2003-12-22

   According to the World Meteorological Organization, the Earth's temperature in 2001 was the second highest since 1860. Nine of the 10 warmest years since 1860 have occurred since 1990. The hottest year was 1998, followed by 2001, 1997, 1995 and 1990. (New York Times, Dec. 19)

   During 12 hours Thursday 21000 lightning flares were registered in and around the city of Bergen, in the western part of Norway. Among them at least 2500 struck land. In what is a completely unprecedented "work of Nature" people witnessed "a continuous roll of lightning and thunder, a nature's discothèque". The lightning struck twice or even thrice on a number of houses. Many people were injured, but by some tremendous chain of coincidences no one was killed. Torrential rain and extremely high humidity accompanied the electrical storm. People have described it as "breathing under water".
   During the last few days there have also been heavy electrical activity in Stockholm, south of France and the northeastern United States. In France two people were killed and in United States it added several fires to an already explosive mix of drought and heat.
   Meteorologists have registered a general increase in atmospheric activity the last decade. As the global temperature and particle count in the air is increasing the weather pattern is turning increasingly unstable.

   30 people are dead and 12000 are evacuated in Poland after floods and storms lasting weeks. The attempts to dig protective "river" banks have been quite unsuccessful. Five of the banks protecting major populated areas broke Monday after weeks of rain and floods and storms. Relief efforts have been able to delay the worst effects of the bad weather, but not stop them. The army and volunteers have worked nonstop without actually stopping anything.
   A disaster of this magnitude, though occasionally happening has been rare in Europe until the final years of the twentieth century. Just like in York, Great Britain last year the magnitude and prolonged effect, if not the actual occurrence itself, is ascribed the human created Global Warming.
   - What we see here and have seen the last decade is a small, but insufficient view of the future, a representative of the UN environmental program, UNEP is stating.- The number of environmental refugees has been increasing steadily in recent years, but the question is where they should go. Many of the places they're headed for are also susceptible to the gathering forces of nature.

   It’s official!
   As the city of York and major parts of Great Britain are recovering from the most devastating and extensive flood in centuries, as winter is abstaining, again, (as it has most years the last decade), all over Europe, in spite of the fact that the sun is hardly rising above the horizon, a cold, true fear is spreading among the population. Even leaders more often than not, eagerly supporting reckless industrial endeavors, give voice to their fear. British Prime Minister Tony Blair is caught saying: "We must stop ignoring the issue of Global Warming. The release of Green House gases has been treated like a non-issue in international forums". A statement pretty darn amazing considering the Kyoto-treaty and all the self-satisfactory back patting done in its wake.
York was flooded completely. Britain itself has been described as a swamp swamped with water. The ground was saturated with it. During a given period of several days any new raindrop was adding to the flood, because there was nowhere for the water to go.
A nuclear power plant in France was temporarily shut down.
It's November 13th. In Northern Europe 30 years ago the first snow used to arrive in the middle of October. Now, the grass is still green and growing, cut not so long ago. The days are warm, the nights are warm, the wind is warm. A recent climate conference in Bergen, Norway concluded with the statement: "There is no longer serious doubt that the human created Global Warming is a reality. Theories are confirmed by fact. And theories have been adjusted twice since the report of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) only five years ago. Earlier we were talking about a 4 degrees Celsius rise in average global temperature during this century. Now we're looking at, at least twice that. There will be more rain, there will be more drought, stronger winds and generally more chaotic weather patterns. 8 to 9 degrees Celsius is the worst-case scenario, but let us remember that half that was the worst-case scenario ten years ago. We're looking at a possibly geometric increase here and quite frankly there's no telling where it might end".

   It’s official!
   The Global Warming has opened up the North East Passage between Russia and the North Pole and for the very first time ordinary cargo ship can sail the famous route between Europe and the Baring Strait. The development is almost uncanny, in the North East Passage, in the arctic, and also in Antarctica, where similar developments of melting ice are observed.
   A group of scientists have sailed the cargo ship Kandalaksha from the Baring Strait to Kirkenes in Norway, confirming that the sailing time between Europe and Japan is now cut in half. Their observations are supporting other observations of both satellites and people, that the ice has pulled back about 10 percent. The total ice mass, however, is reduced with more than 30 percent over the last 20 years.

  Me? I find myself speculating on what the industry lobbyists will be sprouting of rubbish and lies, after this decisive turn of events...

  The Islands are gone, are they not? Will they blame tectonic movement or some other obscure cause? They will of course, continue in their vain claim that the sea rise is caused by "natural variations". This in spite of the fact that there are more green house gases in the atmosphere now, than anytime the last 400 000 years.

  They're funny that way.

  This IS a profound development. It's the first concrete, absolutely irrefutable proof, that the sea level is indeed rising - and rising much faster than any pessimist predicted. The numbers and figures from IPCC, often ridiculed as being "far too negative", is shown to be rather optimistic, especially since they've been shown to be (at this point) 50 years wrong. The temperature rise, the sea rise, has already reached the level they predicted for the middle of the 21st century.

        And it's hardly made any news at all! Another page 1 story buried on page 56.

  The really funny part is that even if the goal from the Kyoto meeting (for the developed countries to reduce their emission by 5.2 % within 2010) was reached (beyond all expectations), it wouldn't amount to much. The emissions are so extensive today that virtually all technological activity had to cease, for it to have any measurable effect. And even if all industrial activity stopped this minute, there are already so much gases within the system, that the temperature and sea rise and other changes, would continue for decades and perhaps centuries. It is a self enforcing, progressive process that some are claiming cannot be stopped, but has to complete its course.

  It's all so very, very funny...

  Thoughts from the edge of consciousness.
   Amos Keppler 2000

  Well, anyway, we're going to continue to document it all on this page, as long as there are computers and means for them to communicate, which I gather, will not be too long now...

  Good news to be sure!