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In 2011, scientists announced that the magnetic north pole was moving much faster than expected, changing position at a rate of 40 miles per year, and now recent measurements suggests that the movement may be accelerating. Magnetic pole shifts happen on average every 300,000 years. The last one took place 780,000 years ago, so the next one is long overdue. What happens is that the earth’s magnetic field goes into a chaotic state, which persists for between 1,000 and 10,000 years. During the first stages, the strength of the magnetic field declines, and it is this period that will pose the greatest danger to earthly life-forms, because the planet’s surface will be directly exposed to solar radiation which is normally shielded by the field.read more

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Satellite archaeology researcher Angela Micol has located what could be a very ancient pyramid complex in southern Egypt. The complex could also be the remains of a fortified settlement built in later times, during the Ptolemaic period. From above, though, the structures appear to be far more deeply eroded than would be the case if they were just 2,000 years old. If they are not natural formations, they are probably thousands of years old.
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Unexpectedly rapid melting of polar ice and glaciers between 2005 and 2011 caused a rise in global sea levels of another 2/3rds of an inch, according to a study just published in Nature Geoscience. Increased water pressure against continental shelves is known to lead to destabilization of faults as well as compression of magma deposits under volcanoes, and is related to increased seismic and volcanic activity. So far, sea levels have now risen 8 1/3rd inches worldwide since 1870, with the rate of annual increase steadily rising. At the same time, the amount of volcanic and earthquake activity around the Pacific Rim appears to have begun to increase as well. As ice melts, the balance of weight on the earth changes, releasing weight from melt areas and moving it into the oceans.read more

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Violence has visited us recently: A man roamed our neighborhood with a gun, killing innocent people at random, and not far away an elderly woman was killed by a pack of dogs released, perhaps intentionally, by their owner. This reminds me of the times when these things almost happened to us. Until recently, I lived in the gun culture of Texas, where I assumed everyone I knew had a gun–often more than one.
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