http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/catastrophism/ en-us Thu, 4 Sep 2008 21:38:49 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2074860/posts WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Worldwide sea levels may rise by about 2.6 to 6.6 feet by 2100 thanks to global warming, but dire predictions of larger increases seem unrealistic, U.S. scientists said on Thursday. They examined scenarios for loss of ice from Greenland, Antarctica and the world's smaller glaciers and ice caps into the world's oceans, as well as ocean expansion simply due to rising water temperatures. Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2074860/posts#comment Thu, 4 Sep 2008 21:38:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2074657/posts Woolly mammoths' last stand before extinction in Siberia wasn't made by natives - rather, the beasts had American roots, researchers have discovered. Woolly mammoths once roamed the Earth for more than a half-million years, ranging from Europe to Asia to North America. These Ice Age giants vanished from mainland Siberia by 9,000 years ago, although mammoths survived on Wrangel Island in the Arctic Ocean until roughly 3,700 years ago. "Scientists have always thought that because mammoths roamed such a huge territory - from Western Europe to Central North America - that North American woolly mammoths were a sideshow of no... Live Science http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2074657/posts#comment Thu, 4 Sep 2008 17:42:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2074044/posts The record-setting surface of the sun. A full month has gone by without a single spot (Source: Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO)) The sun has reached a milestone not seen for nearly 100 years: an entire month has passed without a single visible sunspot being noted. The event is significant as many climatologists now believe solar magnetic activity – which determines the number of sunspots -- is an influencing factor for climate on earth. According to data from Mount Wilson Observatory, UCLA, more than an entire month has passed without a spot. The last time such an event occurred was... Daily Tech http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2074044/posts#comment Wed, 3 Sep 2008 21:40:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2074110/posts The record-setting surface of the sun. A full month has gone by without a single spot (Source: Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO)) Sunspot activity of the past decade. Over the past year, SIDC has continually revised its predictions downward (Source: Solar Influences Data Center) Geomagnetic solar activity for the past two decades. The recent drop corresponds to the decline in sunspots. (Source: Anthony Watts) A chart of sunspot activity showing two prior solar minima, along with heightened activity during the 20th century (Source: Wikimedia Commons)Drop in solar activity has potential effect for climate on earth. The sun has reached a... Daily Tech http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2074110/posts#comment Wed, 3 Sep 2008 23:09:12 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2073478/posts Here’s an interesting conundrum involving nuclear decay rates. We think that the decay rates of elements are constant regardless of the ambient conditions (except in a few special cases where beta decay can be influenced by powerful electric fields). So that makes it hard to explain the curious periodic variations in the decay rates of silicon-32 and radium-226 observed by groups at the Brookhaven National Labs in the US and at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesandstalt in Germany in the 1980s. Today, the story gets even more puzzling. Jere Jenkins and pals at Purdue University in Indiana have re-analysed the raw data... The Physics Arxiv Blog http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2073478/posts#comment Wed, 3 Sep 2008 03:14:57 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2044222/posts The accepted timeframe for the beginnings of life on Earth is now being questioned by a Curtin University of Technology led team of scientists, after finding a key indicator to the earliest life forms in diamonds from Jack Hills in Western Australia... The Curtin led team's discovery of very high concentrations of carbon 12, or "light carbon" within these crystals is remarkable as it is a feature usually associated with organic life... Evidence for ancient life stretches back in time to at least 3.5 billion years ago, in the form of single-celled organisms that did not require oxygen. The discovery... Science Daily http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2044222/posts#comment Sat, 12 Jul 2008 00:26:55 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2071081/posts A new study published in the scientific journal Science reveals the circulation of the atmosphere over the Mediterranean during the last ice age, 23,000 to 19,000 years ago, and how this affected the local climate... and is co-authored by Professor Eelco Rohling of the University of Southampton School of Ocean and Earth Science... The first surprise is that the Mediterranean climate at that time was similar to that seen during cold spells in the region today and – particularly – during the Little Ice Age (15th to 19th century), but more extreme. The new evidence suggests that the Mediterranean climate... ScienceDaily http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2071081/posts#comment Sat, 30 Aug 2008 08:52:22 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2070704/posts The composition and mechanical inner workings of the sun beneath the visible photosphere have remained an enigma for thousands of years. There are a whole host of unexplained phenomena related to the sun's activities that still baffle gas model theorists to this day because they fail to recognize the existence of an iron alloy transitional layer that rests beneath the visible photosphere. Fortunately a host of new satellites and the The Surface of the Sun http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2070704/posts#comment Fri, 29 Aug 2008 19:19:10 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2023410/posts ScienceDaily (May 30, 2008) — A new analysis of the Martian rock that gave hints of water on the Red Planet -- and, therefore, optimism about the prospect of life -- now suggests the water was more likely a thick brine, far too salty to support life as we know it. The finding, by scientists at Harvard University and Stony Brook University, is detailed May 30 in the journal Science. "Liquid water is required by all species on Earth and we've assumed that water is the very least that would be necessary for life on Mars," says Nicholas J. Tosca,... Science Daily http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2023410/posts#comment Fri, 30 May 2008 08:35:19 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1962872/posts A whole new side of Mercury has been revealed in pictures taken by NASA's MESSENGER probe, which flew by the tiny planet two weeks ago in the first mission to Mercury in more than three decades. MESSENGER skimmed only 124 miles (200 kilometers) over Mercury's surface on Jan. 14, in the first of three passes it will make before settling into orbit March 18, 2011. The photos, released today, include one of a feature the scientists informally call "the spider," which appears to be an impact crater surrounded by more than 50 cracks in the surface radiating from its center.... NASA Spots Mysterious 'Spider' on Mercury http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1962872/posts#comment Thu, 31 Jan 2008 23:31:16 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2021632/posts <p>Conveyor of a super-Einsteinian theory of gravitation that explains, among many other post-Einstein-effects, the Sun-Earth-Connection and the true cause of the global climate changes.</p> <p>As the glaciological and tree ring evidence shows, climate change is a natural phenomenon that has occurred many times in the past, both with the magnitude as well as with the time rate of temperature change that have occurred in the recent decades. The following facts prove that the recent global warming is not man-made but is a natural phenomenon.</p> Canada Free Press http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2021632/posts#comment Mon, 26 May 2008 23:09:08 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1737076/posts THE SEA PEOPLES All at once, they were on the move, scattered in war. They laid their hands upon the lands to the very circuit of the earth, their hearts confident and trusting; Our plans will succeed... " (Ramesses III). The name "Peoples of the Sea" comes directly from the Egyptian records, describing the Sea Peoples' exploits. As their collective name tells us, they were tribes who had developed a life style almost totally dependent upon the sea. They perfected boats, sailing and navigational techniques for fishing offshore as well as long distance travel and explored much of the Atlantic... U Colorado Edu http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1737076/posts#comment Sun, 12 Nov 2006 00:12:45 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1873045/posts Variability of the sun’s irradiance, Global Warming Water Experts Find Earth’s Warming, Rainfall Linked to Sun By Dennis T. Avery, Hudson Institute Tuesday, July 24, 2007 A team of water experts says the pattern of droughts and floods in South Africa shows our global warming was triggered by the variability of the sun’s irradiance rather than by human-emitted CO2. They say variations in South African rainfall patterns are keyed to periodic reversals of the sun’s magnetic field—and to the constantly changing distance between the sun and the earth as both move through space. In South Africa, alternate 11-year sunspot... Canada Free Press http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1873045/posts#comment Sat, 28 Jul 2007 21:27:09 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2070597/posts Here’s an interesting conundrum involving nuclear decay rates. We think that the decay rates of elements are constant regardless of the ambient conditions (except in a few special cases where beta decay can be influenced by powerful electric fields). So that makes it hard to explain the curious periodic variations in the decay rates of silicon-32 and radium-226 observed by groups at the Brookhaven National Labs in the US and at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesandstalt in Germany in the 1980s. Today, the story gets even more puzzling. Jere Jenkins and pals at Purdue University in Indiana have re-analysed the raw data... the physics arXiv blog http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2070597/posts#comment Fri, 29 Aug 2008 16:29:09 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2069749/posts ~~~snip~~~ Electromagnetic waves are far too slow to be the only means of signalling in an immense universe. Gravity requires the near-instantaneous character of the electric force to form stable systems like our solar system and spiral galaxies. Gravitationally, the Earth ‘sees’ the Sun where it is this instant, not where it was more than 8 minutes ago. Newton’s famous law of gravity does not refer to time. We must have a workable concept of the structure of matter that satisfies the observation that the inertial and gravitational masses of an object are equivalent. When we accelerate electrons or protons... Thunderblogs http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2069749/posts#comment Thu, 28 Aug 2008 13:34:55 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2070054/posts Giant clams two feet long might have helped feed prehistoric humans as they first migrated out of Africa, new research reveals. < > Fossil evidence that the researchers uncovered suggests the stocks of these giant clams began crashing some 125,000 years ago, during the last interval between glacial periods. During that time, scientists think modern humans first emerged out of Africa, Richter said. < > Live Science http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2070054/posts#comment Thu, 28 Aug 2008 20:18:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2069670/posts We have observed spectroscopic changes in temperature sensitive molecular lines, in the magnetic splitting of an Fe I line, and in the continuum brightness of over 1000 sunspot umbrae from 1990-2005. All three measurements show consistent trends in which the darkest parts of the sunspot umbra have become warmer (45K per year) and their magnetic field strengths have decreased (77 Gauss per year), independently of the normal 11-year sunspot cycle. A linear extrapolation of these trends suggests that few sunspots will be visible after 2015. National Solar Observatory via icecap.us http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2069670/posts#comment Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:28:18 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2068416/posts CNSNews.com) – New scientific evidence suggests there is a stronger link between solar activity and climate trends on Earth than there is with greenhouse gases, Fred Singer, an atmospheric and space physicist, told CNSNews.com.   The new data call into question whether scientific evidence shows that global warming is a man-made phenomenon and suggests that natural forces, as opposed to human activity, may drive global climate change.   Singer is one of many scientists who say recent scientific observations have determined that “solar variability” – or fluctuations in the sun’s radiation – directly affects climate change on Earth.   “In... CNS News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2068416/posts#comment Tue, 26 Aug 2008 17:11:46 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2069351/posts PARIS (AFP) - Scientists on Wednesday said they had discovered deep-sea viruses to be an unexpectedly potent driver of the so-called carbon cycle that sustains oceanic life and helps dampen global warming. Under the carbon cycle, microscopic algae at the sea surface suck up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Many of these microscopic creatures, called prokaryotes, become infected by naturally-occurring marine viruses. When they die, their carbon-rich remains gently sink to lower depths, where they are then cannibalistically gobbled up by other bacteria. These prokaryotes in turn become a meal for a larger life form and so on, up the... AFP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2069351/posts#comment Wed, 27 Aug 2008 21:36:40 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2068727/posts Melting alpine glaciers are revealing fascinating clues to Neolithic life in the high mountains... Everyone knows the story of Oetzi the Ice Man, found in an Austrian glacier in 1991. Oetzi was discovered at an altitude of over 3,000m. He lived in about 3,300 BC, leading to speculation that the Alps may have had more human habitation than previously suspected. Now, more dramatic findings from the 2,756m Schnidejoch glacier in Switzerland have confirmed the theory. It all started at the end of the long hot summer of 2003, when a Swiss couple, hiking across a melting Schnidejoch, came across a... BBC News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2068727/posts#comment Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:51:59 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1375768/posts "Super volcano" could dwarf Indonesia's earthquake catastrophes: expert Fri Apr 1,12:21 AM ET Science - AFP SYDNEY (AFP) - As Indonesians struggled to recover from the second deadly earthquake to strike them in three months, an Australian expert warned the country faced the prospect of a "super volcano" eruption that would dwarf all previous catastrophes. AFP/File Photo Professor Ray Cas of Monash University's School of Geosciences said the world's biggest super volcano was Lake Toba, on Indonesia's island of Sumatra, site of both the recent massive earthquakes. Cas told Australian media Friday that Toba sits on a faultline running down... Yahoo News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1375768/posts#comment Fri, 1 Apr 2005 23:01:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1904687/posts TORONTO: A volcano has erupted on a tiny island off the coast of Yemen, spewing lava and ash hundreds of feet into the air, a Canadian naval vessel near the island in the Red Sea reported. The Yemeni government asked NATO to assist in searching for survivors. Ken Allan, a Navy Public Affairs with the Canadian Armed Forces, said a NATO fleet just outside the territorial waters of the island Jazirt Atta-Ir reported seeing a "catastrophic volcanic eruption" at 7 p.m. local time (1600 GMT) Sunday. The 2-mile-long (3-kilometer-long) island is about 70 miles (115 kilometers) off the coast of... International Herald Tribune http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1904687/posts#comment Mon, 1 Oct 2007 03:30:23 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2023766/posts QUITO, Ecuador - A volcano on the largest of the Galapagos Islands has begun erupting and authorities are evaluating possible dangers to the island's famed plant and animal life, officials said Friday. Rangers and tour guides spotted lava flowing down the northeastern flank of the Cerro Azul volcano on the seahorse-shaped island of Isabela late Thursday, the Galapagos National Park said in a statement. Ecuador's Geophysics Institute said that satellite data and a flyover of the island by park officials showed a "small amount of ash" coming out of the volcano, located on the southwestern edge of the island. The... AP on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2023766/posts#comment Fri, 30 May 2008 23:31:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2036941/posts Study finds Arctic seabed afire with lava-spewing volcanoes The Arctic seabed is as explosive geologically as it is politically judging by the "fountains" of gas and molten lava that have been blasting out of underwater volcanoes near the North Pole. "Explosive volatile discharge has clearly been a widespread, and ongoing, process," according to an international team that sent unmanned probes to the strange fiery world beneath the Arctic ice. They returned with images and data showing that red-hot magma has been rising from deep inside the earth and blown the tops off dozens of submarine volcanoes, four kilometres below the... canada.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2036941/posts#comment Thu, 26 Jun 2008 20:52:08 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2068001/posts There are these changes in the South Atlantic, an area where the magnetic field has the smallest envelope at one third [of what is] normal," said Mioara Mandea, a geophysicist at the GFZ German Research Center for Geosciences in Potsdam, Germany. Even before the newly detected changes, the South Atlantic Anomaly represented a weak spot in the magnetic field — a dent in Earth's protective bubble. Bubble bobble The Earth's magnetic field extends about 36,000 miles into space, generated from the spinning effect of the electrically-conductive core that acts something like a giant electromagnet. The field creates a tear-drop shaped... MSNBC http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2068001/posts#comment Tue, 26 Aug 2008 00:58:11 GMT