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Solr Blecire-Marnatic Resonant % short Australia. The seasonal nature of the “OF Degress = 22-25 Sect (Equina) variable upwelling which drives Pacific sea- surface temperature (SST) is well illustrated oy oo by Guilderson and Schrag (1998), anda aise Hts h ell detailed analysis of the great 1997-98 El ——" a Nifio has been presented by Kininmonth | Sapariios | (2006), in which the wider climatic alt eee «|: implications of such events are explained. ' iL! The growth, maturity and collapse of this prominent climatic event is enshrined in the SST record from a buoy on the equator at 125° W longitude (McPhaden, 2002). Build- up began in normal seasonal fashion in January 1997, with SST rising from an atypically cool 23°C to the warm-season norm of 27°C by March. Ina "neutral" ENSO year, SST would have risen no further; and then, renewed upwelling in the eastern equatorial Pacific would have caused cooling to 24°C by August. However, in this . . . case, SST continued to rise (albeit at a lower Figure 4. Outer planets during the Maunder Minimum. In 1645, Pluto and Neptune rate), to attain a needle peak of almost 30°C were 180° apart, both in SER-X positions and on aphelion, with Uranus approaching in early May 1998. aphelion. By 1715, Pluto had moved to another SER-X position, and both Uranus and a ‘sudden reversal then took place. By the Neptune were now at perihelion. end of the month, SST was back to 23°C— planets are shown on the circumference of the celestial chart in thus overshooting the seasonal cooling expected several months figure 1.) Is this a valid explanation, or an opportunistic reliance on _later in a time of neutral regime. At this equatorial site, SST fell by coincidence? I say it would be more of a coincidence for such a a climatically significant 6+°C in less than a month! In November, remarkable assemblage of resonant angularities to have had no full La Nifia conditions arrived after a second (lesser) cooling step detectable physical outcome. took SST to below 21°C. Figure 3 [from the author's 2006 paper; not shown here; Ed.] 3. PLANETARY CONTEXT FOR THE ASIAN TSUNAMI shows planetary conjunctions on 12 May 1998. The El Nijio On 24 December 2004, an earthquake of magnitude 8.1 on the appears to have been in part an outcome of the 60° AS between Richter scale (Rs) was recorded beneath the Southern Ocean some Pluto and Uranus—but their separation had widened to 64°, 800 kilometres southeast of Hobart, Tasmania. Happily, there was _ suggesting that this resonance had now been lost. But, many new no damage. However, a following 9.3 Rs earthquake under the influences emerged. Earth enjoyed close to a 72° AS from Indian Ocean on 26 December led to the devastating Asian tsunami. Mercury, Venus and Neptune; and, equally significant, Jupiter Those who attributed the triggering of this seismic sea-wave to achieved a SER-X of 345°. Lastly, all planets were on the same human decadence, or indeed any terrestrial cause, were probably side of the Sun, travelling in the same direction with Earth trailing mistaken. Figure 2 provides a more plausible explanation. the field. A reduced bow-shock for Earth's protective The scene was set by a series of contributing factors. On 24 magnetosphere would have been a possible outcome. December, Saturn (period 29 years) was only 10° past its 93° The abrupt decay of the 1997-98 giant El Nifio in May 1998, and perihelion and Earth was at 93°, only 10 days before its own its subsequent replacement by a fully developed La Nifia in the perihelion. Pluto was still in a four-year 74° angular relationship following November, may have been the direct result of sharp with Uranus (period 84 years), which was itself approaching changes in planetary alignments. Implausible? Maybe so. But any aphelion. A notable AS also existed at that time between Earth, exclusively Earthbound explanation so far proffered up for this Mercury, Venus and Mars, with their 60° separations being the remarkable reversal is even more implausible. cal harmanin af the arhital nieoumfaranca At thic tima tha ida Pf Ebesirce- Natic Resonant * ‘O* Degness = 22-25 Reel (Equinox) PEScIro-Magnebc Mesonant A “OF Degrees = 22-25 Sept (Equine) Cura: Was -1TIE (BERS | labial agree i af 5 choo a on ee [PESORA 1 13 degree P Gand planets are shown on the circumference of the celestial chart in figure 1.) Is this a valid explanation, or an opportunistic reliance on coincidence? I say it would be more of a coincidence for such a remarkable assemblage of resonant angularities to have had no detectable physical outcome. 3. PLANETARY CONTEXT FOR THE ASIAN TSUNAMI On 24 December 2004, an earthquake of magnitude 8.1 on the Richter scale (Rs) was recorded beneath the Southern Ocean some 800 kilometres southeast of Hobart, Tasmania. Happily, there was no damage. However, a following 9.3 Rs earthquake under the Indian Ocean on 26 December led to the devastating Asian tsunami. Those who attributed the triggering of this seismic sea-wave to uman decadence, or indeed any terrestrial cause, were probably mistaken. Figure 2 provides a more plausible explanation. The scene was set by a series of contributing factors. On 24 December, Saturn (period 29 years) was only 10° past its 93° erihelion and Earth was at 93°, only 10 days before its own erihelion. Pluto was still in a four-year 74° angular relationship with Uranus (period 84 years), which was itself approaching aphelion. A notable AS also existed at that time between Earth, Mercury, Venus and Mars, with their 60° separations being the identical harmonic of the orbital circumference. At this time, the first quake was triggered. Two days later, fast-orbiting Mercury (90° past perihelion) attained the 165° SER-X position. This was the very day of the second quake—when the lithosphere would still have been ringing with the shock of the first. Coincidence? We shall never know. But there is disinterested corroboration—from none other than the Sun. A remarkable change in sunspot abundance was observed over the crucial period. Sunspots went from 47 on 23 December, down to only 11 on 27 December, and by 31 December they had rebounded to sixty. Well understood or not, extraterrestrial influences were in evidence at that fateful time. 5. THE MAUNDER MINIMUM: EXTRATERRESTRIALLY DRIVEN The latter millennia of the present interglacial period (Holocene) have exhibited a cooling trend, overprinted by aca. 1500-year warmer-—cooler cyclicity. In the temperate northern hemisphere, its most recent manifestations were the climatic—historical Roman Empire Warm Period (Romans in England), the Dark Ages (Germanics in Italy), the Mediaeval Warm Period (Vikings in Greenland) and the Little Ice Age (LIA). The LIA was prominently twin-troughed (Wang et al., 2005), and its Sp6rer and Maunder cold periods were times of great hardship in Europe. The Maunder Minimum, for which we have the better records, took the form of an intermittent series of very cold winters. The subsequent 300-year trend to present-day warmth has been interrupted by three progressively less-and-less-severe cold 4. ABRUPT END TO THE 1997-98 EL NINO As described elsewhere (McLean, 2006), the El Nifio—La Nifia (ENSO) alternation is a crucial determinant of rainfall in water- 42 = NEXUS JUNE — JULY 2008 www.nexusmagazine.com