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with the rotating pole of the axis, the — roscopic model collapses into a spinning- MT | 89T0scopic model collapses i pinning top model and a polarity reversal will iles follow. jo" In a true interglacial period, that which ; wot lasts only 13,000 years and one of which we are now in, continental glacial sheets melt, Yellowstone Earth tilts to the obliquity set by the angle of Caldere the Moon's orbit, seasons begin and the ry a planet spins counterclockwise as a negative 20-0,6 polarity dictates. Precession, being a result of the Earth's obliquity, lasts only during this time. At the beginning of the next ice age, | “ precession will end. Voltaire's Great Year t (Plato knew nothing of precession) only ends up being a summer vacation. | wy Once Earth reverses its polarity from the ——Ter one it has now and is rotating clockwise against the Moon's orbit, it will lose the vey) Moon's influence of obliquity and its axis will become perpendicular. Clockwise rotation also results in pulling the Moon into a closer orbit, reversing its slow drift away from Earth.'* Being perpendicular would put Earth into a constant state of equinox (equal night), where night and day hours are the same from the poles to the equator. Charted seasonal insolation values show how this perpetual state of spring/autumn insolation, as shown by the readings in March and September, could support glacial build-up in the upper- middle and higher latitudes without a Milankovitch-style stretch of the ellipse (fig. 3). A clockwise rotation for Earth would also reverse the oceanic currents, most significantly those of the Atlantic Ocean, which would now flow directly up the coast of Africa into the Arctic Ocean. This change in ocean currents would saturate the polar Hadley cell with moisture while creating a temperate climate in the Arctic. The Hadley cell would then carry and release its moisture in the mid- latitudes, below the northern jet stream. On a world that doesn't spin, hot air at the equator would rise and flow toward the cooler polar regions where it would sink | | and flow along the ground until it reache S-— the equator, where the cycle would begin all over again. Since our world does turn, this Ps | cycle of rising and sinking air is dragge | "= across the irregularities of the surface an | | broken into three cells of rising and sinking | air, like the stripes of Jupiter. ~ | I The cells that start at the equator ani ~~. extend out 30 degrees on either side are “> ND. called tropical Hadley cells, discovered an named by George Hadley in 1753. Between 30 and 60 degrees are the Ferrel cells, named after William Ferrel who discoveret them in 1856. Ferrel cells are defined by the jet streams that flow at both the southern , University of u/s) Gs LE Track of the Yellowstone Hot Spot (@/S) REGIONAL BASALTIC LAVAS 100 Miles REGIONAL BASALTIC LAVAS more at the equator, resulting in a flattening of the planet at the poles and creating tremendous stresses for the lower and middle latitudes as they bear the brunt of crust misshaping. Yellowstone, being near the 45-degree latitude, is in essence right on the fold of crust deformity. Since 2004, magma under Yellowstone has been rising from a chamber 30 miles beneath the surface to another chamber only six miles from the surface, and at a rate three times faster than previously recorded." Even if the idea of pinpointing a specific date, such as the much-maligned date of 2012, to a polarity reversal seems hard to accept, the fact that Earth is experiencing the collapse of its magnetic field is undeniable. Some research shows the strength of Earth's magnetic field to have been weakening for at least the last 4,000 years, while the measurement of Earth's magnetic field for the last 30 years shows field strength decline to be gaining momentum.” At the point where the degrading magnetic pole falls into sync Month Fig 3. Seasonal insolation values. (Source: Michael Pidwirny, University of British Columbia, Okanagan, www.physicalgeography.net) 32 ¢ NEXUS Fig. 2. The Yellowstone hot spot. (Source: US Geological Survey) www.nexusmagazine.com OCTOBER — NOVEMBER 2008