Earth Changes Update, End of 2014 – Part 2

Posted on January 24, 2015 by Thundering Heard

Before embarking on the discussion of the unusual happenings in the animal kingdom promised in Part 1, I’d like to cite a quote that demonstrates the nature and impact of exponential change. The quote comes from a remarkable article from Reuters:

Special Report: In Jakarta, that sinking feeling is all too real

about major world cities combating the combination of rising seas and sinking landmass due to subsidence from draining the groundwater under each city:

Higher seas, sinking cities and more people mean worsening impacts from storms and floods. And the frequency of these events is increasing, too. Recorded floods and severe storms in Southeast Asia have risen sixfold, from fewer than 20 from 1960 to 1969 to nearly 120 from 2000 to 2008, according to an Asian Development Bank study.

So a sixfold increase in severe storms in SE Asia: Take a guess what annual percent increase in storms accounted for that sixfold change. The answer is 6%. Six percent per year doesn’t sound like much. But when it’s applied relentlessly–and that is the nature of an exponential increase–the change seems small at first, but at some point, the change can be overwhelming. Food for thought regarding the many exponential chart patterns shown over time at Thundering Heard. We are living in unprecedented times on many fronts.

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The point about pervasive permeability in Part 1 (accidental alliteration!) sparked some interest. Here’s a perfect example of increasing permeability, in this case in the Greenland ice sheet from Phys.org:

Two lakes beneath the ice in Greenland, gone within weeks

As everyone knows, that ice sheet stores enough ice to raise the global sea level about 7 meters (24 feet). As it gets more permeable, it becomes less stable. As I said, food for thought.

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The animal kingdom*

Especially during the last year, the animal kingdom has shown signs of extreme duress.

First, there are many stories of pets attacking, and sometimes killing, their owners:

If you would like to dismiss this as anecdotal, of course you can, but it would fly in the face of statistical evidence, from around the globe:

Here’s a quote from the India link just above:

In 2012, nearly 10,100 people were affected by dog bites from April to December. Number went up to 16,000 in 2013.

Sometimes the dogs are even attacking…CARS:

Animal crackers: As well as terrorising people in Modesto, crazy dogs are now attacking stationary cars

© JOAN BARNETT LEE
Damage done by an animal is seen Tuesday on a Ford Focus at Heritage Ford in Modesto. The car had some damage done to it by an animal. Three vehicles at the dealership have scratches and bite marks on them. The front grille of the Focus was torn completely off.

Modesto, California: Vicious dogs roaming streets, chasing people and trapping them inside homes

Deer are known for trying to avoid people and buildings. Not these:

Elephants are running amok:

Then there are the many cases of fish that normally live deep in the oceans appearing at shorelines, sometimes thousands of miles from their usual area of habitation:

There are stories of birds so far from their usual turf that they sometimes end up on the wrong continent:

Whales are beaching and dying just about every day now:

And things are increasingly bad for sea turtles:

Fish die-offs have become quite common:

I have a lot more links for animals attacking humans (especially coyotes, jackals, wild dogs, and wild boars, but also including owls, foxes, and otters), but I’ll spare you having to scroll past them, and pass to another category: regional animal die-offs across many species.

Michael Snyder posted an excellent example:

North America: Massive numbers of sea creatures dying along the west coast

in which he listed reports of devastations of West Coast starfish (A marine epidemiologist at Cornell University says that this is “the largest mortality event for marine diseases we’ve seen“); bluefin tuna (only 4% are left); sardine, anchovy, herring, and oyster populations; and major difficulties for many marine birds including pelicans. And more:

West Coast devastation continues: seals, oysters, pelicans, fish, squid — all sick, dying or failing to breed

Study: Dead sea creatures cover 98 percent of ocean floor off California coast; up from 1 percent before Fukushima

At an ocean research station known as Station M, located 145 miles out to sea between the Californian cities of Santa Barbara and Monterey, Huffard and her colleague Ken Smith observed a sharp uptick in the amount of dead sea life drifting to the ocean floor. The masses of dead sea plankton, jellyfish, feces and other oceanic matter that typically only cover about 1 percent of the ocean floor were found to now be covering about 98 percent of it — and multiple other stations located throughout the Pacific have since reported similar figures.

“In March 2012, less than one percent of the seafloor beneath Station M was covered in dead sea salps,” writes Carrie Arnold for National Geographic. “By July 1, more than 98 percent of it was covered in the decomposing organisms. … The major increase in activity of deep-sea life in 2011 and 2012 weren’t limit to Station M, though: Other ocean-research stations reported similar data.”

Anyone who still thinks the ongoing effects from Fukushima are trivial really needs to consider the meaning of that 98 to 1 ratio reported in the study at the preceding quote and link. Truly, what do people expect when this August 2014 article Japan Prepares To Release Thousands Of Tons Of Fukushima Groundwater Into The Pacific quotes NHK, Japan’s national public broadcasting organization, as saying:

Highly radioactive water at the plant is seeping into the earth and mixing with ground water. Experts estimate around 200 tons of contaminated ground water are leaking into the ocean each day.

Each day!

Then there are the global problems:

More mass animal deaths occurring now than ever before, study claims

Mass die-offs of certain animals has increased in frequency every year for seven decades, according to a new study.

Researchers found that such events, which can kill more than 90 per cent of a population, are increasing among birds, fish and marine invertebrates.

Silent Spring: Songbirds are disappearing across the planet reveals new documentary film

Report: Lions, Tigers, Cheetahs Could Be Extinct In 10 Years

Otters across the world are threatened with extinction says new report

And this link points to a study that lists 794 species that are on the brink of extinction:

Study pinpoints species facing extinction threat

So, what are the reasons for this dreadful state of affairs. There are several, to be sure.

In the case of the whales (and perhaps the other creatures that normally inhabit the ocean depths and who can now be found at the beaches), one major cause is certain: the use of powerful sonar technologies by the militaries to hunt for submarines and the oil and gas companies to hunt for that stuff we pump into our cars. This link:

The epic fight to protect cetaceans from the US Navy

has a sad but amazing story of how proof of this was accepted by the US Navy itself. A retired navy guy with an interest in whales–the guy actually worked in the navy’s secret sonar program–witnessed the beaching of 17 beaked whales immediately following US Navy exercises in his area. This is the deepest diving whale species of them all. For them to beach as a group was unprecedented. Suspecting the cause, the guy immediately had their heads sent to a lab for autopsy and it was found that the ear drums of each whale had been shattered. The guy had to get this info onto the 60 Minutes television program before the navy would respond, but finally, respond they did, strongly limiting their own sonar use during exercises. And this link:

Whale Mass Stranding Attributed to Sonar Mapping For First Time

describes how the mass stranding of 100 whales was connected with exploration by ExxonMobil.

So, is there relief for the whales and other deep-sea creatures? Given the near-daily whale beachings listed above, probably not much. In July, the purportedly liberal White House approved the use of such technologies in Federal waters off the US East Coast:

The Obama administration has sided with energy developers over environmentalists, approving the use of underwater blasts of sound to pinpoint oil and gas deposits in federal Atlantic Ocean waters.

And how could we forget this as an indicator of what’s plaguing sea creatures:

Fourth Anniversary of Gulf Oil Spill: Wildlife Is Still Suffering from Toxic Cover Up

Perhaps the deflationary wave that has been sent to the world economy–the price of oil, at $45.29 per barrel today, has now been cut by 58% since June, natural gas prices have also been crashing (again), and interest rates are now negative in several countries–will provide the kindness of some relief for the creatures of the ocean deep, kindness that humanity has been unwilling to provide.

Another monster problem for sea creatures and ocean birds is tens of thousands of tons of plastic:

One highly-recommended article that really gets the point across about the state of the oceans, especially the Pacific, is this one by an Australian yachtsman, which should be a must-read for everyone:

The ocean is broken

What was missing was the cries of the seabirds which, on all previous similar voyages, had surrounded the boat.

The birds were missing because the fish were missing.

Exactly 10 years before, when Newcastle yachtsman Ivan Macfadyen had sailed exactly the same course from Melbourne to Osaka, all he’d had to do to catch a fish from the ocean between Brisbane and Japan was throw out a baited line.

“There was not one of the 28 days on that portion of the trip when we didn’t catch a good-sized fish to cook up and eat with some rice,” Macfadyen recalled.

But this time, on that whole long leg of sea journey, the total catch was two.

No fish. No birds. Hardly a sign of life at all…

If that sounds depressing, it only got worse.

The next leg of the long voyage was from Osaka to San Francisco and for most of that trip the desolation was tinged with nauseous horror and a degree of fear.

“After we left Japan, it felt as if the ocean itself was dead,” Macfadyen said.

“We hardly saw any living things. We saw one whale, sort of rolling helplessly on the surface with what looked like a big tumour on its head. It was pretty sickening.

“I’ve done a lot of miles on the ocean in my life and I’m used to seeing turtles, dolphins, sharks and big flurries of feeding birds. But this time, for 3000 nautical miles there was nothing alive to be seen.”

In place of the missing life was garbage in astounding volumes.

“Part of it was the aftermath of the tsunami that hit Japan a couple of years ago. The wave came in over the land, picked up an unbelievable load of stuff and carried it out to sea. And it’s still out there, everywhere you look.”

This lack of ocean fish is killing the ocean-migrating birds because there is nothing for them to eat:

Up to 5 million seabirds likely to have died on Australian and New Zealand beaches

The industrial overfishing, the chemical pollution, the radiation, the acidification, the garbage…We truly are trying to “break” the oceans.

When that Malaysian airliner went missing, garbage hampered the search:

Malaysia plane: Confronting searchers is an ocean full of garbage

Since the older generations can’t see a way to fix this, maybe younger people can start the process:

19-Year-Old Develops Cleanup Array To Remove 7,250,000 Tons Of Plastic From Oceans

As far as those rampaging elephants are concerned, can you blame them?

These are animals who walk miles to attend to the death of another elephant or the death of a person who was a friend to them:

Wild Elephants gather inexplicably, mourn death of “Elephant Whisperer”

Author and legendary conservationist Lawrence Anthony died March 2. His family spoke of a solemn procession of Elephants that defies human explanation…

For 12 hours, two herds of wild South African elephants slowly made their way through the Zululand bush until they reached the house of late author Lawrence Anthony, the conservationist who saved their lives. The formerly violent, rogue elephants, destined to be shot a few years ago as pests, were rescued and rehabilitated by Anthony…

For two days the herds loitered at Anthony’s rural compound on the vast Thula Thula game reserve in the South African KwaZulu – to say good-bye to the man they loved. But how did they know he had died?…

There are two elephant herds at Thula Thula. According to his son Dylan, both arrived at the Anthony family compound shortly after Anthony’s death. “They had not visited the house for a year and a half and it must have taken them about 12 hours to make the journey,” Dylan is quoted in various local news accounts. “The first herd arrived on Sunday and the second herd, a day later. They all hung around for about two days before making their way back into the bush.”

If humans were more rational, perhaps we would be trying to understand elephants’ telepathy and empathy rather than killing them for their tusks.

And then there are the poisons we spray, and the systemic poisons created by design in GMO crops:

Neurotoxic pesticides linked to honeybee decline are affecting other species, scientists say after four-year assessment

Neurotoxic pesticides blamed for the decline of honeybees is also harming butterflies, worms, fish, and birds, and contaminating habitats worldwide which are crucial for food production and wildlife, scientists have concluded after a four-year assessment.

So we’re not just poisoning ourselves–and the bees and pollinators who are crucial to one third of humanity’s food supply–with toxic chemicals:

we’re poisoning lots of species.

And what about the migratory animals, both birds and sea creatures, who are losing their way?

Birds are losing all sense of direction

It turns out that some migratory birds are stymied when they encounter the edges of a city, industrial area, or campus. The electromagnetic emanations from these places disturb the workings of these birds’ navigation systems. Given that experiments have shown that the emanations from wifi routers can kill plants, I guess it isn’t surprising that our electromagnetics are disturbing animals. And probably us as well.

And how can I fail to mention how we treat animals raised for food, putting them in cramped industrial settings and cages prior to their slaughter. Were it not for strong doses of antibiotics–which end up on our plates–most of these animals would die of disease.

Is the growing 2014 trend of animal attacks on people an indication that they have started to fight back? We better hope not. If the animal kingdom ever decided to fight with us, we’d likely all be dead within months. Without the ceaseless cleanup of our environment by insects, worms, algae, bacteria, fungi, etc., we would find ourselves living in waste. As it is, these beings constantly process billions of tons of materials into forms useful for us. And we often pay them back by trying to exterminate them, interested in the endless “growth, growth, growth” chant of our so-called leaders who definitely have no understanding of the exponential function.

Everyone has heard of the “lost animal syndrome” where there is a notable increase in pets getting lost before earthquakes. Are the animal agitations and disorientations a reaction to current Earth changes, or to an impending mega-Earth change. If it’s the latter, one might shudder to think what that would be.

Are the animals who normally remain deep in the oceans reacting to increases in methane and volcanic materials coming from the ocean floor? Perhaps.

Are the animal attacks a reaction to the changing energies of our evolving world? Are they reacting to the rapid decrease in Earth’s magnetic field, described here:

…based on the latest readings from the European Space Agency’s (ESA) satellite array called Swarm:

Earth’s Magnetic Field Is Weakening 10 Times Faster Now

Once every few hundred thousand years the magnetic poles flip so that a compass would point south instead of north. While changes in magnetic field strength are part of this normal flipping cycle, data from Swarm have shown the field is starting to weaken faster than in the past. Previously, researchers estimated the field was weakening about 5 percent per century, but the new data revealed the field is actually weakening at 5 percent per decade, or 10 times faster than thought. As such, rather than the full flip occurring in about 2,000 years, as was predicted, the new data suggest it could happen sooner…

(Wow, 5% per decade. An exponential progression to be reckoned with.)

Or are the animal attacks on humans simply the animals reflecting our own emotional and mental states?

It seems clear that the assault, often clearly our assault, on the animal kingdom, and the plant kingdom, is unwise. Some Churchianity people quote Genesis about man being given “dominion” over the animals and plants. For some, this somehow justifies pillage and plunder versus the stewardship that, logically, must have been the intended meaning of the statement. Undoubtedly, dominion can’t mean the creation of a wasteland. But that is what we are doing in many domains. Here’s an excellent indicator of the bad news (I promise to follow it with some good news!):

Photographic Adventure Reveals the Frightening Deadness of Genetically Engineered Corn Field

By Dr. Mercola

A recent NPR article highlights the truly frightening environmental effect of monoculture. NPR commentator and science writer Craig Childs decided to replicate a photo project by David Liittschwager, a portrait photographer who spent years traveling the world dropping one-cubic-foot metal frames into gardens, streams, parks, forests, and oceans, photographing anything and everything that entered the frame.

Around the world, his camera captured thousands of plants, animals, and insects within the cubes, with entirely different “worlds” of plants and animals living as little as a few feet away from each other.

Childs recruited a friend, and together they set out to replicate Littschwager’s “critter census” in a corn field in Grundy County, Iowa.

But whereas Littschwager’s camera captured several dozens of insects wherever he set up his frames, Childs and friend found nothing stirring among the genetically engineered corn stalks on the 600 acre farm in Iowa, where they spent an entire weekend crawling around on the ground. No signs of life with the exception of an isolated spider, a single red mite, and a couple grasshoppers.

“It felt like another planet entirely,” Childs said. “I listened and heard nothing, no birds, no clicks from insects. There were no bees. The air, the ground, seemed vacant. Yet, 100 years ago, these same fields, these prairies, were home to 300 species of plants, 60 mammals, 300 birds, hundreds and hundreds of insects,” Robert Krulwich writes2. “This soil was the richest, the loamiest in the state. And now, in these patches, there is almost literally nothing but one kind of living thing. We’ve erased everything else.”

The good news, the very good news, is that more and more people (permaculturists, organic growers, channelers of information from the devic realm in places like Findhorn and Perelandra, occultists, etc.) are realizing that nature provides a physical and energetic abundance that is currently well beyond our comprehension and perception; that we should be working with the processes, energies, and intelligences that provide that abundance rather than working against them; and that our own evolution depends directly on our turning our interaction with the natural kingdoms from one of exploitation and devastation to one of great respect and harmony. In this exponential accelerating trend lies great hope for us all.

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(*Note of credit and thanks: Many links in this article come from the amazing SOTT.NET Earth Changes tracking page. They make great videos summarizing each month’s earth changes; you can see them here. As stated elsewhere, I think they do a wonderful job of collecting information, but a poor job of theorizing about its causes. They say that there is so much global cooling that a new ice age has already started, that “Planet X” is on the way, etc. I think they are wrong about these things. However, they do seem to like G.I. Gurdjieff, so there is hope.)

Transition Update: Extreme Stress in the Animal Kingdom

Posted on May 10, 2013 by Thundering Heard

Forests precede civilizations…deserts follow them.
–Francois-Rene de Chateaubriand, 1768-1848

What is the effect of acceleration in the animal kingdom? What is the Transition? Part 3 showed a chart of the acceleration, the parabolic rise, of species extinction. And while that level of abstraction is important to grasp, seeing the details is another matter. The following articles, collected from the web over just the last four weeks, help to bring home the reality of the current stresses on the animal kingdom. Mass deaths are happening across the world, across many species. These incidents show that we’ve gone way beyond the proverbial “canary in the coal mine.” This is not business as usual.

Animals are suffering from direct poisoning by pesticides and fungicides, direct exploitation by people, habitat destruction, severe storms, weather pattern changes, pollution, cell phone tower disruption of the magnetic spectrum used by animals for navigation, ocean acidification, etc etc. But many cases remain inexplicable, even after investigations.

Worst-ever right whale die-off continues to puzzle

Scientists still don’t know why hundreds of baby southern right whales are turning up dead around Patagonia…

32 swans found dead at New Lake, Dunganaghy, Ireland

A spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine told Donegal Now that … it was still too early to say what had caused the multiple deaths.

One-Third of U.S. Honeybee colonies died last winter, threatening food supply

Nearly one in three commercial honeybee colonies in the United States died or disappeared last winter, an unsustainable decline that threatens the nation’s food supply.

Multiple factors – pesticides, fungicides, parasites, viruses and malnutrition – are believed to cause the losses, which were officially announced today by a consortium of academic researchers, beekeepers and Department of Agriculture scientists.

German lake full of dead carp baffles officials

Volunteers have pulled 25 tonnes of dead carp out of a lake in eastern Germany – there are so many, locals are running out of boats. Regional officials have admitted they are baffled – only carp seem to be dying in the lake.

3 more dolphins die in Indian River Lagoon

Biologists removed three more dead bottlenose dolphins in the Indian River Lagoon Monday, bringing this year’s total lagoon bottlenose body count to at least 30.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration already has declared the 100 or so manatee deaths in the lagoon since mid-2012 an Marine Mammal Unusual Mortality Event. The declaration triggers NOAA’s own formal investigation. The federal agency is examining whether the dolphin and manatee deaths might be connected.

Hundreds of dead fish wash up on Beaver Lake

It’s estimated that more than 7,000 pounds of dead fish – mostly catfish, sunfish and bass – have been taken out of Beaver Lake. But what caused this unusually large fish kill is still a mystery.

Thousands of dead fish reported in Indian River Lagoon in southern St. Lucie County, Florida

Tony DiChristofaro of Stuart, said he saw “thousands and thousands of dead fish coming ashore” about 2 p.m. Thursday as he was walking along the lagoon beach.

DiChristofaro said the dead fish extended along the shoreline for about a mile.

More than 1000 birds now dead as result of coastal chemical spill in UK

The substance has been identified as polyisobutene (PIB) by researchers at Plymouth University. It is the second time in just three months that PIB has killed hundreds of seabirds in the South West.

Video: Thousands of dead jelly fish at Umargam Beach

Seen in April 2013 there were thousands of dead jelly fish seen on sea beach of Umargam.

Big freeze – UK livestock death toll hits 100,000

English, Scottish and Welsh sheep losses in April were 50% higher than April 2012 costing 35,000 extra lives

Welsh cattle losses in April were more than double 2012’s equivalent to almost 2,700 head

Cattle losses in England and Scotland in April were about a quarter more than 2012 (23% and 25% to 13,800 and 9,700 head respectively)

Cattle losses for England, Scotland and Wales were up 34% and more than 7,000.

Central Africa elephant population down 62% in 10 years

Poaching on an “industrial” scale has slashed the elephant population in the countries of central Africa by nearly two-thirds…

Weather changes impact migrating birds

Experts say there has been an increase in the number of migratory birds falling from the sky in the region.

Health defects found in fish exposed to Deepwater Horizon oil spill, three years later

With researchers from Louisiana and South Carolina, the scientists found that Gulf killifish embryos exposed to sediments from oiled locations in 2010 and 2011 show developmental abnormalities, including heart defects, delayed hatching and reduced hatching success. The killifish is an environmental indicator species, or a “canary in the coal mine,” used to predict broader exposures and health risks.

Dead dolphins and shrimp with no eyes found after BP clean-up

Hundreds of beached dolphin carcasses, shrimp with no eyes, contaminated fish, ancient corals caked in oil and some seriously unwell people are among the legacies that scientists are still uncovering in the wake of BP’s Deepwater Horizon spill.

Cocktail of multiple pressures combine to threaten the world’s pollinating insects

Mysterious dead fish at Eagles Mere Lake, Pennsylvania

Dead birds “falling from the sky” in Port Arthur, Texas neighborhood

Hundreds of birds die of starvation after spring snowstorm in Colorado

Manatee deaths at Indian River Lagoon, Florida: Questions abound in mysterious deaths of manatees, pelicans

Minnesota man watches as waxwings began ‘dropping out of the sky’

Hawaii: Kaua’i coral disease worsening, says doctor

100 dolphins wash up on Italian coast after being hit by killer strain of measles

Storm kills 10 thousand birds in Jhenidah, Bangladesh

Wales: Worry over marsh horses ‘dropping dead like flies’

Update: More than 12,000 birds crashed in Utah’s Dugway proving grounds

Australia: Oyster crop hit by unknown disease

Enduring winter tough on migratory birds in Great Plains

China’s Animal Apocalypse Spreads To Dogs

238 pigs and 89 dogs “suddenly dead” in Chinese village

Sea lion strandings climb, scientists still stumped

Australia: Another fish kill stinks out Wonnerup

Snow storm: Sheep death toll reaches 20,000 in Northern Ireland

Bird jams: Long winter sends migratory flocks into tailspin in Germany

Over 100 dead birds found in Danville & Pittsylvania County

Different species of birds found dead in Trinidad shortly after mysterious mass vulture deaths

Peru: 10 Dolphins found dead in northern beaches

150 Black vultures mysteriously die in Chaguaramas, Trinidad

Rare birds killed off after migration north sees them face freezing temperatures back in UK

Over 8,000 dead sheep removed from Northern Ireland farms following record Spring snowfall

Mass death of multiple sea creatures along east coast of UK

‘Tonnes’ of dead fish found on Swedish lake

Video of grieving pink dolphin mother underscores plight of disappearing species

“There were about four or five dolphins in the water and it seemed at first as if they were trying to get hold of something and support it,” said Ho Tak-ching, 34, a guide with Hong Kong Dolphinwatch. “It really wasn’t normal behaviour.”

The dolphins were trying to help a mother support the body of her dead calf and stop it slipping below the water’s surface.

Grieving and unable to accept their calves’ deaths, the mother dolphins will spend up to two weeks trying to keep them on the surface of the water, exhausting themselves and going without food as other dolphins rally to help them.

The events above were from just one month. It seems more than likely that there are many, many more incidents that are unseen and unreported. And of course it’s true that our physical bodies are subject to many of the same stresses plaguing the animals. But hey, as long as lots of people are shopping, things must be fine.