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POLE SHIFT 2000 The Final Climate Crisis? POLE 2000 The Final Climate Crisis? Could the uneven build-up of the Antarctic ice-cap trigger a pole shift of the planet, with devastating consequences for life as we know it? Part 1 This 1989 article by author Richard Noone is still pertinent in the light of recent, often conflicting information about climate change, global warming or cooling, polar ice melting or expanding, the El Nifio effect, and so on. His thesis that the Antarctic ice- cap is growing in an unstable manner, enough to trigger a pole shift of catastrophic proportions, deserves serious attention. We are publishing his article in two parts and will conclude the second instalment next issue with a summary of the latest climate change reports, however conflicting, with a view to making some sense of what's really going on with our planet's weather. — Editor an many unsolved problems in Earth's history be explained by assuming that the outer shell of the Earth has slipped over its interior, changing the positions of the poles relative to the Earth's surface? Yes, says Charles H. Hapgood, author of Earth's Shifting Crust (1958), a book highly praised by Albert Einstein and Harvard geology professor Kirtley F. Mather. During the seven years of research for my book, 5/5/2000: Ice, The Ultimate Disaster, Professor Hapgood stimulated me to present a synthesis of thought on these matters. His was a great mind, illuminating the darkness where ordinary people dwell. At the time of his death he was helping me, and I am deeply indebted to him for his patience in answer- ing innumerable questions, and, subsequently, for access to his unpublished materials. In the last 25 years, an enormous amount of new data has reinforced the view that the face of the Earth has changed. However, in most highly publicised statements on this sub- ject, the emphasis has been put on continental drift rather than crustal shift. The concept of continental drift holds that individual continents are simultaneously moving toward or away from each other because of the currents in the Earth's interior. Professor Hapgood showed that the theory of continental drift (or sea-floor spreading) as now presented to the public gives rise to problems that can only be resolved by assum- ing that the entire outer shell of the Earth has periodically shifted. In fact, he detailed in his book how such "pole shifts" could actually cause continental drift. By making use of thousands of radiocarbon datings of climatic events of the last 100,000 years, Hapgood demonstrated that the Earth's outer shell may well have slipped over its interior, changing the relative positions of the poles, three times during that period. The last such change would have come at the end of the last ice age, about 10,000 years ago. To understand what is involved in movement or displacement of the Earth's entire crust, certain facts about our planet must be understood. Firstly, the Earth's crust is very thin. Estimates of its thickness range from a minimum of about 20 miles to a maximum of about 40 [or 10 to 50 miles (Ed.)]. Translated, this is less than one-tenth of one per cent of the Earth's thickness (specifically, 0.0025 to 0.005 per cent of the equatorial diameter of the planet). Secondly, this thin layer is made of comparatively rigid, crystalline rock, but is fractured in many places—such as the San Andreas, Brevard and Motagua faults— and does not have great strength. Equally significant is the fact that immediately under the crust is a layer thought to be extremely weak because it is, presumably, too hot to crystallise. It is thought, moreover, that pressure at this depth renders rock extremely plastic so that it yields easily to pres- sure. The rock at this depth is supposed to be highly viscous; that is, it is fluid but very stiff, like warm tar. It is known that a viscous material will yield easily to a comparatively slight pressure over a long period of time, and may not act like a solid when subjected to sudden pressure such as an earthquake wave. © by Richard W. Noone Reprinted with permission from The Philosopher's Stone (Third Quarter, 1989) Published by The Stelle Group 127 Sun Street, Stelle, IL 60919, USA Telephone: (815) 256 2200 NEXUS - 45 CRUSTAL SHIFT vs CONTINENTAL DRIFT © by Richard W. Noone OCTOBER - NOVEMBER 1997