4778-ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? | View Thread

Antarctic sea ice is ‘astonishingly’ low this melt season

By Eric Holthaus on Jan 3, 2019

Right now, on the shores of Antarctica, there’s open water crashing against the largest ice shelf in the world. The annual ice-free season has begun at the Ross Ice Shelf — a month ahead of schedule.

The frozen region of freshwater ice the size of France partially protects the West Antarctic Ice Sheet from collapsing into the sea. In recent years, the ice-free season in the Ross Sea has become a routine event — but it happened this year on New Year’s Day, the earliest time in history.

“Antarctic sea ice extent is astonishingly low this year, not just near the Ross Ice Shelf, but around most of the continent,” says Cecilia Bitz, a polar scientist at the University of Washington.

In recent years, scientists have set up seismic monitoring stations on the ice shelfto track the wave energy as it percolates inland, potentially causing stress fractures on the Ross Ice Shelf along the way.

Bitz pointed to low ice concentration also happening right now in the Amundsen Sea, more than 1,000 miles away from Ross, and that’s potentially even more worrying. In a worst-case scenario, with continued business as usual greenhouse gas emissions, ice shelves all across West Antarctica could collapse within decades, melted from above and below and shattered by wave action.

After that, it would probably be just a matter of time before West Antarctica’s massive land-based glaciers, like the “Doomsday glaciers” at Thwaites and Pine Island, collapse as well, sending sea levels upward by as much as 10 feet and flooding every coastal city on Earth.

Sea ice concentration on January 1, 2019. The Ross Sea is on the lower edge of West Antarctica and Amundsen is north and near this map’s West Antarctica labeling. National Snow & Ice Data Center

Across the entire continent, there are more than 750,000 square miles of sea ice missing, a record deficiet for this time of year. Because it’s approaching mid-summer in the Southern Hemisphere, Antarctica will keep shedding sea ice for about another six weeks or so, and is currently on pace to drop far below the all-time record low set in 2016.

The North Pole and South Pole are both very cold, of course, but they couldn’t be more different in how climate change is affecting them.

The Arctic is an ocean fringed by cold continents, and has already passed a tipping point. Sea ice there has been declining sharply for decades — so much so that about a year ago, scientist declared the start of a “New Arctic,” with conditions likely unseen in at least 1,500 years, and probably much, much longer.

Owing to its unique geography (a cold continent fringed by a relatively warmer ocean), sea ice in the Antarctic region has long been considered something of a climate wildcard. A sharp decline in the Antarctic began only two years ago, and scientists aren’t sure yet if it will continue. If 2019 and the rapidly warming Southern Ocean is any indication, it will.

(GRIST)

Climate change works in mysterious ways; it isn’t limited to wildfires and melting ice. Today’s climate exhibit: The 100th Meridian — the famous dividing line that separates America’s wet East from the dry West — has migrated 140 miles east since 1980.

The boundary passes through North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas — America’s breadbasket. Once you cross the divide, the rain-soaked grasses of the East turn into dusty plains, with the occasional cactus dotting the landscape.

“Passing from east to west across this belt a wonderful transformation is observed,” remarked John Wesley Powell, famous explorer of the West, in 1890. The conservationist was the first to mark the transition line, which became known as “100th Meridian” because it closely follows the 100th meridian of longitude (a vertical line that stretches from the North to South Poles).

But we may have to change the line’s name someday. The shift is the result of rising temperatures drying out parts of the northern plains and less rain falling further south, YaleEnvironment360 reports. This could be due to natural variability — changes caused by nonhuman forces — but the migration aligns with what researchers tell us to expect from global warming.

(GRIST)

MEN ARE CONTROLLING WOMEN'S REPRODUCTIVE LIVES ON A DISTURBING SCALE | OPINION

Reproductive coercive control is where a woman’s decisions about contraception and pregnancy are interfered with. The concept was first described in 2010. We wanted to update the evidence to 2017 and widen the range of control activities to include family pressure and criminal behavior, such as sex trafficking. We found that up to one in four women at sexual health clinics report coercion over their reproductive lives.

For our narrative review, we searched relevant databases of medical and social sciences research, looking at women’s experiences of interference with their reproductive autonomy. We included only heterosexual relationships where women were controlled and excluded government control of women by laws and regulations. We wanted to concentrate on interpersonal aspects of the subject.

Most of the relevant studies were from the U.S., with a few from Asia and Africa. There was a notable lack of studies from Europe.

How men control women’s reproductive lives

Women being coerced are often put under pressure to get pregnant. Men sometimes use emotional blackmail, saying things like: “You would have my baby if you loved me." But the behavior can be more extreme, such as threatening to starve their partner, threatening to take her children away from her or even harming her. It can also include rape.

Control may include trying to dissuade a partner from using contraception, showing a lack of effort to use condoms or stopping their partner ordering more of her contraceptive. More extreme contraceptive sabotage includes puncturing condoms, throwing away contraceptives, secretly removing a condom during sex (a practice known as stealthing), and ripping off contraceptive skin patches and pulling out vaginal rings or intrauterine devices.

Healthcare professionals usually suspect reproductive control when they see certain patterns of behavior in the patient, such as not using contraception (despite not wanting to become pregnant,) repeatedly asking for emergency contraception, constantly asking for pregnancy testing or sexually transmitted infection testing or asking for more than one abortion.

How some women respond

Women’s responses to reproductive control include, at the extremes, giving in to the controlling man or ending the relationship. But the man may retaliate with increased control or violence in response to being rejected.

File photo. Women's reproductive lives are being controlled by men on a large scale.ISTOCK

Some women manage the situation by getting a hidden form of contraception, such as injectable contraceptives (which are truly invisible,) implants (which cannot be seen but can be felt just below the skin,) intrauterine devices (threads can be cut short so they cannot be felt,) or by being sterilized (this leaves small abdominal scars but they tend to fade over time.)

A woman who tries to have an unwanted pregnancy terminated may be thwarted by the man. On the other hand, usually as part of violent abuse, women may be forced into terminating a pregnancy. Occasionally, men have spiked a woman’s food or drink with abortion-inducing drugs. In the few known cases where this has been reported, the man has received a prison sentence.

Given the many negative consequences of reproductive control—including unwanted pregnancies and unwanted abortions—we urgently need more studies on this subject, especially from Europe. We also need a better understanding of why men engage in this behavior and how women can resist it.

(Newsweek)

Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 1/8/2019 11:03:57 AM
	ICE ICE MAYBE Antarctic sea ice is ‘astonishingly’ low this melt season By Eric Holthaus on Jan 3, 2019 Right now, on the shores of Antarctica, there’s open water crashing against the largest ice shelf in the world. The annual ice-free season has begun at the Ross Ice Shelf — a month ahead of schedule. The frozen region of freshwater ice the size of France partially protects the West Antarctic Ice Sheet from collapsing into the sea. In recent years, the ice-free season in the Ross Sea has become a routine event — but it happened this year on New Year’s Day, the earliest time in history. “Antarctic sea ice extent is astonishingly low this year, not just near the Ross Ice Shelf, but around most of the continent,” says Cecilia Bitz, a polar scientist at the University of Washington. In recent years, scientists have set up seismic monitoring stations on the ice shelfto track the wave energy as it percolates inland, potentially causing stress fractures on the Ross Ice Shelf along the way. Bitz pointed to low ice concentration also happening right now in the Amundsen Sea, more than 1,000 miles away from Ross, and that’s potentially even more worrying. In a worst-case scenario, with continued business as usual greenhouse gas emissions, ice shelves all across West Antarctica could collapse within decades, melted from above and below and shattered by wave action. After that, it would probably be just a matter of time before West Antarctica’s massive land-based glaciers, like the “Doomsday glaciers” at Thwaites and Pine Island, collapse as well, sending sea levels upward by as much as 10 feet and flooding every coastal city on Earth. Sea ice concentration on January 1, 2019. The Ross Sea is on the lower edge of West Antarctica and Amundsen is north and near this map’s West Antarctica labeling. National Snow & Ice Data Center Across the entire continent, there are more than 750,000 square miles of sea ice missing, a record deficiet for this time of year. Because it’s approaching mid-summer in the Southern Hemisphere, Antarctica will keep shedding sea ice for about another six weeks or so, and is currently on pace to drop far below the all-time record low set in 2016. The North Pole and South Pole are both very cold, of course, but they couldn’t be more different in how climate change is affecting them. The Arctic is an ocean fringed by cold continents, and has already passed a tipping point. Sea ice there has been declining sharply for decades — so much so that about a year ago, scientist declared the start of a “New Arctic,” with conditions likely unseen in at least 1,500 years, and probably much, much longer. Owing to its unique geography (a cold continent fringed by a relatively warmer ocean), sea ice in the Antarctic region has long been considered something of a climate wildcard. A sharp decline in the Antarctic began only two years ago, and scientists aren’t sure yet if it will continue. If 2019 and the rapidly warming Southern Ocean is any indication, it will. (GRIST)
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
	+1

Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 1/8/2019 5:36:18 PM
	‘There is little we can do’ Scientist’s SHOCK Yellowstone revelation over human EXTINCTION Yellowstone could see the end of human life (Image: GETTY) A GEOPHYSICIST has offered a chilling warning over the Yellowstone volcano, it was revealed during a bombshell BBC documentary. By CALLUM HOARE Robert Smith is a leading lecturer at the University of Utah, who has years of experience in natural disasters, including his study into Yellowstone. The supervolcano, located in Yellowstone National Park, has erupted three times in history, 2.1 million years ago, 1.2 million years ago and 640,000 years ago. However, a fourth eruption could have dire consequences, according to Dr Smith. He revealed during a 2015 BBC documentary titled “Supervolcano” how another eruption could prove fatal to humanity. He said: “If another eruption was to occur, I think there is little man can do about it. “The biggest thing we can do now is understand them.” The last eruption of Yellowstone produced around 2,500 times more volcanic material than the 1980 eruption of Mount St Helens. Robert Smith made the shocking revellation (Image: WIKI) Geologists have warned that, once a triggering event takes place, an eruption could happen in as little as two weeks. Jacob Lowenstern, a researcher with the US Geological Survey in Vancouver, Washington, detailed how the last catastrophic incident may have played out during the same documentary. He said: “Typically when these eruptions begin, they begin from a certain event, then they get larger as they move along the fracture system. “The entire sequence that formed the last Yellowstone eruption may have taken as little as two weeks.” This created an eruptive column so colossal that it covered about 60 per cent of the US in a thick layer of ash. Yellowstone Volcano sits below the national park (Image: GETTY) Yellowstone volcano is a threat to the whole world (Image: GETTY) Should the same happen again, the ground around Yellowstone National Park would rise upwards forming a swarm of earthquakes. Then, following the eruption, enormous pyroclastic flows would blast their way across the park. This mixture of ash, lava blebs, and superheated gas exceed temperatures of 1,000C and can move at speeds of up to 300mph. They are predicted to spread more than 100 miles out from Yellowstone, burying states like Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and Colorado in three feet of harmful volcanic ash. If the pyroclastic flow hits anyone, they would possibly die within seconds as the air could heat up to around 300C (express.co.uk)
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
	+1

Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 1/9/2019 9:16:56 PM
	Trump calls wall only solution to ‘growing humanitarian crisis’ at border By Philip Rucker and Felicia Sonmez January 8 at 11:33 PM President Trump delivered a forceful and fact-challenged televised plea to the nation Tuesday night for his long-promised border wall, declaring “a growing humanitarian and security crisis” at the southern border and blaming congressional Democrats for the partial government shutdown that he helped instigate three weeks ago. Trump painted a harrowing picture of danger and death along the U.S.-Mexico border, describing undocumented immigrants as murderers, rapists and drug smugglers and arguing that a steel barrier — for which he is demanding that Congress appropriate $5.7 billion — is the only solution. “This is a humanitarian crisis — a crisis of the heart and a crisis of the soul,” Trump said in his nine-minute speech from the Oval Office. “Democrats in Congress have refused to acknowledge the crisis, and they have refused to provide our brave border agents with the tools they desperately need to protect our families and our nation.” Democratic leaders, who have steadfastly resisted Trump’s demand for wall funding in part because they consider such a barrier to be immoral and unnecessary, accused Trump of fearmongering in his Tuesday night address. They called on him to immediately end the government shutdown, which they said was disrupting the pay of 800,000 federal workers and depriving millions of American citizens of critical services. “Sadly, much of what we have heard from President Trump throughout this senseless shutdown has been full of misinformation and even malice,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). She added, “The fact is, President Trump must stop holding the American people hostage, must stop manufacturing a crisis and must reopen the government.” Trump used his first prime-time televised address to the nation from the Oval Office to convey urgency about the situation at the border, which he plans to visit on Thursday. He has been weighing whether to declare a national emergency at the border, which would activate executive authorities and empower him to reprogram some Defense Department funds to build part of his wall without congressional approval. With a partial wall near their homes, three neighbors in Penitas, Tex., react to President Trump’s call to expand the barrier on the Mexican border. (Drea Cornejo, Jon Gerberg/The Washington Post) But Trump’s scripted remarks contained little that was new. And although he promised to continue negotiating with Democrats to end the budget impasse, he did not detail any fresh offers in his speech. He suggested that constructing the wall out of steel rather than concrete was a concession to Democrats. Reading from a teleprompter, Trump was relatively sedate as he repeated past talking points and told familiar anecdotes, leaving out the rhetorical flourish he displays on the campaign trail or in extemporaneous remarks before reporters. Immigration has been the animating issue of Trump’s political life — and in many respects, his Oval Office address was a buttoned-up version of the golden escalator speech he gave at Trump Tower 3½ years ago to launch his campaign. Then-candidate Trump said of Mexican immigrants here illegally: “They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.” In his Tuesday night speech, Trump spoke passionately about the victims of crimes allegedly committed by undocumented immigrants — someone raped and beaten to death with a hammer in California, someone else beheaded and dismembered in Georgia, and another stabbed and beaten in Maryland. “I’ve met with dozens of families whose loved ones were stolen by illegal immigration,” Trump said. “I’ve held the hands of the weeping mothers and embraced the grief-stricken fathers. So sad. So terrible. I will never forget the pain in their eyes, the tremble in their voices, and the sadness gripping their souls.” More here
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
	+1

Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 1/9/2019 9:31:46 PM
	BLOOD MERIDIAN This GIF shows how far the 100th Meridian has shifted since 1980 By Zoya Teirstein on Jan 7, 2019 Climate change works in mysterious ways; it isn’t limited to wildfires and melting ice. Today’s climate exhibit: The 100th Meridian — the famous dividing line that separates America’s wet East from the dry West — has migrated 140 miles east since 1980. The boundary passes through North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas — America’s breadbasket. Once you cross the divide, the rain-soaked grasses of the East turn into dusty plains, with the occasional cactus dotting the landscape. “Passing from east to west across this belt a wonderful transformation is observed,” remarked John Wesley Powell, famous explorer of the West, in 1890. The conservationist was the first to mark the transition line, which became known as “100th Meridian” because it closely follows the 100th meridian of longitude (a vertical line that stretches from the North to South Poles). But we may have to change the line’s name someday. The shift is the result of rising temperatures drying out parts of the northern plains and less rain falling further south, YaleEnvironment360 reports. This could be due to natural variability — changes caused by nonhuman forces — but the migration aligns with what researchers tell us to expect from global warming. (GRIST)
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
	+1

Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 1/9/2019 9:38:20 PM
	MEN ARE CONTROLLING WOMEN'S REPRODUCTIVE LIVES ON A DISTURBING SCALE \| OPINION Reproductive coercive control is where a woman’s decisions about contraception and pregnancy are interfered with. The concept was first described in 2010. We wanted to update the evidence to 2017 and widen the range of control activities to include family pressure and criminal behavior, such as sex trafficking. We found that up to one in four women at sexual health clinics report coercion over their reproductive lives. For our narrative review, we searched relevant databases of medical and social sciences research, looking at women’s experiences of interference with their reproductive autonomy. We included only heterosexual relationships where women were controlled and excluded government control of women by laws and regulations. We wanted to concentrate on interpersonal aspects of the subject. Most of the relevant studies were from the U.S., with a few from Asia and Africa. There was a notable lack of studies from Europe. How men control women’s reproductive lives Women being coerced are often put under pressure to get pregnant. Men sometimes use emotional blackmail, saying things like: “You would have my baby if you loved me." But the behavior can be more extreme, such as threatening to starve their partner, threatening to take her children away from her or even harming her. It can also include rape. Control may include trying to dissuade a partner from using contraception, showing a lack of effort to use condoms or stopping their partner ordering more of her contraceptive. More extreme contraceptive sabotage includes puncturing condoms, throwing away contraceptives, secretly removing a condom during sex (a practice known as stealthing), and ripping off contraceptive skin patches and pulling out vaginal rings or intrauterine devices. Healthcare professionals usually suspect reproductive control when they see certain patterns of behavior in the patient, such as not using contraception (despite not wanting to become pregnant,) repeatedly asking for emergency contraception, constantly asking for pregnancy testing or sexually transmitted infection testing or asking for more than one abortion. How some women respond Women’s responses to reproductive control include, at the extremes, giving in to the controlling man or ending the relationship. But the man may retaliate with increased control or violence in response to being rejected. File photo. Women's reproductive lives are being controlled by men on a large scale.ISTOCK Some women manage the situation by getting a hidden form of contraception, such as injectable contraceptives (which are truly invisible,) implants (which cannot be seen but can be felt just below the skin,) intrauterine devices (threads can be cut short so they cannot be felt,) or by being sterilized (this leaves small abdominal scars but they tend to fade over time.) A woman who tries to have an unwanted pregnancy terminated may be thwarted by the man. On the other hand, usually as part of violent abuse, women may be forced into terminating a pregnancy. Occasionally, men have spiked a woman’s food or drink with abortion-inducing drugs. In the few known cases where this has been reported, the man has received a prison sentence. Given the many negative consequences of reproductive control—including unwanted pregnancies and unwanted abortions—we urgently need more studies on this subject, especially from Europe. We also need a better understanding of why men engage in this behavior and how women can resist it. (Newsweek)
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
	+1

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Antarctic sea ice is ‘astonishingly’ low this melt season

A GEOPHYSICIST has offered a chilling warning over the Yellowstone volcano, it was revealed during a bombshell BBC documentary.

This GIF shows how far the 100th Meridian has shifted since 1980

MEN ARE CONTROLLING WOMEN'S REPRODUCTIVE LIVES ON A DISTURBING SCALE | OPINION

How men control women’s reproductive lives

How some women respond

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