Mother of Storms

[Laura]

Today's SOTT articles about the danger of methane that is being released from permafrost reminded me of a book I read a year or so ago: Mother of Storms

Here are a couple of blurbs from the amazon source linked above:

From Publishers Weekly

This futuristic disaster novel by the author of A Million Open Doors opens in the year 2028, when a preemptive missile strike releases billions of tons of methane trapped in the ocean floor. The resultant atmospheric heat spawns massive supernatural hurricanes that ravage the world's coastlands and claim millions of lives. The only hope of salvation rests with astronaut Louie Tynan--who has become superintelligent, perhaps superhuman, through a computer system linked to his mind--and his desperate plan to shield the earth from the sun until it can cool. Along the way, a well-drawn cast play various roles in combatting the escalating crisis: a canny female U.S. President, an opportunistic capitalist, a spunky journalist et al. Barnes maintains a breakneck pace even while loading his narrative with vital briefings on hurricane formation, information processing and the physics of space travel; some of his speculations, in fact, are breathtaking. This winning blend of gripping thrilller and dazzling SF should establish Barnes as one of the most able and impressive of SF's rising stars.

Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --

From Library Journal

When a tactical nuclear strike releases massive amounts of methane from the North Pacific's ocean beds, global weather patterns transform the entire ocean surface into a massive spawning ground for hurricanes. As perpetual storms threaten to decimate Earth's population, politicians, scientists, and visionaries grope for solutions while ordinary people struggle to stay alive. In the best tradition of disaster novels, Barnes (Orbital Resonance, LJ 9/1/92; A Million Open Doors, LJ 10/15/91) juggles multiple plot lines as he builds to the grand finale. Compellingly orchestrated and filled with fascinating bits of weather lore, this novel will have broad appeal.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

As you can see, this book was probably the inspiration for Whitley Streiber's "The Coming Global Superstorm".

Now, I think that this is a must read book even if it starts out very, VERY slow. It is also complex since he switches back and forth between the experiences of all his main characters and now and again introduces vignettes of cameo type characters that are just in the plot to make a point and get el destructoed pretty quick.

What is useful about the book - and the reason I bought it - is that the author, John Barnes, presents some real science in the narrative and his descriptions of what can happen and how are well-researched.

His descriptions of the Mind Net thing are presages of the Matrix, and is a very sick sort of way, the book accurately describes American Society at its core even if it is only slightly futuristic. And I mean slightly. Stuff that he was writing about as VERY future when he wrote this book is almost on top of us now. This book will give the internet an all new meaning! WARNING: Some of it is quite graphic!!!

Warning again: some tedious parts, slow going here and there, but when it heats up, it'll keep you awake and you won't want to skip the tedious parts because then you'll be lost.

Overall, though, for the concepts he devlops, it is a MUST read.

BUT, having said all that, the reason I sat up and took notice of this today was the horrifying thought that Barnes' scenario could very easily become a reality with all the nuke talk flying around nowadays. Those nutzoids in power do NOT know what they are messing with!

 

[ScioAgapeOmnis]

BUT, having said all that, the reason I sat up and took notice of this today was the horrifying thought that Barnes' scenario could very easily become a reality with all the nuke talk flying around nowadays. Those nutzoids in power do NOT know what they are messing with!

Or.. what if they do? With all this talk of "terrorists" who "hate civilization" - it wouldn't take much to explode a nuke and cause such a scenario and blame it on evil world-hating terrorists. What a way to "jump-start" some cataclysmic earth changes too on command and with minimum effort! I can just see it now, they are setting up their plans and when all is ready, someone high up says "Okay Bob, cue the cataclysms!" and there she blows.

Suddenly global weather patterns change, "mysterious" methane leaks detected in the atmosphere and the media is filled with contradictory news reports. Some say terrorism, some say this is natural, others say Iran/North Korea/Syria, others say it's US or Israeli governments, etc. Nuclear radiation is suddenly being "reported" in some reports that seem to disappear or change quickly, or maybe if this is a deep-ocean explosion then maybe nobody would notice any nuclear radiation, I dunno.

Either way, it seems to be one of those achilles' heels on the planet that can easily be used to trigger a cataclysm on command by those interested, and I wouldn't doubt for a second that there are plenty of such "groups" that are not only interested, but capable and it's already included into somebody's future designs for this planet..

 

[Appollynon]

When a tactical nuclear strike releases massive amounts of methane from the North Pacific's ocean beds . The resultant atmospheric heat spawns massive supernatural hurricanes that ravage the world's coastlands and claim millions of lives.

If this were to happen, then I don't think it would be just the global superstorms we would have to worry about. If a large enough quantity of methane were released it may interfere with the ratio of atmospheric gases enough to cause some breathing trouble to us oxygen breathers. It may also effect the animal world more adversely, as there are many animals more sensitive to fluctuations in the breathable air ratios.

If such a scenario did happen, I also wouldn't want to be in a ship on the pacific ocean, as the intitial release and bubbling up of the gases may be deadly to anyone found in the immediate area of the gas bubbles.

I have always feared that a cometary strike in the pacific may have enough impact energy to vaporise or move a great volume of water and realease these frozen methane deposits, lets hope that also doesn't happen.

 

[MichaelM]

The following is from the CBS website about a new television 'program' starting this fall. The setting of the new program is a post-holocaust type of situation.

http://www.cbs.com/primetime/jericho/about/

JERICHO is a drama about what happens when a nuclear mushroom cloud suddenly appears on the horizon, plunging the residents of a small, peaceful Kansas town into chaos, leaving them completely isolated and wondering if they're the only Americans left alive. Fear of the unknown propels Jericho into social, psychological and physical mayhem when all communication and power is shut down. The town starts to come apart at the seams as terror, anger and confusion bring out the very worst in some residents. Jake Green (Skeet Ulrich), prodigal son of the town's mayor, becomes a reluctant hero when a school bus crashes as a result of the explosion. Mayor Johnston Green (Gerald McRaney) is conflicted with the return of his estranged son, but is called to action when the town begins to riot. Johnston's wife, Gail (Pamela Reed), is the strong, savvy first lady of the town who runs interference between her husband and her favorite son. Attempting to usurp the mayor's power is Johnston's political adversary, Gray Anderson (Michael Gaston), who is not above putting his personal agenda before the welfare of the very community he wants to lead.

Though the cloud appears in the distance, it affects all the residents in Jericho, including Dale Turner (Erik Knudsen), the 16-year-old trailer park kid everybody picks on, who finds himself in a position that could change his status; Robert Hawkins (Lennie James), a mysterious stranger who seems to be a jack-of-all-trades as he steps in to help restore order; Heather Lisinski (Sprague Grayden), a pretty young schoolteacher on the bus with her students returning from a class trip when the glare from the explosion causes a terrible accident; Emily Sullivan (Ashley Scott), Jake's high school sweetheart who lives outside of town and innocently goes about her business unaware of the catastrophe, Bonnie Richmond (Shoshannah Stern), a pretty 17-year-old who is hearing impaired; and Bonnie's older brother Stanley (Brad Beyer), Jake's best friend from childhood and an avid car lover who works on the family farm. In this time of crisis, as sensible people become paranoid, personal agendas take over and well-kept secrets threaten to be revealed, some people will find an inner strength they never knew they had, and the most unlikely heroes will emerge.

Getting the people used to the idea of a nuke going off? And not making the viewers worry too much about it (i.e. because the people in the show are still alive and getting by somewhat)?

Or maybe it's just me reading too much between the lines...

 

[Telperion]

This book sounds very interesting and will be added to my 'to read' list, thanks!

Here is an interesting link to an article regarding this issue - _http://www.terranature.org/methaneSiberia.htm - In fact the icecaps and permafrost (that are melting as a result of man dumping of toxins into the air) might in fact act as a sort of bottle cap for methane gas, a bottle cap that is slowly being wrenched out.

 

[Third_Density_Resident]

Actually, Telperion, it is far from conclusive that man's dumping of toxins into the air is the cause of the rapid melting of ice-caps. Sure, it's not doing any good to ecosystems and human health, etc., but as for global warming itself, that's another matter enitrely. Do a search on "global warming" and the like on these forums and you will find much discussion on the topic. I have studied climatology myself, and remain unconvinced that humans are totally responsible. Perhaps there's a small anthropogenic influence, but given that historically the level of atmospheric CO2 only rose after the earth's temperature increased (the palaeoclimatic proxy records prove this) -- it appears as if global warming is a cause (very likely triggered by solar or cosmic ray influences), and that CO2 increases are an effect of that.

 

[Telperion]

Sure, it's not doing any good to ecosystems and human health, etc., but

Yes, I have heard this "but" many times however this "but" is allowing humanity as a whole to neglect its obligations to future generations by blame shifting the problem of climate change onto solar flares, cyclical earth changes, etcetera ad nauseaum - _http://www.climateark.org/ is a good body of evidence for why man is the problem, and a change in mans behavior must be the solution.

 

[Tigersoap]

Yes, I have heard this "but" many times however this "but" is allowing humanity as a whole to neglect its obligations to future generations by blame shifting the problem of climate change onto solar flares, cyclical earth changes, etcetera ad nauseaum - _http://www.climateark.org/ is a good body of evidence for why man is the problem, and a change in mans behavior must be the solution.

You are forgetting the important piece of the puzzle : psychopathy.
Man has become the "problem" because of the ponerization of societies.
Without this understanding, no matter what you do would help humanity as a whole to change the current state of affairs.
And as Solar flares seems to be a natural event, I don't see how we could change what's going on on earth unless we had worked out ways to avoid the cataclysmic results or at least protect the populations osit.

Maybe this article amongst many would help The Trick of the Psychopath's Trade: Make Us Believe that Evil Comes from Others

 

[ScioAgapeOmnis]

Telperion, on that page you provided, look here:
_http://www.climateark.org/overview/02.asp

Is that not "cyclical earth changes" displayed there? Is it also not showing that CO2 and global temperatures increased dramatically in the past? If humans weren't around back then with their technology, what was causing temperatures and CO2 to increase cyclically?

Where on that website is there evidence that whatever was causing global warming before, isn't the same thing that is causing it now? Look at the graph on that page - the current increase in CO2 and temperatures started long before humans industrialized. So is it the CO2 that is increasing and causing temperatures to rise, or vice versa? And in either case, what is the real cause?

 

[Telperion]

Telperion, on that page you provided, look here:
_http://www.climateark.org/overview/02.asp

Is that not "cyclical earth changes" displayed there? Is it also not showing that CO2 and global temperatures increased dramatically in the past? If humans weren't around back then with their technology, what was causing temperatures and CO2 to increase cyclically?

Where on that website is there evidence that whatever was causing global warming before, isn't the same thing that is causing it now? Look at the graph on that page - the current increase in CO2 and temperatures started long before humans industrialized. So is it the CO2 that is increasing and causing temperatures to rise, or vice versa? And in either case, what is the real cause?

This is just one of many examples of what mankind should do to avoid climate crisis, however as the final decision is up the the Federal Government...well...-http://www.climateark.org/alerts/send.asp?id=oil_shale

The 400,000 year time period examined on climate ark comes with this caveat

over the last 400,000 years the Earth's climate has been unstable, with very significant temperature changes, going from a warm climate to an ice age in as rapidly as a few decades. These rapid changes suggest that climate may be quite sensitive to internal or external climate forcings and feedbacks.

Since the earth is 'quite sensitive' to 'climate 'forcings and feedbacks', and because this is the only planet in our solar system that can sustain life, perhaps mankind should respect this sensitivity.

The main greenhouse gases and their correlation to human activity can be seen here - _http://www.climateark.org/overview/05.asp

 

[anart]

Yes, I have heard this "but" many times however this "but" is allowing humanity as a whole to neglect its obligations to future generations by blame shifting the problem of climate change onto solar flares, cyclical earth changes, etcetera ad nauseaum - _http://www.climateark.org/ is a good body of evidence for why man is the problem, and a change in mans behavior must be the solution.

Telperion, you need to do more research. As I stated previously, it would be wise for you to do more reading and less posting. You are quite adept at posting your opinions on any number of matters, but these opinions are consistently misinformed or underinformed. At this point, your posting is becoming noise on this forum. Please, read more and post less.

 

[henry]

Jupiter is warming up. Saturn is warming up. Mars is warming up, and the last time I looked, there were neither advanced civilizations nor decomposed dinosaurs creating fossil fuels on any of them.

The point we are trying to make is that there are some very strange things happening on a cosmic scale. By focusing only on global warming through the lens of the human role, we may be missing the real cause as well as important signs as to our future. That is related to comets, cyclic cataclysms, the destruction of modern civilization all while we are looking at the smoke and mirrors.

Also, by focusing on carbon emissions through cars, etc, the individual is being riddled with guilt. How convenient is that for manipulation?

 

[Approaching Infinity]

Jupiter is warming up. Saturn is warming up. Mars is warming up, and the last time I looked, there were neither advanced civilizations nor decomposed dinosaurs creating fossil fuels on any of them.

The point we are trying to make is that there are some very strange things happening on a cosmic scale. By focusing only on global warming through the lens of the human role, we may be missing the real cause as well as important signs as to our future. That is related to comets, cyclic cataclysms, the destruction of modern civilization all while we are looking at the smoke and mirrors.

On the contrary, Henry. I see things completely differently. You see, hyhdrocarbon clouds have been found on Saturn's moons. This obviously proves that dinosaurs once lived in the far reaches of space, probably on most planets. The fact that these are warming leads irrefutably to the conclusion that these planets are in fact inhabited by human-like lifeforms who are polluting their atmospheres with million-year-old dinosaur entrails. Duh. ;)

 

[Telperion]

Jupiter is warming up. Saturn is warming up. Mars is warming up, and the last time I looked, there were neither advanced civilizations nor decomposed dinosaurs creating fossil fuels on any of them.

The point we are trying to make is that there are some very strange things happening on a cosmic scale. By focusing only on global warming through the lens of the human role, we may be missing the real cause as well as important signs as to our future. That is related to comets, cyclic cataclysms, the destruction of modern civilization all while we are looking at the smoke and mirrors.

Also, by focusing on carbon emissions through cars, etc, the individual is being riddled with guilt. How convenient is that for manipulation?

This is interesting however what proof do you have that Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are heating up? I really would like to know this, and I would like to know how much this information can be trusted as being more than a red herring/tool of placation.

Also, by focusing on carbon emissions through cars, etc, the individual is being riddled with guilt. How convenient is that for manipulation?

Guilt does not necessarily need to enter into the picture by one acknowledging damage done to our environment by cars, planes, buses, oil drilling, coal mining, ships etc...No one alive today set in motion the technological revolution that resulted in our need to consume fossil fuels the way we currently must. Few people if any, realized the implications of what was set in motion at that time. However simply accepting the state of affairs as is and rationalizing the destructive implications of modern tech should most certainly provoke guilt.

That is related to comets, cyclic cataclysms, the destruction of modern civilization all while we are looking at the smoke and mirrors.

If a cataclysm does not occur as some anticipate and if we do nothing about carbon emissions/climate change then we are leaving our descendants a terrible environmental legacy. And here in this reality in which we live, the reality that the majority of humans exist in be it the Matrix or not, there is much we can do even if it is only driving three days a week instead of six or buying biodegradable trash bags. If the cataclysm occurs however, then this is obviously a moot point. Time will tell won't it?

 

[Renaissance]

This is interesting however what proof do you have that Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are heating up? I really would like to know this, and I would like to know how much this information can be trusted as being more than a red herring/tool of placation.

It would be of use to both yourself and the group if you took Anarts advise and did some research. It's strange that you say that you really want to know while asking someone else to provide information for you. The evidence for warming on other planets is out there if you want to look. And on the contrary, I think 'man-made' global warming is much more placating - it comforts people into thinking that they might be able to stop it.