|| EARTH-CHANGES WEEKLY | June 6 - 12, 1999 ||

|| ECW Editor: Peter P. (ptp@primenet.com) ||

"...the lights go out, end of the line. the music is over. it is time to
bring on the noise of a new century. light a match to the wick: we are
leaving the twentieth century or we become part of the rubble left
behind..." - novelist peter plate

[PROPHECY KEY: Those under PROPHECY LINK have come to pass, in part of
full; those under PROPHECY WATCH are possible related future events. ]

SUNDAY ][ 6 June

Solar activitiy is low. Intermittent small C-class flare occur.
Geomagnetic field: Quiet. ACE detects a small discontinuity in the solar
wind at L1 today at 0359Z, perhaps related to the passage of the coronal
mass ejection (CME) that left the sun around 0700Z on 04 June.

[] NORTHERN MEXICO PARCHED BY DROUGHT

Across northern Mexico, some 10 states have been declared disaster areas
as the second year of drought conditions continue to plague the region.

In comparison, only three states had been declared so as of this time last
year.

The drought has been blamed for cattle deaths, parched crops, and the need
to truck in drinking water to some communities.

Arguably, hardest hit is the Yaqui Valley; primarily an argricultural
area which - for the first time ever - has had to cancel its summer
planting season. One local official characterized this year's drought as,
"one of the most severe situations on record."

Weather forecasters said rain can be expected by next mid-week in parts of
at least two of the states affected, Chihuahua & Coahuila, but did not
specify duration or amount to be expected. (ECWeekly; compiled from
Associated Press, Reuters, CNN & various TV reports)

[] EARTHQUAKE NEWS

Two quakes, of 5.1Magnitude & 4.7M, occur south of Honshu, Japan
(32.36-.42N, 141.64-.63E)

A 5.5M quake occurs near the coast of Guatemala (13.79N, 90.79W)

MONDAY ][ 7 June

Solar activity remains low. Regions 8574 & 8562 again main activity
centers, although neither could produce more than an isolated C-class
flare. Geomagnetic field: Quiet.

[] DIOXIN SCARE SPREADS TO FRANCE & NETHERLANDS

The Belgian dioxins-in-food scare has spread to farms in France and the
Netherlands that imported contaminated animal feeds from Belgium. The
European Commission has asked the two governments what actions they are
taking to ensure their food production is safe.
                            
Belgium has presented the Commission with a full list of foods and farms
in Belgium affected by the contamination. It says that around 1,500 farms
used the feed manufactured by ten companies. Each of them were, in turn,
supplied by the same fat supplier in Gent - the source of the dioxin
contamination.
                            
Gerry Kiely, the spokesman for acting agriculture commissioner Franz
Fischler, said Commission officials met with French and Dutch delegations
to see whether there was a need for the Commission to act, as it already
has done in the Belgian case, by banning all products from farms that have
used the contaminated feed.
                            
The Commission will not extend this ban to the other countries if they can
prove they are taking the necessary steps unilaterally, he said. According
to information supplied to the Commission by Belgium, the feed has not
been used outside of these three countries, except for two farms in
Germany.
                            
Studies with laboratory animals have shown dioxins to be extremely toxic
and the most potent carcinogen ever tested under laboratory conditions for
some species of animals. The substance accumulates in fats. The immune
system may be the earliest and most sensitive target of toxic effects
caused by dioxins exposure, scientists say. (ENS)
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/jun99/1999L-06-08-04.html

[] EARTHQUAKE NEWS

A 5.2M quake occurs at Mindanao, Philippine Islands (8.52N, 126.47E),
followed by a 4.7M temblor approx. 95 minutes later.

Two quakes, of 5.3M & 5.1M, ocur at Greenland Sea (73.01N, 5.20E / 73.01N,
5.47E) approx. 25 minutes apart.

TUESDAY ][ 8 June

Solar activity is low, as has been the pattern in the last few days with
just occasional small C-class events occurring. Geomagnetic field: Varies
from quiet to active.

[] GLOBAL WARMING STIFLES MARINE LIFE -- REPORT

Warming oceans are choking off marine life at an alarming pace and
shrinking food supplies for people and other creatures dependent on
the seas, according to a report released Tuesday by two environmental
groups.
                            
The report, released by the Washington-based World Wildlife Fund and the
Marine Conservation Biology Institute in Redmond, Washington, said global
warming has been starving several species, including Pacific salmon, and
melting polar ice that supports a range of mammals and birds.
                            
"Warmer temperatures are raising the biological cost of living for marine
species," said Elliot Norse, president of the biology institute.
                            
The groups blamed emissions of carbon dioxide and other ''greenhouse''
gases, produced primarily in the United States and other industrial
countries that burn fossil fuels for energy.

By thickening the Earth's atmosphere and trapping heat at the surface,
greenhouse gases have helped melt vast tracts of polar ice, raised water
temperatures and forced some species to migrate to colder climates, the
report said.
                            
Ocean temperatures have risen three degrees Fahrenheit in some places over
the past 60 years and will rise another 5.5 degrees over the next century
if greenhouse gas emissions continue to grow at current rates, the report
said.
                            
Global warming has coincided with an increased incidence of the El Nino
phenomenon, in which warm water concentrated in the eastern Pacific
creates volatile weather patterns, it said.
                            
Centuries ago El Nino occurred every two to 15 years, but the pattern was
repeated five times between 1990 and 1997 and record high global average
temperatures were recorded in 1997 and 1998, the report said.
                            
The oceanic heat has devastated coral reefs and ice shelves that house
species including algae, plankton and crustaceans, cutting the food supply
to larger animals including whales, penguins and sea lions, it said.

Rising sea levels also threaten to ruin coastal wetlands and other
habitats that support marine animals and commercial fisheries, the report
concluded. (Reuters)
http://news.lycos.com/stories/Science/19990609RTSCIENCE-ENVIRONMENT-WARMING.asp

[] DEAD SEALS WASH UP ON SIBERIA'S LAKE BAIKAL SHORES

Seventy-eight dead bodies of the world's only freshwater seal have washed
up on the shores of Lake Baikal. Thirty-six of the unique seals, called
nerpa, were found near the village of Utulik, in the Irkutsk region of
eastern Siberia, the Interfax news agency reported today. Forty-two more
seal bodies were found on the lakeshore in the town of Baikalsk, the site
of the 30-year old Baikalsk Paper and Pulp Mill.
                            
No cause of death was identified. Wildlife scientists have taken water and
tissue samples to be analyzed.

The world's unique fresh-water seal, the nerpa (Phoca sibirica), is
believed to number between 70,000 and 100,000.
                            
Three previous incidents of mass deaths of Baikal seals are on record -
in the 1930s, in 1988, and in 1997. An infectious disease was said to be
responsible for the first two die-offs. Greenpeace Russia blamed the 1997
incident on toxic waste from a pulp mill on the shores of the Lake. (ENS)
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/jun99/1999L-06-08-03.html

[] EARTHQUAKE NEWS

A 5.4M quake occurs at Leeward Islands (15.07N, 60.38W)

WEDNESDAY ][ 9 June

Solar activity is low. Only occasional small C-class events occur.
Geomagnetic field: Mostly quiet to unsettled, with a single active period
occurring 09/1500-1800UT.

[] SCIENTISTS SEEK WAYS TO AVOID AIR TURBULENCE

Research in Colorado employing airborne Doppler radar could soon provide
commercial airlines with a way to avoid turbulent weather while in flight.
                   
Sponsored by NASA's Aviation Safety Program, the National Center for
Atmospheric Research is guiding the study using three specially equipped
airplanes. These planes will fly into and around storms between Fort
Collins, Colo., and Cheyenne, Wyo., between June 2 and June 18.
                   
The goal is to find out whether it is possible to detect convective
turbulence using airborne Doppler radar. Convective turbulence may be
detected by weather radar that bounces radio waves off large raindrops,
snowflakes and hailstones.
                   
"Airborne Doppler radar is a promising tool for detecting convective
turbulence," said NCAR lead atmospheric scientist on the project Larry
Cornman. "If everything goes well, it could be ready for use by U.S.
airlines within two years."
                   
Convective turbulence is caused by heat and is associated with storms and
clouds. As air heats up, it rises, oscillates and becomes chaotic. This
chaotic air is known as convective turbulence.

It is estimated that all kinds of turbulence, including convective
turbulence, cost the U.S. airline industry more than $100 million each
year due to damaged airplanes, disrupted service and injuries to
passengers and crew.

Up to 60 percent of aircraft encounters with turbulence are due to
turbulence associated with thunderstorms. (ENN)
http://www.enn.com/news/enn-stories/1999/06/060999/turbulence_3649.asp

[] DEFORMED DRAGONFLIES FOUND IN NORTHERN MINNESOTA

Researchers said Wednesday they have found dozens of dragonflies in
northern Minnesota with misshapen mouths, abdomens and antennae, but do
not know what caused the deformities.
                            
Zoologists with the Minnesota and Wisconsin Departments of Natural
Resources studied dragonfly populations at 90 sites on 23 bodies of water
in northern Minnesota between May and September 1998.

Abnormalities were found in specimens from 11 of the 90 sites.
                            
The percentage of malformed dragonflies ranged from 4 to 38 percent,
depending upon the species and the site where, the researchers said.
                            
The highest percentage of deformities was measured at sites along the
Rainy River between International Falls and Baudette in northern
Minnesota. Deformed dragonflies were also found at two sites along the
northern Mississippi River.
                            
Rich Baker, zoologist and animal research coordinator for the Minnesota
Department of Natural Resources, said it was too soon to say what caused
the deformities, but pollution was one possibility. The Rainy River area
is home to many industrial businesses, and the river has had problems
before with industrial discharge, he said. (Reuters)
http://news.lycos.com/stories/Science/19990609RTSCIENCE-ENVIRONMENT-DRAGONFLY.asp

[] EARTHQUAKE NEWS

A 5.0M quake occurs at Tonga Islands (19.23S, 173.53W)

A 5.2M quake occurs east of Kuril Islands (49.33N, 158.39E)

A 5.2M quake occurs in Jujuy province, Argentina (22.54S, 65.91W)

THURSDAY ][ 10 June

Solar activity remains low. Geomagnetic field: Quiet to unsettled.

[] AUSTRALIA JOINS SEARCH FOR E.T.

One of the most powerful searches for aliens in space is about to begin
from Australia. It will simultaneously listen to 58 million radio
channels.
            
"The instrument is one of the most powerful in the world and it's going to
sift the skies to look for artificial signatures from other intelligent
civilisations, should they exist," says Dr Frank Stootman, Chairman of
Seti (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) Australia and co-director
of the Southern Serendip project.
            
The search for ET will be carried out using the Parkes telescope in New
South Wales. It is the southern hemisphere's largest radio astronomy
telescope.
                                
According to Carol Oliver of Seti Australia, observations made at Parkes
are considered to have the best chance of discovering ET because of its
geographical location and the amount of time the Southern Serendip team is
able to use the telescope.
            
The Southern Serendip project runs in parallel with normal radio astronomy
at the telescope - it takes the same signal feed as the astronomers
working on an all-sky survey, thus making double use of telescope time.
            
Radio waves travel vast distances through space and are relatively easy to
detect. This is why scientists believe they offer the best chance of
discovering extra-terrestrials, either by looking for a deliberate beacon
or by detecting 'radio leakage' from their internal broadcasts. (BBC)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_364000/364833.stm

[] PIT YIELDS ANCIENT TOMB IN CYPRUS

Workmen building a slurry lagoon have discovered a Bronze Age tomb full of
human skeletons in an area administered by British forces in Cyprus,
officials said Thursday.
                            
Two chambers of the tomb, which was intact, contained 15 human skeletons
as well as ancient pottery, necklaces, knives and bronze. The find offered
valuable insight into life between 1400 BC and 1600 BC, a government
archeologist said.
                            
"It is a transitional period from the early Bronze Age to the Middle
Bronze Age and such finds are rare," said George Flourenzos of the
antiquities department.
                           
He said the tomb was probably part of a previously unknown ancient
necropolis in the southeastern Xylotymbou area of Cyprus.
                            
The area comes under the jurisdiction of British forces which have had two
military bases on Cyprus since the former colony gained independence in
1960.
                            
The finds have been taken to a local museum for examination. (Reuters)
http://news.lycos.com/stories/Science/19990611RTSCIENCE-CYPRUS-TOMB.asp

[] VIRUS WARNING OVER ANIMAL ORGAN TRANSPLANTS

An international group of doctors and lawyers are calling for a ban on the
use of genetically modified animal organs in human transplants amid fears
over deadly new viruses.
                          
At a London conference on Thursday, Doctors and Lawyers for Responsible
Medicine (DLRM) argue that more research into the possibility of
transmitting new viruses into the human population should be carried out
before any such transplants could take place.
            
There are concerns that previously unknown viruses, as deadly as Aids,
could pass from genetically-modified animal organs into their human hosts.
                          
The DLRM tells the Thursday's London conference that there should be a
global ban on such techniques.
                          
The alliance describes the concept of animal-to-human transplants,
known as xenotransplantation, as "a transplant surgeon's dream, but a
virologist's nightmare". (BBC)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/newsid_364000/364933.stm

[INFO-LINK: Newer readers may find the following article, also published
in ECWeekly early last year & now saved as a FTP file, of interest-

ftp://ftp.primenet.com/users/p/ptp/xenotransplant.pandemic

[] EARTHQUAKE NEWS

A 5.0M quake occurs on Alaska peninsula (56.17N, 161.65W)

A 5.2M quake occurs along Afghanistan-Tajikistan border region (36.28N,
71.15E)

A 4.1M quake occurs off the coast of Washington state (47.97N, 128.42W)

FRIDAY ][ 11 June

Solar activity is low. An active region on the north east limb (N38E90)
starts to rotate onto the disk & could be a potential source of increased
activity. At 11/1107UT this region produces an eruptive prominence on the
limb that coincides with a long-duration C8 X-ray event, a type II sweep &
type IV sweep. An impressive CME from this event is visible in data from
the SOHO/LASCO satellite. Region 8569 produces a C4/1f event at 11/1818UT.
Geomagnetic field: Quiet.

[] STRONG FLU VIRUS KILLS EIGHT IN TWO DAYS IN DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

A strong flu virus has killed eight Dominicans in two days, the Ministry
of Health reported Friday of an epidemic that has confined thousands of
workers to bed.
                 
"We have to keep an eye on the elderly and children infected by the flu
virus because there is no specific treatment to prevent it," Health
Secretary Altagracia Guzman Marcelino told reporters.

The Dominican Society of Neurologists called it a "national epidemic."

The deaths, on Thursday and Friday, were the first reported from the virus
in the Caribbean nation, where people have been suffering from the flu for
about a month.
                 
Its symptoms last about a week and the virus causes respiratory and
pulmonary complications that killed most of the victims this week.
                 
Six of the dead were elderly people over 78 years from the town of Puerto
Plata, whose international airport is used by thousands of tourists,
mainly from Europe and the United States. Puerto Plata is about 130 miles
(215 kilometers) north of the capital, Santo Domingo. (CNN/AP)
http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/americas/9906/11/BC-Dominican-KillerFlu.ap/

[] INTERSEX MICE DISCOVERED AT CALIFORNIA WILDLIFE REFUGE

There's something strange happening to the rodents at a wildlife refuge
where thousands of birds were poisoned by selenium years ago. Both male
and female reproductive organs were found in one-third of the 87 field
mice, house mice, harvest mice and California voles trapped last year on
land that once collected toxic runoff at the Kesterson National Wildlife
Refuge.

Just 3 percent of rodents trapped there showed such characteristics in
1995, the San Francisco Examiner reported Friday.
"The number of intersex mammals was a surprising finding to everybody,"
said Michael Delamore, chief of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's drainage
program in Fresno. "We're not sure what it means, because it's new, and
the phenomenon hasn't been widely reported."

Technically, the rodents seem to be pseudo-hermaphroditic, according to
biologist Gary Santolo, who led the investigation. They appear to be males
from the outside, and lack a vagina, but have a fully developed set of
female organs internally.

Although scientists are not ruling anything out, there are no immediate
human health hazards, Santolo said Friday.
    
"That's always a concern whenever we detect something like this in another
mammal, but as of now, I don't even want to speculate that," he said. "But
it certainly warrants investigation."
    
Animals at the refuge about 20 miles west of Merced have been monitored
yearly since an investigation in 1985 revealed that selenium, a naturally
occurring byproduct of agricultural runoff, was killing or deforming
thousands of birds.
    
The chemical was being deposited in massive quantities in a 1,300-acre
reservoir that was used as a sump for toxic runoff from farms on the west
side of the San Joaquin Valley. The evaporation ponds have since been
closed, the drain plugged and the ponds filled in by the bureau at a cost
of $50 million.
    
Santolo's consulting firm, C2HMHill of Sacramento, concluded that
something in the environment - and not genetic mutations - is causing the
outbreak of hermaphroditic rodents. (Orange County Register)
http://www.ocregister.com/science/12mice03w.shtml

+PROPHECY WATCH+ Peter Petrisko: "By the end of '99, there will be an
unusual number of hermaphroditic human babies born, most likely will occur
as 'cluster' births (i.e., births within the same geographical region.)

SATURDAY ][ 12 June

Solar activity is moderate. Region 8583 produces a M1/1n flare at 1336Z,
including a weak type II sweep & small radio bursts at various discrete
frequencies. Geomagnetic field: Quiet to unsettled.

[] INDIA, PAKISTAN TALK TOUGH ON KASHMIR AS FIGHTING CONTINUES

A day after a crisis meeting in New Delhi failed to break the ice over
Kashmir, India and Pakistan both warned they were prepared for war if
the conflict raging in the disputed Himalayan region worsened.

Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, addressing front line troops
said India would  not relent until hundreds of guerrillas occupying
strategic heights inside Indian territory were beaten back into Pakistan.
                 
In the neighboring mountains, Indian troops continued high altitude
battles to sweep the guerrillas from their vantage points.

Vajpayee said Pakistan had betrayed India, after signing the Lahore
Declaration in February aimed at improving relations, and had annexed
Indian territory, violating the Line of Control.

The line divides the two armies in Kashmir, and was drawn at the Simla
Agreement in 1972. (CNN)
http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/asiapcf/9906/13/india.pakistan.reut/

PROPHECY-LINK Peter Petrisko: "The long-percolating conflict in, and over,
Kashmir will escalate this year - including a rise in militant terrorist
attacks & perhaps even a serious armed conflict between India & Pakistan
over territories."

[] DENGUE FEVER CASES DROP IN SINGAPORE

The number of dengue fever cases in Singapore has dropped from more than
2,000 in the first five months of last year to 621 cases in the same
period this year, the Environment Ministry said Saturday.
                 
The potentially fatal mosquito-borne viral disease remains a problem
despite spraying campaigns, media blitzes to educate the public and
increased fines for those who allow mosquitoes to breed on their property.
                 
There is no vaccine for the virus, which causes fever, joint pains, chills
and in some strains, brain hemorrhage and death. Patients can take weeks
to recover. (CNN/AP)
http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/asiapcf/9906/12/BC-Singapore-DengueDrop.ap/

[] POPE FALLS DURING POLISH VISIT, INJURES HEAD

Pope John Paul slipped and fell early on Saturday during his trip to
Poland and needed three stitches for a head wound, said Vatican
spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls.
                 
The accident happened at the Vatican embassy in Warsaw, where the Pope was
staying, but did not prevent the Pope flying to the southern town of
Sandomierz to say Mass. A bandage was clearly visible on the
right side of his forehead.
                 
Navarro-Valls said there would be no changes to the schedule the Pope has
set himself for his gruelling 13-day trip to his native Poland, which is
in its eighth day. (CNN/Reuters)
http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/europe/9906/12/pope.fall.reut/

+PROPHECY WATCH+ Gordon-Michael Scallion: "The Pope passes over. The next
Pope to be installed will be Italian; he will be the last Pope."

[] EGYPTIAN DONKEY STUMBLES INTO ANCIENT TOMB COMPLEX

Some 105 Greco-Roman mummies were accidentally discovered in Egypt after a
donkey slipped into a tomb complex in the Western Desert, al-Akhbar
newspaper reported Saturday.
                            
The daily said most of the mummies found near Bahariya Oasis, 250 miles
southwest of Cairo, were gold plated. Other mummies wore colored clay
masks.
                            
A trove of items dating back to the 4th century B.C., including pottery,
copper, jewelry and funerary accessories was also found.
                            
Archeologists said a selection of mummies were being examined in Cairo.
They expected to make more discoveries in the area, where they estimated
up to 10,000 mummies could be buried. (Reuters)
http://news.lycos.com/stories/Science/19990612RTSCIENCE-EGYPT-TOMBS.asp

[] EARTHQUAKE NEWS

A 5.1M quake occurs southwest of Sumatera, Indonesia (6.08S, 101.85E)

|| COMINGS & GOINGS ||

[] 'MILLENNIUM CHILDREN' AND THEIR 'END-TIMES' COUNTERPARTS -- REPRINT

[First published in ECWeekly last Spring, the following article is being
reprinted as its hypothesis fits the perpetrators of the recent Littleton
CO school massacre even more completely than those in the shooting
incidents originally profiled - further confirmation of the so-called
'Numb Generation' or "End-Times Children".]

'Millennium Children' And Their 'End Times' Counterparts

by Peter P. (ptp@primenet.com)

Within the last decade or so, a growing number of children have been born
that appear to be more intuitive and more creative than older generations
were at that age, take to computers like a fish takes to water, have a
natural understanding of technology in general that can border on the
uncanny and, in some cases, may be natural healers. An understanding of
the spiritual beyond their years and a matter-of-fact attitude toward the
paranormal are often attributed to these youngsters.
      
These bright and gifted youngsters were dubbed "Millennium Children" in
the book of the same name by Caryl Dennis and Parker Whitman, published
last year (i.e., in 1997).
      
However, as in many cases, there is the other side of the same coin, a yin
to the extraordinary yang of these "Millennium Children", not yet
discussed in books or New Age circles.

These others are the "End-Times Children", living amongst us, just as
their inspiring counterparts do, and also making their presence known in
extraordinary ways. In towns like Pearl, Mississippi; Jonesboro, Arkansas; 
Springfield, Oregon. (Editor's Note: And now, in '99, in Littleton CO and,
most recently, in Georgia.)
      
Whereas "Millennium Children" represent humankind's best, its hope at the
turn of the century, the "End-Times Children" - sometimes called the "Numb
Generation" - are the embodiment of our fears, our uncertainties, as we
face both a spiritual and historical turning point.
      
As with their millennial counterparts, "End-timers" are, for the most
part, quite intelligent and creative. They, too, have a natural
understanding of technology. But it's the technology of destruction - such
as bombs, firearms or other weapons - that interest them. Or an uncanny
ability to manipulate, and destroy, technology - like in the case of a
gifted hacker who breaks into official files, wantonly wreaking havoc.
They appear to lack the intuitive compassion of their opposites, instead
focusing inward, their feelings short-circuited or merely kept tightly
underwraps until the day it bursts forth in an unstoppable rage. After
which, they become numb once again, stoic, blankfaced, and unable to
explain - and perhaps even comprehend - why they did what they did.
      
While some are quick to blame the usual boogeymen - TV violence, sports,
music with an anti-social lyrical content, the lack of parental discipline
or involvement - these alleged "triggers" seemingly have to be shoehorned
in when it comes to many of these, and less extreme, cases. In many cases,
it is revealed the parents were fair and supportive. That sports and TV
weren't big interests. The usual suspects don't ring true.
      
Perhaps because they are no more than superficial flotsam, obscuring the
truth.
      
If a schism has occurred, that is spiritual in nature and may even be
evolutionary in scope, giving us the enlightened "Millennium Children", it
goes without saying that quite the opposite could just as easily occur.
      
And, if a cosmic balance is to remain, the opposite must be true.

Both once removed from the older generations, both not easily understood
nor accepted. One, natural healers - whether it be on a spiritual or, in
some cases, physical level. The other, bringing emotional or spiritual
pain to those they touch and, in some cases, being natural-born killers.
      
These are the two paths to our future.

These are our children.

|| GENERAL EARTH-CHANGES NEWS ||

[] INDIAN OCEAN AIR POLLUTION DOCUMENTED
                   
An international group of scientists participating in the Indian Ocean
Experiment has documented extensive air pollution covering the Indian
Ocean. The findings raise serious questions about the impact that
widespread pollution is having on climate processes and on marine life.
                   
Costing $25 million, the Indian Ocean Experiment is investigating how tiny
pollutant particles called aerosols are transported through the atmosphere
and how they impact climate.
                   
Director of C4 at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Dr. V.
Ramanathan said the team of scientists was shocked by the extent of the
pollution they encountered during the six-week field experiment that began
in early February and continued through the end of March. The dense
pollution layer was caused by sources thousand or more kilometers away.

The INDOEX scientists reported finding a dense, brown haze of pollution
extending from the ocean surface to altitudes of one to three kilometers.
The haze layer covered much of the research area almost continually during
the six-week experiment. The affected area, roughly the same area as the
continental United States, includes most of the northern Indian Ocean,
including the Arabian Sea, much of the Bay of Bengal, and spills over into
the equatorial Indian Ocean to about 5 degrees south of the equator.
                   
The haze is caused by high concentrations of small particles known as
aerosols that are usually less than a few micrometers in diameter.
Comprised primarily of soot, sulfates, nitrates, organic particles, fly
ash and mineral dust, the particles often reduced visibility over the open
ocean to less than 10 kilometers, a range typically found near polluted
regions of the United States and Europe. The haze layer also contains
relatively high concentrations of gases, including carbon monoxide,
various organic compounds and sulfur dioxide, providing conclusive
evidence that the haze layer is caused by pollution.

Early results indicate that the aerosol pollutants play a dual role in
that they have both warming and cooling effects. The tiny particles
produce a cooling effect in that they scatter sunlight back to space. By
acting as seeds for cloud condensation, they also produce an indirect
cooling effect by increasing both the longevity and reflectivity of
clouds.
                   
Nevertheless, the pollutants can also have a warming effect because they
absorb a large amount of sunlight. The airborne particles over the
northern Indian Ocean are dark because they contain large amounts of soot
and other materials from incompletely burned fuels and wastes. Dark
aerosols lead to the increased absorption of solar radiation.
                   
"It is just too early to say at this point whether the net effect is one
of cooling or warming," Ramanathan said.
                   
The next stage of the experiment will seek the rate at which air pollution
is getting worse over the years. (ENN)
http://www.enn.com/news/enn-stories/1999/06/061099/indoex_3665.asp

[] JET STREAMS STUDIED FOR CLUES TO DROUGHT IN WEST AFRICA
                   
Two jet streams that flow over West Africa in the summer months may be an
important factor in examining the drought that has plagued the region for
the past 20 years.
                   
"We are trying to explain the West African drought, in part, by looking at
the correlation between precipitation and the jet streams," says Colleen
Mikovitz, graduate student in meteorology in the College of Earth and
Mineral Sciences.

Countries affected by the drought in the Sahal area, a savanna just south
of the Sahara Desert, include Ghana, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Liberia
and Burkina Faso. In this semi arid region the rain season usually runs
between May and September.
                   
"While the drought that began 30 years ago continues, we are looking at
data from 1979 through 1994," Mikovitz told attendees at the spring
meeting of the American Geophysical Union meeting in Boston this week. "It
appears that there is a correlation between the strength of the jet
streams in this area and precipitation."
                   
"We would like to be able to predict droughts," says Mikovitz. "To tell
residents when it will be an especially dry year so that perhaps they can
change their farming methods and be better prepared."
                   
Two jet streams flow over the Sahel, the African Easterly Jet, which
originates over the African continent and the Tropical Easterly Jet, which
originates over the Tibetan Plateau and is part of the circulation pattern
of the Indian Monsoon.
                   
The Tropical Jet is higher and flows at about 40,000 feet above the
Earth's surface and the African Jet flows at about 10,000 feet.
                   
Mikovitz and Dr. Gregory S. Jenkins, assistant professor of meteorology,
looked at the average precipitation per year and the long-term averages
and compared them with the patterns of the jets. They found that the
Tropical Easterly jet was mostly weaker during the dry periods.
                   
"The pattern with the African Easterly jet was not as clear, but tends to
be slightly stronger especially during very dry years," says Mikovitz.
"There seems to be some connection between the jets and precipitation."
                   
The Penn State researchers also looked at the radiation emitted from
clouds to see if there was a difference seen in radiation during dry
years.
                   
"Radiation tells you the height of the clouds," Jenkins explains. "In the
case of a drought there are fewer deep thunder storm clouds."
                   
"If less radiation is emitted, it may indicate that there was more
convective rainfall, bigger storms or more clouds," Mikovitz adds.

The 1950s and 1960s were very wet for the Sahel, followed by a period of
some normal years. Researchers do not know what happened in 1979 to switch
the area into drought. The researchers plan to look at the effects of El
Nino, the North American Oscillation and other phenomena to see how they
affect the jets and the drought in the Sahel. They would also like to look
at the easterly atmospheric waves that bring most of the rainfall and rain
squalls and are also the start of Atlantic hurricanes. (ENN)
http://www.enn.com/news/enn-stories/1999/06/061499/jetstream_3639.asp

|| PROPHECY NOTES ||

[] SCIENTISTS CALCULATE ODDS OF DOOMSDAY SCENARIOS FOR SOLAR SYSTEM

"Some say the world will end in fire. Some say in ice." -- Robert Frost

CHICAGO -- For a poet, Robert Frost was a pretty good scientist, say
astrophysicists Fred Adams and Greg Laughlin. Frost's fire-or-ice scenario
neatly sums up two outcomes from their new study of possible future
encounters between our solar system and passing stars.

While other astrophysicists study how the universe began, Adams and
Laughlin are fascinated by how it will end. In a presentation at the American
Astronomical Society meeting held here May 31-June 3, Adams presented
their apocalyptic visions of what could happen to our solar system in the
next 3.5 billion years.

Laughlin and Adams used a computer and statistical processing calculations
to model more than 200,000 interactions between binary stars passing by
our solar system and orbits of the Earth, sun, and four outer planets,
especially Jupiter.

"Jupiter is vulnerable to gravitational interactions with a passing star,"
said Adams, an associate professor of physics at the University of Michigan.
"Because of its large mass, even a modest disruption of Jupiter's orbit could
have a catastrophic effect on Earth. The chances of such an encounter either
hurling the Earth out into space or plunging it into the sun during the next 3.5
billion years are about one in 100,000 -- much greater than your chances of
winning the Michigan lottery."

Other possibilities and their estimated odds of occurrence include: Doubling
of the eccentricities of Neptune's orbit (one in 400), Earth being directly
ejected from the solar system by a passing star (one in 2.2 million), Earth
being captured by a passing star (one in 3.6 million), and the solar system
capturing another star (one in 300,000).

Without one of the escape scenarios modeled in the Adams-Laughlin study,
the Earth's long-term future is grim. During the next 3.5 billion years, our
aging sun will increase in size and grow more than twice as bright as it
is today. When this happens, "the Earth's fragile biosphere will become
seriously compromised," Adams said.

The alternative to eventual incineration is being thrown out of the solar
system into deep space. "The surface biosphere would rapidly shut down
and oceans would freeze solid within one million years, but life could
continue for some time near hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor, which
are warmed by radioactive heat from deep within the Earth," said Laughlin,
a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California-Berkeley.

Adams and Laughlin's detailed models for a frozen Earth have interesting
implications for extra-terrestrial life. Adams maintains that liquid
oceans could exist beneath thick ice sheets on many planets or moons
of giant planets in the galaxy, especially planets that develop past the
"snowline" in the planetary formation disk. "The snowline indicates the
temperature where water ice can form in disk material," Adams said.
"The easiest places to get a large volume of water onto a rocky planet
or moon are places where it's cold enough to form ice.

"Since water is vital to the existence of life as we understand it, many
people have suggested Jupiter's moon, Europa, as a good candidate for
supporting life," Adams added. "Our work suggests that the most likely
places for extra-terrestrial life to develop would be in liquid oceans
under ice. In other words, life on frozen icy bodies like Europa may be
much more common in the galaxy than life on planets with liquid water
on the surface like Earth. If true, this shift would greatly affect the
possible branches of biological evolution in these extra-terrestrial
environments."

"Even though our solar system has never been disrupted by a passing star,
these results imply that interactions between binaries and planets may
be more common than has been believed," Laughlin said. "It's possible that
millions of planetary systems throughout the galaxy have been affected
by these binary scattering events, especially in the dense clusters where
stars often form."

Noting that many of the recently discovered planets in other solar systems
have unusual elliptical orbits, Adams and Laughlin have also suggested
that some of these orbits could be the result of a close encounter with a
passing star or pair of stars. (University of Michigan press release)

|| END NOTES ||

[] ECW RETURNS

As of this week, ECWeekly returns to a publication schedule that it is
hoped will become standardized.

For completists, issues for the weeks of April 18-24 and May 23-29 have
been compiled, but lack the final editing process. (When news stories are
cut/pasted into email format, most are not pre-formatted into standard
email line length, due to originally being wrapped around pictures etc.,
so must be edited to fit - often line-by-line - which is the single most
time-consuming task in putting each week's issue together.)

Time permitting, these two back issues will be completed and archived
shortly.

Otherwise, future issues should now appear regularly for the most part.
Additional duties, from authoring a few pending freelance-basis feature
articles to an upcoming TV documentary interview, plus various research
projects which should culminate in original articles for ECWeekly, may
interrupt publication from time to time as this is a one-person endeavor
done on a volunteer basis.

I extend my thanks for your support and understanding, and hope for your
continued readership in the months ahead.   - Peter P.

[] ANOMALOUS COMET STUDIED BY INDEPENDENT GROUP

A look at what appears to be an anomalous "non-period" comet; (most comets
are labeled periodic, like Halley's, or "long-period", such as Hale-Bopp,
depending on the frequency of its passage through our solar system); which
has an orbital prediction that has varied between exiting below the
orbital path of either Mars or Jupiter, depending on whom is cited and/or
the predictive software used.

An independent organization, The Millennium Group, explores the questions
raised by this comet - called Comet C/1999 H1 or simply "Comet Lee" - that
delve into the "official" dirty-snowball theory of comet composition, and
"Lee's" seemingly ever-modified predicted orbit.

As it draws nearer to our solar system, some say it has the possibility of
coming much closer to Earth's orbital trajectory than the "official"
powers will admit.

You can draw your own conclusions after reading the Millennium Group's
special report, by clicking here--
http://www.millenngroup.com/repository/cometary/lee.htm

[] PROGRAM NOTES; U.S. Television (June 16 - 19, 1999)

WEDNESDAY 6/16 "Twister: Storm Chasers, Pt. 3" 8pm & 11pm Pacific, DSC

THURSDAY 6/17 "Nature's Wrath III" 8pm & 11pm Pacific, DSC

THURSDAY 6/17 "Divine Magic: Prophecy", 10pm Pacific,  DSC

FRIDAY 6/18 "Raging Planet: Tornado", 8pm & 11pm Pacific,  DSC

FRIDAY 6/18 "Storm Warning! Global Warming" 10pm Pacific, DSC

FRIDAY 6/18 "Lonely Planet: Peru" 8pm Pacific, TRAV

[All times listed are Pacific; check local listings to verify start-time
in your area of U.S. / DSC = Discovery Channel; TRAV = Travel Channel.]

[['Earth-Changes Weekly' (ECW) is an independently published electronic
digest. It is NOT affiliated with any of the professional prognosticators
whose predictions it tracks, nor is it associated with any similarly
titled print-magazines, television shows, and/or other media in the
prophecy/earth-changes and related field(s)]] 

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