that has been entering our solar system over the last couple of decades has been receiving a lot of attention in the run up to 2012. A Russian team of scientists, headed by the planet physicist Dr. Alexey Dmitriev, has been following this phenomenon. Their research suggests that this influx of plasma may be responsible for some of the recent dramatic climate changes.

 

The Role of Plasma in Recent Solar System Changes

A team from the Siberian Russian Academy of Sciences has been investigating changes in the heliosphere, the electromagnetic envelope that surrounds our solar system. The heliosphere acts like a giant protective sheath surrounding our sun and the entire solar system as we travel through space. Normally, it functions as a giant deflector, protecting us from a potentially harmful influx of cosmic radiation and keeping conditions within the inner solar system relatively stable. However, it is now being bombarded with so much radiation that an unprecedented amount is breaking through. This is reaching our sun and all of the planets of the solar system, including our own.

What is a plasma?

A plasma is a partially ionized gas and is sometimes called the fourth state of matter. The behavior of plasma is quite unlike those of solids, liquids, and gases. In nature, plasmas are usually found in gas-like clouds, as in the case of interstellar nebulae. Other examples of plasmas include ball lightning and the phenomenon of the aurora borealis.

The increase in incoming interstellar plasma, Dmitriev suggests, is dramatically impacting the behavior of our sun and its solar system. "Strong evidence exists that these transformations are being caused by highly charged material (in) interstellar space which have broken into the interplanetary area of our solar system," Dmitriev wrote in 1997.

 

Changes in Interstellar Space

For much of the twentieth century, space was visualized as a near vacuum. The astronomical reality, it is now being discovered, is actually quite different. 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.

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 global warming crisis.

 

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.

 

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."

 

June 21st, 2008

2012: No Killer Solar Flare

 

Written by Ian O'Neill

 

Could a solar flare destroy the Earth in 2012?

We could be in for a huge firework display in 2012. The Sun will be approaching the peak of its 11-year cycle, called "solar maximum", so we can expect a lot of solar activity. Some predictions put the solar maximum of Solar Cycle 24 even more energetic than the last solar maximum in 2002-2003 (remember all those record breaking X-class flares?). Solar physicists are already getting excited about this next cycle and new prediction methods are being put to good use. But should we be worried?

 

Related 2012 articles:

 

* 2012: No Geomagnetic Reversal (posted October 3rd 2008)

* 2012: No Killer Solar Flare (posted June 21st 2008)

* 2012: Planet X Is Not Nibiru (posted June 19th 2008)

* 2012: No Planet X (posted May 25th 2008)

* No Doomsday in 2012 (posted May 19th 2008)

 

According to one of the many Doomsday scenarios we have been presented with in the run-up to the Mayan Prophecy-fuelled "end of the world" in the year 2012, this scenario is actually based on some science. What's more, there may be some correlation between the 11-year solar cycle and the time cycles seen in the Mayan calendar, perhaps this ancient civilization understood how the Sun's magnetism undergoes polarity changes every decade or so? Plus, religious texts (such as the Bible) say that we are due for a day of judgement, involving a lot of fire and brimstone. So it looks like we are going to get roasted alive by our closest star on December 21st, 2012!

 

Before we go jumping to conclusions, take a step back and think this through. Like most of the various ways the world is going to end in 2012, the possibility of the Sun blasting out a huge, Earth-damaging solar flare is very attractive to the doomsayers out there. But let's have a look at what really happens during an Earth-directed solar flare event, the Earth is actually very well protected. Although some satellites may not be…

 

The Earth has evolved in a highly radioactive environment. The Sun constantly fires high-energy particles from its magnetically dominated surface as the solar wind. During solar maximum (when the Sun is at its most active), the Earth may be unlucky enough to be staring down the barrel of an explosion with the energy of 100 billion Hiroshima-sized atomic bombs. This explosion is known as a solar flare and the effects of which can cause problems here on Earth.

 

Before we look at the Earth-side effects, let's have a look at the Sun and briefly understand why it gets so angry every 11 years or so.

 

The Solar Cycle

A comparison between solar min and solar max with a diagram below. NASA/SOHO (top), Ian O'Neill (bottom)

 

First and foremost, the Sun has a natural cycle with a period of approximately 11 years. During the lifetime of each cycle, the magnetic field lines of the Sun are dragged around the solar body by differential rotation at the solar equator. This means that the equator is spinning faster than the magnetic poles. As this continues, solar plasma drags the magnetic field lines around the Sun, causing stress and a build up of energy (an illustration of this is pictured). As magnetic energy increases, kinks in the magnetic flux form, forcing them to the surface. These kinks are known as coronal loops which become more numerous during periods of high solar activity.

 

This is where the sunspots come in. As coronal loops continue to pop up over the surface, sunspots appear too, often located at the loop footpoints. Coronal loops have the effect of pushing the hotter surface layers of the Sun (the photosphere and chromosphere) aside, exposing the cooler convection zone (the reasons why the solar surface and atmosphere is hotter than the solar interior is down to the coronal heating phenomenon). As magnetic energy builds up, we can expect more and more magnetic flux to be forced together. This is when a phenomenon known as magnetic reconnection occurs.

 

Reconnection is the trigger for solar flares of various sizes. As previously reported, solar flares from "nanoflares" to "X-class flares" are very energetic events. Granted, the largest flares my generate enough energy for 100 billion atomic explosions, but don't let this huge figure concern you. For a start, this flare occurs in the low corona, right near the solar surface. That's nearly 100 million miles away (1AU). The Earth is nowhere close to the blast.

 

As the solar magnetic field lines release a huge amount of energy, solar plasma is accelerated and confined within the magnetic environment (solar plasma is superheated particles like protons, electrons and some light elements such as helium nuclei). As the plasma particles interact, X-rays may be generated if the conditions are right and bremsstrahlung is possible. (Bremsstrahlung occurs when charged particles interact, resulting in X-ray emission.) This may create an X-ray flare.

 

The Problem with X-ray Solar Flares

SOHO EIT image of a record breaking solar flare (SOHO/NASA)

 

The biggest problem with an X-ray flare is that we get little warning when it is going to happen as X-rays travel at the speed of light (one of the record breaking 2003 solar flares is pictured left). X-rays from an X-class flare will reach the Earth in around eight minutes. As X-rays hit our atmosphere, they are absorbed in the outermost layer called the ionosphere. As you can guess from the name, this is a highly charged, reactive environment, full of ions (atomic nuclei, and free electrons).

 

During powerful solar events such as flares, rates of ionization between X-rays and atmospheric gases increase in the D and E region layers of the ionosphere. There is a sudden surge in electron production in these layers. These electrons can cause interference to the passage of radio waves through the atmosphere, absorbing short wave radio signals (in the high frequency range), possibly blocking global communications. These events are known as "Sudden Ionospheric Disturbances" (or SIDs) and they become commonplace during periods of high solar activity. Interestingly, the increase in electron density during a SID boosts the propagation of Very Low Frequency (VLF) radio, a phenomenon scientists use to measure the intensity of X-rays coming from the Sun.

 

Coronal Mass Ejections?

A CME in 2007 (SOHO/NASA)

X-ray solar flare emissions are only part of the story. If the conditions are right, a coronal mass ejection (CME) might be produced at the site of the flare (although either phenomenon can occur independently). CMEs are slower than the propagation of X-rays, but their global effects here on Earth can be more problematic. They may not travel at the speed of light, but they still travel fast; they can travel at a rate of 2 million miles per hour (3.2 million km/hr), meaning they may reach us in a matter of hours.

 

This is where much effort is being put into space weather prediction. We have a handful of spacecraft sitting between the Earth and the Sun at the Earth-Sun Lagrangian (L1) point with sensors on board to measure the energy and intensity of the solar wind. Should a CME pass through their location, energetic particles and the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) can be measured directly. One mission called the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) sits in the L1 point and provides scientists with up to an hour notice on the approach of a CME. ACE teams up with the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) and the Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO), so CMEs can be tracked from the lower corona into interplanetary space, through the L1 point toward Earth. These solar missions are actively working together to provide space agencies with advanced notice of an Earth-directed CME.

 

So what if a CME reaches Earth? For a start, much depends on the magnetic configuration of the IMF (from the Sun) and the geomagnetic field of the Earth (the magnetosphere). Generally speaking, if both magnetic fields are aligned with polarities pointing in the same direction, it is highly probable that the CME will be repelled by the magnetosphere. In this case, the CME will slide past the Earth, causing some pressure and distortion on the magnetosphere, but otherwise passing without a problem. However, if the magnetic field lines are in an anti-parallel configuration (i.e. magnetic polarities in opposite directions), magnetic reconnection may occur at the leading edge of the magnetosphere.

 

In this event, the IMF and magnetosphere will merge, connecting the Earth's magnetic field with the Sun's. This sets the scene for one of the most awe inspiring events in nature: the aurora.

 

Satellites in Peril

As the CME magnetic field connects with the Earth's, high energy particles are injected into the magnetosphere. Due to solar wind pressure, the Sun's magnetic field lines will fold around the Earth, sweeping behind our planet. The particles injected in the "dayside" will be funnelled into the polar regions of the Earth where they interact with our atmosphere, generating light as aurorae. During this time, the Van Allen belt will also become "super-charged", creating a region around the Earth that could cause problems to unprotected astronauts and any unshielded satellites. For more on the damage that can be caused to astronauts and spacecraft, check out "Radiation Sickness, Cellular Damage and Increased Cancer Risk for Long-term Missions to Mars" and "New Transistor Could Side-Step Space Radiation Problem."

 

As if the radiation from the Van Allen belt wasn't enough, satellites could succumb to the threat of an expanding atmosphere. As you'd expect, as if the Sun hits the Earth with X-rays and CMEs, there will be inevitable heating and global expansion of the atmosphere, possibly encroaching into satellite orbital altitudes. If left unchecked, an aerobraking effect on satellites could cause them to slow and drop in altitude. Aerobraking has been used extensively as a space flight tool to slow spacecraft down when being inserted into orbit around another planet, but this will have an adverse effect on satellites orbiting Earth as any slowing of velocity could cause it to re-enter the atmosphere.

 

We Feel the Effects on the Ground Too

 

Sensitive to solar activity? Power grids on the ground (AP Photo/Smithsonian)

 

Although satellites are on the front line, if there is a powerful surge in energetic particles entering the atmosphere, we may feel the adverse effects down here on Earth too. Due to the X-ray generation of electrons in the ionosphere, some forms of communication may become patchy (or be removed all together), but this isn't all that can happen. Particularly in high-latitude regions, a vast electric current, known as an "electrojet", may form through the ionosphere by these incoming particles. With an electric current comes a magnetic field. Depending on the intensity of the solar storm, currents may be induced down here on the ground, possibly overloading national power grids. On March 13th 1989, six million people lost power in the Quebec region of Canada after a huge increase in solar activity caused a surge from ground-induced currents. Quebec was paralysed for nine hours whilst engineers worked on a solution to the problem.

 

Can Our Sun Produce a Killer Flare?

 

The short answer to this is "no".

 

The longer answer is a little more involved. Whilst a solar flare from out Sun, aimed directly at us, could cause secondary problems such as satellite damage and injury to unprotected astronauts and blackouts, the flare itself is not powerful enough to destroy Earth, certainly not in 2012. I dare say, in the far future when the Sun begins to run out of fuel and swell into a red giant, it might be a bad era for life on Earth, but we have a few billion years to wait for that to happen. There could even be the possibility of several X-class flares being launched and by pure bad luck we may get hit by a series of CMEs and X-ray bursts, but none will be powerful to overcome our magnetosphere, ionosphere and thick atmosphere below.

 

"Killer" solar flares have been observed on other stars. In 2006, NASA's Swift observatory saw the largest stellar flare ever observed 135 light-years away. Estimated to have unleashed an energy of 50 million trillion atomic bombs, the II Pegasi flare will have wiped out most life on Earth if our Sun fired X-rays from a flare of that energy at us. However, our Sun is not II Pegasi. II Pegasi is a violent red giant star with a binary partner in a very close orbit. It is believed the gravitational interaction with its binary partner and the fact II Pegasi is a red giant is the root cause behind this energetic flare event.

 

Doomsayers point to the Sun as a possible Earth-killer source, but the fact remains that our Sun is a very stable star. It does not have a binary partner (like II Pegasi), it has a predictable cycle (of approximately 11 years) and there is no evidence that our Sun contributed to any mass extinction event in the past via a huge Earth-directed flare. Very large solar flares have been observed (such as the 1859 Carrington white light flare)… but we are still here.

 

In an added twist, solar physicists are surprised by the lack of solar activity at the start of this 24th solar cycle, leading to some scientists to speculate we might be on the verge of another Maunder minimum and "Little Ice Age". This is in stark contrast to NASA solar physicist's 2006 prediction that this cycle will be a "doozy".

 

This leads me to conclude that we still have a long way to go when predicting solar flare events. Although space weather prediction is improving, it will be a few years yet until we can read the Sun accurately enough to say with any certainty just how active a solar cycle is going to be. So, regardless of prophecy, prediction or myth, there is no physical way to say that the Earth will be hit by any flare, let alone a big one in 2012. Even if a big flare did hit us, it will not be an extinction event. Yes, satellites may be damaged, causing secondary problems such as a GPS loss (which might disrupt air traffic control for example) or national power grids may be overwhelmed by auroral electrojets, but nothing more extreme than that.

 

But hold on, to sidestep this issue, doomsayers now tell us that a large solar flare will hit us just as the Earth's geomagnetic field weakens and reverses, leaving us unprotected from the ravages of a CME

[AgentAxeman 82]

Dec 21st 2012. The day before my 11th wedding anniversary. maybe there is an upside to this after all........

 

[Park Life 70]

I don't think anyone really knows. The electro-magnetic sea won't come from the sun anyway it will come when we line up with our black hole, think of it as a kind of gulf stream in space. The sun flaring when its poles shift (repeatedly) is only a bi-product. This stuff is starting to hit us already (for about a decade) and it the real cause of global warming (and they know that). It's not a good idea to tell people there is planet event coming and we don't know what will happen.

Edited January 25, 2010 by Park Life