Menu



error This forum is not active, and new posts may not be made in it.
PromoteFacebookTwitter!
Luis Miguel Goitizolo

1162
61587 Posts
61587
Invite Me as a Friend
Top 25 Poster
Person Of The Week
RE: IS THE NEW AGE REALLY HERE?
1/23/2013 5:14:54 PM

Jesus: The Effect of Your Collective Loving Intent is Massive

jesus-4-258x3001-150x150Jesus: The Effect of Your Collective Loving Intent is Massive

As channelled by John Smallman – January 23, 2013

http://wp.me/p1B8dY-aR

John’s reading of today’s post:http://johnsmallman2.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/01-23-2013-jesus-audio-blog-for-wednesday-january-23.mp3

Here in the spiritual realms we are observing you joyfully as the new energies enveloping the planet spread and intensify through the hearts of humanity.

A great blaze of Light is shining forth into the heavens as these energies interact positively and lovingly with all you dear ones on Earth, and as you continue to hold and intend to share your Light unconditionally and indiscriminately to assist, tenderly and compassionately, with the awakening of all your sleeping brothers and sisters.

The effect of your collective loving intent is massive and inescapable. Love is gently and irresistibly inserting and establishing Itself within the hearts of all on the planet, dissolving resentment, anger, fear, and mistrust so that the attitudes and behaviors associated with them are released, thus allowing the New Age of peace, harmony, and abundance to emerge fully and embrace you all.

It is an energy of immense power with which God has embraced humanity and the lovely planet that supports you. Its purpose is to raise your consciousness to new levels of awareness so that the reality that all are one, that there is no separation, moves forward from being just an interesting but little-understood fact — recognized mainly by modern physics and to a lesser extent by modern philosophers — into the mainstream of general knowledge.

As this happens it will become more and more difficult for people to treat one another in ways that are not in alignment with Love. For many of you, that will seem to be a state of awareness that is beyond the bounds of possibility, in fact quite unattainable, as you look around at the violence flowing freely in nearly every corner of the world and see self-righteousness, anger, defensiveness, and fear seeming to drive people, often well-meaning people of honesty and integrity, into what appear to be unavoidable and fully justified conflict.

The reason that it seems to be so far beyond what is possible is because you have all, over many life times, engaged as perpetrators or victims in what is seen as an ongoing violence that appears to be an essential aspect of being human – e.g. Darwin’s theory of the survival of the fittest, which has now all but been disproved. It is natural, therefore, to expect violence, to be prepared for violence, and to have the forces at your disposal to defend yourselves against attack, or even to preemptively crush those who might be thinking of attacking you in the future.

Many of you are aware of the insanity of this way of thinking, but because so many do think in this manner it seems to the majority that violence and war are, and always will be inevitable. And your “defense” industries prove that this line of reasoning is endemic.

The new energies are already undermining the confidence with which so many hold that dangerous set of beliefs, and they will continue to do so as the divine Love field enveloping the planet continues to exert its influence gently, powerfully and irresistibly on all sentient life forms. Yes, the animal kingdom is also undergoing a vast change in consciousness because the Love field does not discriminate, but spreads its influence everywhere in order to bring to your planet the peace and harmony that in your hearts you have been seeking for a very long time.

Your desire for a beautiful world where all forms of life have their place — a place in which they can live, grow, and evolve spiritually as divinely intended — has intensified over the last few thousand years of earth time. As a result of that intent the momentum was established that would enable you to integrate and meld with the divine field of Love which has been waiting for this moment. Your engagement with it was always divinely planned, and as of the end of last year, 2012, its energy has been flowing and pulsating with an intensity that you can hardly imagine. Some of you are feeling it quite strongly, and all on earth are being heavily influenced by it.

Attitudes are changing and will continue to change all across the world because the power of God’s field of divine Love is responding to your ongoing calls for His help in bringing in the new Golden Age of which many have dreamed and which many others have prophesied. You are on your way and nothing can stop you. Your spiritual evolution has reached a point at which it becomes apparent to you that it is the only way forward, and you are reaching out and taking a firm grasp on it.

You are approaching “lift off!’ Your Father and all in the spiritual realms are cheering you on, and your success cannot be prevented.

"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

+0
Luis Miguel Goitizolo

1162
61587 Posts
61587
Invite Me as a Friend
Top 25 Poster
Person Of The Week
RE: IS THE NEW AGE REALLY HERE?
1/23/2013 10:50:33 PM
Ben Fulford: What is really going on is a land grab in the Sahara, January 21, 2013
Posted on January 21, 2013

It is hard for many of us aware folks to realize that many people still believe Zionist newspaper accounts that label “Al CIAda” as an Islamic movement. These days though, even the brain-washed slaves getting their information from so-called newspapers like the Jew York Times must be suffering from cognitive dissonance as they read the West is supporting Al CIAda in Syria and Libya but fighting against them in Mali and Algeria.

What is really going on is a land grab in the Sahara aimed at getting Western control of newly discovered deposits of oil, uranium, gold and other resources in the vast but largely empty Sahara. This land grab may also be aimed at grabbing what will become choice real estate if suppressed energy technology is used to start massive sea-water desalination projects aimed at turning the deserts green.

At the same time, the Western powers are doing their utmost to distract Asia from this by stoking jingoistic feelings over some tiny Islands. Those tiny islands are nothing more than a worm on a hook and the new Chinese regime seems to be falling for this scam hook, line and sinker.

Also last week there were reports that the Shah will return to Iran, China will have an Empress and that there has been a coup d’etat in the Japanese imperial household.

The reports about the Shah and the Empress both come from a CIA source and have been partially confirmed by other sources. In specific, the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi did not die of cancer shortly after being ousted from power but instead was put in the FBI’s witness protection program. The Shah, who would be now 93 (if the reports are correct), and his 52-year old son, Reza Cyrus Pahlavi, have mobilized the ancient Persian Green dragon secret society to prepare for their return, the CIA source says.

This fits with other continuing signs of a generalized Muslim mobilization with tacit US support. In Egypt, for example, President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood did not win the election but was given the job of president at the insistence of the Pentagon, according to a senior Japanese government Middle East expert who just returned from a fact finding trip to the region. This corroborates what sources in the BIS, the CIA, MI5 and the Vatican all say: that there is a movement to revive the Caliphate and create a Muslim super state.

It is also worth noting that the plant at the center of the hostage crisis in Algeria appears to contain several giant water holding ponds and may have been involved in desalination and desert greening experiments. Also, it is clear very few of the attackers in that incident were Algerian. Instead, it seems to be elements of the same Western mercenary army that attacked Libya and overthrew Colonel Gaddafi. One of the main aims of overthrowing Gadaffi was to seize his vast projects to turn the deserts green.

That brings us to the French and US military intervention in Mali. While taking over Mali is certainly part of a bigger desert land grab by the west, there may also be a very specific French and US motive to invade that country at this time: gold.

Last week the German central bank asked the Federal Reserve Board to return 300 tons and the French Central Bank to return 374 tons of gold. Both answered that it would take 7 years to return. Given that Mali’s gold production is 85 tons a year (according to 2006 statistics), 7 years of Mali’s gold production would be almost exactly enough to pay back France’s gold debt to Germany and the amount being requested from the Fed.

The German request for gold repatriation comes after gold coated tungsten bars were found at the German central bank, according to an MI5 sources. That means the Germans have joined the British and Chinese central banks as victims of tungsten fraud originating, apparently, from the Federal Reserve Board during the years Bill Clinton was in power, the MI5 source says.

If you start to read about some sort of “crisis” in Ghana over the coming months, you can be fairly sure the Fed is involved and it is connected to that countries’ 100 ton a year gold production.

Meanwhile, in Asia, home to 85% of the world’s historical gold reserves, moves continue to try to inject this gold into the international financial system. To this end the Asians are proceeding with legal action to force the Fed and the European central bank to return Asian gold they borrowed in the 1930’s.

This is where the talk of an Empress returning to China comes into play. The rights to most of the Asian gold legally belong to the Qing dynasty and to assert those rights the Chinese allowed a Qing dynasty empress to return to China in February last year, according to a CIA source. One FBI source also mentioned a Chinese empress. Chinese sources also acknowledge this but become clearly nervous when the subject is brought up and say it is supposed to be kept a secret.

In Japan as well, the Imperial family has begun to reassert its historical rights to the distribution of yen. The Empress Michiko and her second son, the Prince Akishino, are said to be the most assertive members of the immediate royal family on this point. This is what is behind Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s aggressive yen printing, according to a senior member of a Japanese right wing group. If this is true, then it is more bad news for the Federal Reserve Board and the Zionists who had seized the rights to the yen.

From the perspective of the Federal Reserve Board and the elders of Zion who control it, the best way to get out of this mess would be to start a war in Asia. That is why they have been trying so hard to provoke a war between China and Japan over some tiny disputed islands.

A Chinese communist government source with politburo links says there is a push by hawks in the government to have a short, sharp border war with Japan similar to ones they have had with India, Russia and Vietnam since coming to power. They want to use a war over the disputed Senkaku/Daiyu Islands as a first step in taking over the entire Okinawan archipelago, the source says.

The Japanese hawks, for their part, think they can wipe out the Chinese Navy and Air-force in 3 days and would like a chance to do just that. What the Japanese hawks fail to realize is that in such a fight Taiwan, with its modern air-force and navy, would fight on the Chinese side. At the time of this writing, somebody had hacked Google Earth and put a giant Taiwanese (Nationalist Chinese) flag on the largest of the disputed islands.

What the hot-heads on both sides need to do is realize that they are in danger of falling into a very cleverly laid Zionist trap that would result (no matter who won) in the destruction of emerging Asian unity.

The other thing that is going on in Asia is that Myanmar is being set up as a replacement for North Korea as the major drug production base in Asia, according to a source in the drug dealing faction of the CIA.

What the Asians need to do is reflect on the past murderous actions of the Zionists in Asia and kick the bums right out of the whole region. To prevent further Western trouble-making, they also need to set up an international economic planning agency to finance a swords-to-plowshares transition of the military industrial complex.


"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

+1
Luis Miguel Goitizolo

1162
61587 Posts
61587
Invite Me as a Friend
Top 25 Poster
Person Of The Week
RE: IS THE NEW AGE REALLY HERE?
1/23/2013 10:55:00 PM
7 Eb, 0 Yax, 9 Eb
Dratzo! We return! Your world is still caught in an in-between reality-state as Heaven prepares to signal the much-awaited green light. We are setting up special liaison teams to monitor what is shortly to happen. The coming announcements by your new governance will mark the end of a long era of dark control, during which wars, economic upheavals, and other widespread forms of discord characterized the ups and downs of numerous regimes over the course of this old form of governance. It is to be replaced by an interim administration which will prepare the way for a duly elected one and set up new rules and by-laws regarding the general operating standards of the first of your new de jure governments. Contained within the new rules are the new financial and monetary systems based on hard currency, open rules of banking, and an end to large multiservice banking conglomerates. Furthermore, the way will be opened up to get a formal disclosure announced, and the many provisions of NESARA introduced and applied. This will establish a new relationship between individuals and their national governance.

The new banking system will end the long period of debt slavery. In its place will be a system that honors your essential freedom and sovereignty. This requires fail-safe laws designed to protect your sovereignty, end one-sided political parties, and sponsor the rise of an educated and responsible electorate. Each member of this electorate is an individual who needs to learn to express their views based on extensive study of the issues in the world around them. Governments, until now, have both bamboozled the electorate and used carefully slanted rhetoric designed to camouflage the activities they were actually engaged in. In effect, truth was to be kept from the public by any means possible. Now, you are to witness an about-face in administrative operating procedures. Your new governance is to be built upon trust, and upon the premise that elected officials are kept under careful scrutiny on the part of the public. Your most powerful tool will be the intrinsic transparency built into the new rules, and this demands your involvement as both watchdog and advisor. It is a wholly new relationship in responsibility, one which marks the start of your exciting jaunt to galactic society.

One of the more vital responsibilities of this new governance is disclosure. This single act opens up the lines of communication to Agartha, your Ascended Masters, and of course us. With this announcement your world opens up! And those who have long watched over you can now openly come forward. As you can imagine, we eagerly look forward to this special moment. At long last we can explain to you what first contact is all about, and introduce our blessed cohorts on this journey to full consciousness. None of you has any notion of your true inner potential. Indeed, each of you is burdened by inhibiting beliefs ingrained in you since childhood onwards. Our mentors look forward to helping you move beyond these limited conceptions of reality and learn who you really are. Once these basics are sorted out, you are to broaden your learning to include the truth about your recent history, and here you may find things that anger you. However, it is important to remember that you are never alone, and that measures are to be taken to correct the situations and events that are the cause of your distress.

The coming time is one of prosperity, joy, and harmonious cooperation. Peace will replace war, and general disarmament will end the worry over mass violence. As your consciousness grows, you will experience a need for true community and to re-establish honorable interaction between people and government. This requires an exchange based on the perceived integrity of each party. Your world's currently accepted exercise of power needs to be universally upgraded. Division will be replaced by union; contention by cooperation; and prejudice by acceptance. Such ideals have been so often championed in the past, and now they are to be realized and practiced by all. One of our tasks is to help this along with the introduction of technologies that can take your communications systems to the next, more secure level. As you open up your awareness and begin to feel more secure in your life, you will be inclined to explore new ways of thinking and being which are more aligned with the new levels of consciousness flooding your societies.

Namaste! We are your Ascended Masters! Right now we are watching our associates waiting eagerly for Heaven to sound the sacred horn and begin the new era for humanity. The dark, despite its myriad schemes to derail things, has been unable to prevent the Earth's sacred societies from completing their assigned tasks. New governance, likewise, is in place, ready to take over when these hallowed notes are sounded. We bless Heaven for moving everyone to the point where they are raising their awareness of how close the new epoch truly is. We are ready to hear the many different announcements that are to set our sacred undertaking in motion. Our part in this blessed mission is to guide you to those divine truths which were supposedly 'lost' over the millennia. Those teachings are to be the harbingers of others which will illumine your path to full consciousness.

The new governance is to proclaim your liberation from the many forms of illegal slavery imposed on you by the minions of the dark cabal. Enslavement and disempowerment of the populace was a major component of debt economics, which created a small, ultra-wealthy class that depended for its existence on the complete acquiescence of you all. These denizens of the dark wielded quite a power, but it is as nothing compared to that of Heaven and its great Light! The present Light manifestation is to transform your reality and forge a new, divine one. Heaven set up a specific time, based on the movements of physicality and the divine precession of this solar system. This sacred point is quite near and very shortly a great moment is to happen! Then this glorious living sphere will witness a grand miracle and Heaven's sacred Light will dance across her and transform all!

This divine radiance will confer a new epoch upon humanity. You will become reacquainted with the lovely realms of your Agarthan and space families. The great lineages of Heaven are to appear and proclaim their great truths to all. And this will be only the beginning! You will have so much to learn from us and from your space family. Many truths will be taught about your origins and the nature of your sacred service to Heaven. Ponder on these new realities, feel their resonance within you, and allow them to inspire you as you prepare for your return to full consciousness. In effect, you are to re-earn your angelic wings. As physical Angels, you will take up a whole host of new responsibilities, and it will be our task to teach and mentor you in many things which will form the foundation of your divine service. Our duty is to be your loving supervisors as we prepare you for what lies ahead.

Today we gave you another message to help you further your understanding of what is being done to extract you from the dark realms and return you to the Light. The Creator rejoices in what is happening and the sacred decrees of AEON are ready to transform your reality forever! Know, dear Ones, that the countless Supply and never-ending Prosperity of Heaven are indeed Yours! So Be It! Selamat Gajun! Selamat Ja! (Sirian for Be One! and Be in Joy!)


"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

+0
Luis Miguel Goitizolo

1162
61587 Posts
61587
Invite Me as a Friend
Top 25 Poster
Person Of The Week
RE: IS THE NEW AGE REALLY HERE?
1/24/2013 12:40:48 AM

Archangel Michael via Celia Fenn: A New Earth and a New Beginning, Dancing the Dream. The New Earth Energy in January 2013

aamichaelAs channeled by Celia Fenn – January, 2013

http://www.starchildglobal.com/www.starchildglobal.com

Beloved Family of Light, so your Earth has successfully navigated the 2012 Stargate and become a Multi-Dimensional Star/Planetary Being! You have Reconnected with the Sun/Solaris and with the Galactic Center, and with your Cosmic Light Body! This is indeed a Great Achievement!

But, many will say it seems as though nothing has changed! Many were expecting chaos, disaster, traumatic shifts or miracles in December 2012. But, as We have said for many years, the process of Ending and Beginning was just that….a Process…..that culminated on the 21st December 2012. And the purpose of that Process was that the Shift should be as Graceful and as Trauma-free as possible. It was something to celebrate rather than something to fear. It was not a time of judgment, but a time of Renewal and Rebirthing

So, now that the Processes is complete and you have entered this Multi-Dimensional Space, you may ask “What Now?”. Maybe you are just a little disappointed because things seem so much the “same” and all your problems have not been miraculously solved in an instant. But, Beloved Ones, the purpose of the Shift was alwaysd to allow you to perceive your world and your Reality in a different way.

We know that you have understood that you “create your own reality”, but we wish you to comprehend fully what this means for you at this time. You were born into an Earth Reality that focussed only on the Third Dimension of Consciousness. It was limited by this and your lives were limited by what was possible in this Dimension. As a result, you created a culture based on limitation, on lack and fear. You allowed your fears to control and dominate your lives and you imprisoned yourselves in mental conflicts and systems, and you imagined that you could not escape.

Then, as you awakened to Higher Dimensions, you flowed with this awakening into the Fifth Dimension of Consciousness and you freed yourselves from limitation and opened to the infinite possibilities of the New Reality and its Multi-Dimensional nature. You were no longer a victim trapped in Time and Space, but an Infinite Being of Light incarnated in Human Form as a Human Angel.

This is where you are now, Beloved Ones. You have embraced your True Nature and recognized that your work is to Create a New Reality in this New Earth. Not to receive it ready made from Spirit, Beloveds, but to share in the ultimate adventure of Co-Creating it with Spirit in a Conscious way. We know, as you know deep inside, that there is no problem that cannot be solved in this Infinite Realm of Possibility and Love and Compassion!

We know, as you know too, that to Create a New Reality means not to focus on the past and on old problems, old energies and old traumas, but to focus your energy on what you want to create Now and in the Future.

If you focus your energy on what is wrong, what is wounded, what is broken, then that is all that you will see, and that will fill your life bringing with it anxiety and stress. If you focus your energy on what you desire to Create, on Love and Harmony and Peace, then that is what you will Create and What will fill your life. If you choose to Be the Peace and Harmony, and to Live that Peace and Harmony, then so it Will Be!

Beloved Ones, perhaps the greatest challenge facing you in 2013 is Living and Breathing the Truth of Who You Are and so Creating Peace and Harmony in your Lives! It is not enough to simply talk about it, or meditate on it, it needs to be the reality that you are Creating and Living.

This requires total honesty about your Life and your Choices. Are you living to the highest expression of your Soul in your every day Life? In your Work? In your Relationships? Do you practise Integrity, Openess, and Generosity. Do you treat yourself with Love and Respect so that you can also treat others this weay? Do you focus on Love, Joy, Compassion and Gratitude on a daily basis? Do you allow your Higher Self to guide you as you follow the flow of Divine Love and Abundance in your Life?

Do you truly allow Divine Light to Love You and Support You in this New Reality, or are you determined to hold onto the “old” you in the energies of anger, depression, and disempowered “victim”?

Beloved Ones, the Choice is Yours. In this New Earth your Reality is determined always by your Choices!

Dancing the Dream

Beloved Ones, the way that you create a New Reality and a New Future is to “Dream” that reality into Manifestation. Dreaming is not just a night time activity, but it is a conscious practice where you create a “daydream” that is a template for the expression of what you wish to create. This “daydream” can be expressed in words, color, sound, dance, poetry….a myriad of ways! In truth, you are All Stardancers of Light, moving through Time and Space….dancing your Reality into Being. Becoming Conscious of this process allows you to be a Conscious Dreamer and Dancer, dancing the incoming energies into Light and Manifestation, rather then being knocked off balance every time there is an accelerated transmission of Light Codes and Information. Strive to be at the Still Point at the center of the Dance, where movement and non-movement become One in Perfect Balance…then you will feel the Light and Poise of the Stardancer in your Life!

As you dream your individual desires and intentions become part of the great Symphony of Creative Energies that are all weaving together into Manifestation. In the Old Earth of the Third Dimension, where you were not Conscious Dreramers, you dreamed your fears and nightmares into manifestation as often as your love and joy. Now, Beloveds, that you are awakened and Conscious Dreamers, choose to dance the Dream of Love and Peace into Reality.

Beloved Family of Light, in the Ancient cultures of Lemuria, Atlantis and Egypt, where there were advanced Beings who were able to connect with the Higher Dimensions, it was the Priests and Priestesses who held the Higher Frequencies in balance for the Community. They did this by forming Sacred Communities and using their highly developed Skills and Talents to anchor the Energies and Light Codes into the Earth Plane.

In the New Earth it is You, as Family of Light, who must anchor these Higher Frequencies in your Lives and in your Bodies through your own Skills and Talents! And this is not just through Meditation and Healing, but also through Creativity, Joy and Dance! The Priests and Priestesses of the Past were also Poets, Writers, Artists, Musicians, Singers and Dancers, who held the energies in what they created and in their performances within their communities. Beloved Ones, we see you too learning how to dance and sing and create your Dreams into a New Reality!

Imagine….Create….Participate……these may be the Key Words for living in the New Multi-Dimensional Reality of Light!

Imagine

The act of Imagining is in fact the act of Creating another Reality. In the past, “imagination” was understood as the ability to “make up” something that was not “real”. So, an artist or writer could imagine an alternate reality, and a film director could visually create that reality so that it seemed absolutely real. When an imagined Reality is presented as a Visual Story, it takes on an aspect of such veracity that it seems like a real, alternate world. Gradually, you are beginning to understand the relationship between imagining and telling a story and creating Reality or Realities, for in truth there are always multiple Realities and Levels of Reality. reality is never a Singular construct, but the shared construction or co-creation of many people dreaming and creating together.

Now perhaps you can see how your Earth Reality was initially created by the Elohim. It was imagined into Form by the Creators of Form, the Elohim Angels, working according to the Light Codes and Impulses from the Divine Heart and Mind. Over time, they were joined by many other Light Beings who came to join in the adventure of Creation in Time and Space, until the Earth became a wonderful Test Laboratory for different forms of Life and Co-Creation, all in accordance with the Divine Plan for life in the Galaxy.

So, Beloveds, do you see that you were never simply the passive “creations” of a more powerful Deity. You yourselves were always a part of the Dream, the Creation, the great Act of Imagination…..both the Creators and the Created! You are “Dreaming” and “Imagining” within the Dream. You are empowered to Dream and Create and to Manifest the New Reality together.

Create

So you may ask…How do I create? What do I need to know?

Firstly, you need to know yourself as you truly Are, as a powerful and empowered Creative being of Light.

Secondly, you need to Imagine and to Dream. Imagine what you would like to Create amongst all the many possibilities, and Dream that into a Story. It is your Story and your Creation. As you choose and create, your story will resonate with the stories of others, who have similar dreams and desires, and you will be drawn together to Create together. But, you must be honest about what you want to create and what you desire. If there are Inner Conflicts, then you will manifest a conflicted Reality.

And so, Beloved Ones, as the year unfolds, you will find yourselves being drawn to Dream and to Create with others. It is a Time of Co-Creation…..You are never Alone!

Participate

In the New Earth, Beloved Ones, the easiest way to share dreams and creations is to Participate!

The New Earth is about Community and Participation. It is about Co-Creation. You cannot co-create in a vacuum. You need to get out there and find the people who will Dream with you and Create with you.

In the past this Group energy was held in Temples and Sacred Sites. In the New Earth, you hold this energy when you gather together to share, to meditate, to dance, to sing and to create. You open Temporary Sacred Spaces that can energize Dreams into Manifestation.

Beloved Ones, know that wherever you Are is Sacred Space when you are Conscious and Awakened. If you hold that Truth in your Heart and you come together as a Group with the Intention of holding Sacred Space, then you will ignite and ground the Energy of Creation and Manifestation through Divine Love and Divine Creative Intelligence

Know, therefore, that there is really nothing to fix, heal or save, Beloveds…..just a New Reality waiting to be Dreamed and Danced into Manifestation…..A New Dream waiting to be Born!

We wish you an Abundant and Joyous Adventure in 2013!

"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

+0
Luis Miguel Goitizolo

1162
61587 Posts
61587
Invite Me as a Friend
Top 25 Poster
Person Of The Week
RE: IS THE NEW AGE REALLY HERE?
1/24/2013 10:56:52 AM

The Citizen Science of Climate Change: We are not bystanders


A picture is worth a thousand words.

Superstorm Sandy prior to the 2012 Presidential election put climate change on the mind of many voters. Earlier this month, a Federal Advisory Committee of 13 collaborating agencies released a Draft Climate Assessment Report for public review. The data show the climate is already changing: rising sea-level, ocean acidification, damage to infrastructure, and impacts on human health, water resources, and agriculture. Because the data make it hard to remain optimistic, many were thankful to hear Obama say at his inauguration, "We'll respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations."

One overlooked aspect of the data, however, can also give us reason for optimism. Although credit for the report is given to 240+ scientists and engineers who compiled the evidence aboutglobal climate change, the backbone of the knowledge presented arises from efforts of unsung (and unwitting) heroes: people who collect weather data. The coordinated, cross-generational, collective nature of the public data-collection efforts reveals an unexploited strength in our society that should give us hope.

It's often unclear where climate change data come from; like many others, I had assumed it's all generated by satellites circling the earth and buoys floating in the ocean. While those technologies play a role, data on the key variables of temperature and precipitation have been, and still are, collected by otherwise ordinary people. Thus, evidence for climate change is not because "scientists say so", but rather because the collective observations of people show we have shorter, warmer winters, and longer, hotter summers, periods of extreme heat lasting longer than any living American can recall, and rain in extremes: either heavier downpours or droughts. Separately, people across the country have noted these observations in their backyards. Scientists have pooled the observations to reveal widespread patterns.

The new assessment is an impressive synthesis of the most up-to-date studies in the peer-reviewed literature about climate change. It details negative impacts in a wide array of economic sectors, from maple syrup in Vermont to oysters in Washington. Each study that involved rain, snow, andtemperature measurements drew those data from the U.S. Cooperative Weather Observer Program: acitizen science network.

The Program is not often referred to as citizen science, probably in part because it started generations before the term was coined, but that's what it is.

Public contributions of weather measurements date as far back as the availability of instruments to measure weather. When founding our nation, Thomas Jefferson wanted to deputize one person in every county in Virginia to collect temperature and wind data twice a day. The Revolutionary War pre-empted these plans.

The concept kept recurring. In the late 1840s, Matthew Maury wanted farmers to collect weather data and share them via the telegraph so that his naval office could aggregate reports and make forecasts. He adapted the idea from a maritime system he coordinated, whereby weather information crowdsourced from merchant ships was turned into wind and current maps that quickened ocean travel. The Civil War pre-empted his land-based weather plans.

In 1870, President Grant formed an agency to coordinate a volunteer weather observer program. The program eventually became the U.S. Cooperative Weather Observer Program of the National Weather Service. Since then, gathering standardized weather data has been a tradition in many families at 12,000 sites in the U.S. Take a look at the National Weather Service newsletters honoring long-term service and you'll see Terrell Phillips of Douglas, Georgia, who took over observationsafter his father passed away so that their weather station has operated for a continuous 50 years. You'll see Sara Waddell of Woodruff, South Carolina, who received a 25-year length of service award, following in her parents' footsteps. Her mother had observed since 1956 and her father since 1987. And we can thank Robert Hoppe of Broadwater County, Montana, for 40 years of service; he comes from a farming family that has recorded since 1939. Together, people contribute about one million volunteer hours annually. A core of about 1,200 of these sites has continuous history ideal for climate change research.

It would be nearly impossible for me to accept the burden of the report's conclusions - climate change is not only real, but accelerating - if it weren't for the one glimmer of hope that I see in all knowledge coproduced via citizen science: the power of the coordinated, collective efforts of curious, dedicated people. The discovery and understanding of global climate change, which has been so hotly debated, was possible because we are not a country of bystanders. We are participators. When the weather service asked for help, people helped. Because of participation, we have an inkling of the threats that we face.

I don't know the solutions to global climate change. You probably don't either. But any solutions will certainly involve collective action. It was our uncoordinated collective action, in the form of burning fossil fuels, that has made the climate change problem. And it was our coordinated collected action that informed us of the problem. We all will be forced to deal with climate change, so the question is: which type of collective action do we prefer? The coordinated, dedicated, collective efforts embedded in family traditions and daily practices as seen in citizen science illustrate the attributes and possibilities we need to find the best path forward. As President Obama said, we won't let down our children or future generations--indeed, we'll teach them to participate.

Images: NOAA Photo Library.

Follow Scientific American on Twitter @SciAm and @SciamBlogs.

Visit ScientificAmerican.com for the latest in science, health and technology news.

© 2013 ScientificAmerican.com. All rights reserved.

"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

+0


facebook
Like us on Facebook!