Birds and fish dying in their 1000s in America

[RABun]

Its possible I might have a job lined up in the Dallas/Fort-Worth area. I've heard Dallas is not too great, just a big, modern, souless american city. But I've heard Fort Worth is supposed to be really cool and very traditional deep south america. Its the things like NASCAR, Rodeos, honkin tonkin, and all that stuff that i reckon I could really enjoy for a couple of years, plus also a season ticket to the Dallas Cowboys would be a must (but of course you can do NFL anywhere)

Edited January 7, 2011 by RABun

[worm]

I'm a Green Bay man, but I reckon I'd have to support the local team.

[Ed209]

My sis in laws family are from Wichita Falls a couple of hours drive north of dallas/fort worth.

Parts of dallas are great, its like anywhere, but yeah you get the real south in the smaller towns. The rodeo i went to was in Dallas i didnt like it - i think a lot of it is cruel to the bulls and horses.

Also the fanatical singing of the national anthem and the god bless our troops stuff everywhere got on my nerves a bit.

But you can find yourself a proper redneck spit and sawdust bar and the people are just amazing. Invite you round for bbq and beer and to watch NASCAR.

ETA - we did a road trip down to San Antonio too. Saw the Alamo which was slightly disappointing but the riverwalk is beutiful and there are some really good bars and restuarants. Ooooh and you wont be far from Austin for NXNW - i'm a bit jealous if you do get to go lol

[eFestivals]

He's right though. You don't listen to a word that anyone says and because of it create the most mind numbingly irrelevant debates.

For example, in this thread you've been shown that you're using an incorrect definition of a redneck making your points about rednecks completely wrong. Yet you retort by using this incorrect definition, as if it's correct, to defend your points. That's a shit debate Neil and you're the one responsible for it.

my use of redneck is the standard UK usage of it. Take it up with all of the UK population if it's that much of an issue for you.

But your angle here has been a great way of you diverting things away from the bollocks you spouted about those non-existent southern liberals. Ten points.

[dakyras]

Neil, the voice of 'standard UKness'.

[eFestivals]

Neil, the voice of 'standard UKness'.

dakras, the voice of emptiness.

[dakyras]

dakras, the voice of emptiness.

[rabid]

At first I thought it was due to some secret weapons testing but I'm not sure now as there have been so many other incidents of dying birds and fish all over the world. In the past week, similar incidents have been reported in Louisiana, Kentucky and Sweden. Two million fish were discovered dead in Maryland, and others in Brazil and New Zealand as well as Arkansas. Also 40,000 crabs washed up on Kent beaches in the past few days, so its really strange. People on some forums are now suggesting changes in the earth's magnetic field, so maybe there is something in that.

[jamiejc]

I blame HAARP!?

Here's the theory! HARRP Everyone keeps going on about Harrp controling the weather. What about if they are using Harrp to refreeze the caps? by changing the direction of the jet stream. Obviously you need to make a large area around the caps very cold to restart the freezing process rather that the thawing.

BBC News 24 also claims this could well be the reason all these poor animals are falling from the sky.

Another theory into the birds receiving damage around the breast area before they die. What if they literaly started to freeze in mid flight? Does not take very long to freeze a chicken in my freezer!!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Frequency_Active_Auroral_Research_Program

[angelofharlem]

Reading a little further:

What's the theory behind the magnetic field theory causing deaths then? TBH I'd be more inclined to believe theories putting the blame on climate change.

[rabid]

Something to do with navigation.."apparently the magnetic north pole has been rapidly moving toward Russia at about 25 miles per year. A pole shift has been known to cause birds to become confused, disrupting their normal flight patterns and instinctive behaviors. This would mean birds would fly into weather patterns they would normally avoid, migrate to unusual places or fly into structures such as power lines, buildings and trees, where they are killed in large numbers. Fish could mistakenly swim into waters too cold to survive in, where they die in mass quantities".

I don't believe all the 2012 prophesies myself but those that do are saying that a pole shift will cause massive destruction in December 2012 and these are the first signs. Lets hope they're wrong!

[dakyras]

Aren't we due for a complete switcheroo of the poles? Every few millennia the magnetic axis just flips.

I think light pollution has a lot to do with birds dropping out of the sky. It happens a lot in the UK; birds don't go to sleep because it doesn't get dark enough, and just plough on for 48 hours, then die from exhaustion.

[brighteyes]

Science will come up with some reason to put in the books, but in the end it'll be just a theory. I mean, we will fail to acknowledge that there are forces at work beyond our understanding. To be a scientist, you must have a respectful awe for the laws of nature.

[RABun]

My nephew turns 6 on 21st December 2012 - my sister in law does not believe this is a coincedence, it is a running joke that he is the anti-christ. He's not, i think he's great but he drives his mum mad!

[rabid]

I'm shocked that I don't know the answer to this, but I always imagined the switching of the poles to be in relation to the axis of the earth to the sun. If the pole is moving at a rate as indicated above and if it is not related to the positional axis of the earth to the sun, then there could be a moment when a pole is facing directly at the sun which would therefore provide no protection against the solar winds. Surely that would be catastrophic?! That could blow our atmosphere into space, couldn't it? Our magnetic field protection surely relies on it being at a near* right angle to the sun.

*obviously not exactly a right angle, otherwise we wouldn't have seasons.

[rabid]

Right, but it doesn't answer the question. If the poles can wander and a pole is facing the sun, the solar particles would funnel into the pole, would it not?!

[Ed209]

I'm shocked that I don't know the answer to this, but I always imagined the switching of the poles to be in relation to the axis of the earth to the sun. If the pole is moving at a rate as indicated above and if it is not related to the positional axis of the earth to the sun, then there could be a moment when a pole is facing directly at the sun which would therefore provide no protection against the solar winds. Surely that would be catastrophic?! That could blow our atmosphere into space, couldn't it? Our magnetic field protection surely relies on it being at a near* right angle to the sun.

*obviously not exactly a right angle, otherwise we wouldn't have seasons.

Edited January 11, 2011 by Ed209

[angelofharlem]

The magnetic pole wanders around a lot all the time and we'd know if the poles had shifted so I not convinced by that explanation. How does a pole shift cause massive destruction?

[Ed209]

I found this on line:

“The polar shift as it relates to 2012 doomsday scenarios is called a geomagnetic reversal, a very rapid shift of the axis rotation. Normally shifting occurs gradually but what some believe is that the pole shift in 2012 will be an abrupt one. A complete geomagnetic reversal would mean that the north and south poles would abruptly switch places and the planet would begin to rotate in the opposite direction. This event occurs in nature approximately every 25,000 years. It is widely accepted that such a cataclysmic event would cause devastating earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanoes.”

Edited January 11, 2011 by Ed209

[angelofharlem]

What "scientific" source is that!? Geomagnetic reversal would not mean the earth rotated in the opposite direction! That's ridiculous and f**king dumb dude.

The magnetic pole and rotational poles are different. When people talk about the north and south pole moving, they mean the magnetic pole, not the rotational poles.

[Ed209]

Sorry, I meant the theory's dumb

[angelofharlem]

Sorry, I meant the theory's dumb

Edited January 11, 2011 by angelofharlem

[Ed209]

Okay ... but the northern lights are caused exactly by the funneling of particles toward the poles by the magnetosphere. If the magnetic field was weaker, the northern lights would be seen further south than the arctic circle. Take a look at this:

This illustrates how the magnetosphere 'directs' the particles around the earth like a barrier, but obviously as you approach the poles, particles are channeled around the magnetic arc and are then pulled in at the magnetic weak points (the poles) by the earths gravity. Remember the magnetic/iron filings experiment from school?

Now imagine if you rotate the earth's axis so that the pole is facing the sun directly ... the magnetosphere would look completely different and I imagine not much of a defence against the solar particles! There would be northern lights all the time, all over the sky from the pole down to the equator, would it not?

I think this is more a question for Prof Brian Cox than eFestivals!

[rabid]

Okay ... but the northern lights are caused exactly by the funneling of particles toward the poles by the magnetosphere. If the magnetic field was weaker, the northern lights would be seen further south than the arctic circle. Take a look at this:

This illustrates how the magnetosphere 'directs' the particles around the earth like a barrier, but obviously as you approach the poles, particles are channeled around the magnetic arc and are then pulled in at the magnetic weak points (the poles) by the earths gravity. Remember the magnetic/iron filings experiment from school?

Now imagine if you rotate the earth's axis so that the pole is facing the sun directly ... the magnetosphere would look completely different and I imagine not much of a defence against the solar particles! There would be northern lights all the time, all over the sky from the pole down to the equator, would it not?

I think this is more a question for Prof Brian Cox than eFestivals!

[worm]

Yeah, I know what you mean. If I had a bit more time I'd like to do some more reading about it. Its obvious a flip doesn't do earth and life any noticeable damage though because in evolutionary time scales its happening all the time. Its our technology that could get screwed.