|
|
|
Happening Now... Earth Conditions
|
Since the last advance of ice about 12,800 to 11,500 years ago, known as the Younger Dryas Period, the glaciers and permafrost have been generally melting. There have been brief periods of glaciations since then, but not very serious in historical proportions. The global average temperature, however, has only risen gradually as the volcanic and solar radiation heats the Earth and oceans converting the solid state of water ice sheets to it's liquid and gas states. As long as there are permafrost, glaciers and ice sheets thawing, the atmosphere will remain relatively stable in spite of "global warming." However, the Earth will eventually lose most of its ice cover and experience a sharp rise in atmospheric temperatures. As the ice cover recedes and the atmosphere becomes warmer it absorbs more water causing the Earth to gradually increase its humidity and cloud cover. This will force tropical conditions toward higher latitudes. Europe, Canada, Siberia, Argentina, South Africa, and Australia will grow more tropical flora just as they did about 13,000 years ago when the Woolly Mammoths roamed the Earth in great numbers. For a very scientific and detailed look at the conditions surrounding the Woolly Mammoth extinction, check out Hans Krause's web site. But as the tropical weather conditions migrate closer to the poles and encounter a much thinner atmosphere, the atmosphere will begin to rain copious amounts of water. Vast areas of land and forests will be flooded and buried. When temperatures rise in the lower atmosphere, wind speeds increase. Even normal daily wind speeds will be much greater than what we experience now. In New England in the United States a weather system called a Nor'easter typically develops to bring heavy snowfalls or heavy rains. This is a cyclonic weather system that is caused by the warm waters coming up the Great Atlantic Conveyor. Presently, the warm waters cease flowing northward off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. This keeps the bulk of Nor'easter storms over New England in the US. But as temperature rises in the Atlantic Ocean and the Great Atlantic Conveyor moves further north into the Labrador Sea, the Nor'easter storm pattern will move further north. Due to a condition of the Earth's daily rotation called the Coriolis Effect, the storms formed at this latitude will be stronger than storms formed off the Eastern Seaboard of the United States. Wind speeds will be greater and they will reach further inland. It is recorded in the Greenland ice cores that during the beginning of the Younger Dryas period there were much stronger winds at that time. NOAA reports that water can remain liquid in the modern atmosphere down to temperatures of -40º C. It is conceivable that water can reach even lower temperatures when it is part of a strong vertical wind stream moving from the Earth's surface toward the stratosphere. A rapid evaporation and condensation takes place as a result of warm humid air moving from high pressure to low pressure and colder temperature at high velocity. This rapid evaporation throws the heat from the evaporating water into space causing a rapid cooling in the tropopause. This rapid cooling appears to be cold enough to liquefy air. As the liquefied air accumulates along the updraft it grows until there are large pools. These large pools of liquefied air eventually have no place to go but fall to the Earth, freezing the rain and flooded surfaces instantly. The storm system continues to draw off large quantities of warm air from the northward flowing Great Atlantic Conveyor and lower latitude warm air masses feeding the system. In the end, a massive sheet of ice forms above Labrador, Canada that is well over a mile thick. During this time, lots of heat is drawn from the atmosphere and the North Atlantic Ocean, which is ejected into space, accounting for rapid global cooling. In effect, the super Nor'easter becomes a giant air cooling pump that creates cold temperatures in the lower atmosphere by pumping heat into the upper atmosphere and into space.
The sudden downburst of liquefied air flash freezes all plant and animal life in its way. The sudden appearance of large quantities of ice buckle the Earth causing massive earthquakes and volcanic activity in the North Atlantic. The resulting glacial rivers ground up any surface features and life forms along the way, erasing all records of living activity. The Paleoclimate record shows there is one other place where this super storm occurs. It is over the Norwegian Sea. Glacial ice sheets along with subsequent seismic and volcanic activity occur over the Lapland of Northern Europe. From this storm system, large pools of liquefied air find their way to nearby Siberia causing wide spread flash freezing in this area as well. It was the fallout from such storms that likely caused the flash freezing of many Siberian mammals of all sizes about 43,000, 23,000, and 11,500 years ago. For the most part, glacial ice is formed by hundreds and thousands of years of constant snow fall. But in the case of sudden ice advances in North America, Northern Europe, and Siberia, there appears to be an extreme weather pattern that is the peak of the Terracycle.
|
|
Copyright 2000-2018 by Volantis, David
Thomson
|
