Cry of the Wild

Video (click here)

Last week four gorillas were slaughtered in Congo. With hunting on the rise, our most majestic animals are facing a new extinction crisis.


By Sharon Begley
Newsweek

Aug. 6, 2007 issue - On the lush plains of Congo's Virunga National Park last week, the convoy of porters rounded the final hill and trooped into camp. They gently set down the wooden frame they had carried for miles, and with it the very symbol of the African jungle: a 600-pound silverback mountain gorilla. A leader of a troop often visited by tourists, his arms and legs were lashed to the wood, his head hanging low and spots of blood speckling his fur. The barefoot porters, shirts torn and pants caked with dust from their trek, lay him beside three smaller gorillas, all females, who had also been killed, then silently formed a semicircle around the bodies. As the stench of death wafted across the camp in the waning afternoon light, a park warden stepped forward. "What man would do this?" he thundered. He answered himself: "Not even a beast would do this."

There is much geologists can lend to the circumstances of the Crandall Canyon mine to end all rhetoric.

A reference map from the L.A. Times (click here)


This is the map from the USGS (click here). The last earthquake in the region anywhere occurred over a week ago. Not until one looks to California and primarily Southern California are there current seismic activity.

The mining collapse occurred three days ago on August 6, 2007.

6 miners trapped in collapsed Utah mine; cave-in was mistaken for minor earthquake (click here)
From the Associated Press

6:28 PM PDT, August 6, 2007
HUNTINGTON, Utah -- Hundreds of rescuers broke through walls of rock today in a desperate race to reach six coal miners trapped 1,500 feet below ground by a cave-in so powerful authorities initially thought it was an earthquake.Hours after the collapse, which did not appear related to an explosion, searchers had been unable to contact the miners and could not say whether they were dead or alive. If they survived, a mine executive said, they could have enough air and water to last several days.

This mine is part of the "Manti la Sal National Forest." The mine is under lease from the Department of the Interior. The mine can be closed down and the lease revoked for the rhetorical lying of the mine operator.

The instability of coal mines are well known (click here, the animation below is at the end of this article as well). This is not an unknown science. As a rule the 'characteristics' of coal (click here)do not lend itself to stability so much as instability.

Coal basics reveals the high level of water involved in coal's geological formations (click here). Mountains leak. Water runs between the rock formations. Soil absorbs water, rock does not. Rock is slippery when wet.

Retreat mining (click here for animation) should be outlawed in the USA and this is a prime example why.

US coal mine collapse traps six (click here)
...The US Geological Survey reported a 4.0 magnitude earthquake at the moment of the mine collapse, prompting speculation that the quake had triggered the cave-in.
But the USGS National Earthquake Information Center raised the possibility that the collapse could have caused a seismic wave.
"If you have a mine collapse, there will be a seismic component," said the organisation's Harley Benz.
"We simply don't know at this point," he said, adding that it could take 48 hours to analyse the information.
At least half a dozen other mine collapses since 1995 have caused similar seismic waves.
One in south-western Wyoming had a magnitude of 5.4.

Additionally, geologists can look at the history and current seismic activity of the range and locate the exact cause of the seismic movment. There is no speculation to the cause of the collapse. It is completely verifible by those that can assess the stability of that mountain.


There is blame to be laid on the shoulders of the mine operator. It was the mining methods that lead to this collapse. In the Bush Years the Department of Interior literally opened lands that should never have been made available in the first place. If this is the 'type' of mining to be used on those lands there has to be reconsideration of all the leases established under this administration and assessed for geological instability as related to threat to workers. Mining methods have to be scrutinized for safety. This is known science and is just a matter of applying assessment to the leased lands and whether proposed methods will cause danger to miners.

In my opinion, the digging can go on at the Crandall Canyon Mine for the next year without finding another open mining area. I would not be surprised if the 'elevation' of the mountain over the mine is actually lower today as opposed to last week. If that is the case, the miners have probably been buried in the collapse and it isn't a matter of 'just finding them' so much as the actual ability to 'safely find them.'

This severe storm (tornado) in New York City and one occurred nearly at the same time in Chicago is NOT a single occurrence

A tornado with winds of up to 135 miles an hour took roofs off in Brooklyn.

I have repeatedly stated 'the troposphere' under this layer of carbon dioxide is 'fixed.' By 'fixed' I mean there are reoccuring patterns without change. Currently the troposphere is receiving full intensity of 'heat' because it is warmed not once by northern movement of solar radiation but twice on the southern movement. This 'repeated' traverse across the face of Earth is why the hurricane season is mostly concentrated after the first day of summer. The repeat trip south of solar radiation provides an additional warming to Earth. That is normally 'handled' by hurricanes, but, because there is so little available humidity to 'produce/manifest' as hurricanes, Earth's troposphere is finding new ways to 'enable' heat exchange.

Downpours flood northern Illinois (click here)
Waterlogged residents in northern Illinois were bracing themselves Tuesday for more rain—and checking their sump pumps—after flash floods overnight soaked basements, closed highways and forced at least 40 people to evacuate their homes in Rockford.Hardest hit by the storms were Lake and McHenry Counties and part of southeast Rockford. At the height of the storm, nearly 50,000 Commonwealth Edison customers were without power in northern Illinois.Nearly 7 inches of rain fell in Rockford, while McHenry and Lake Counties were drenched with 4 to 5 inches, according to the National Weather Service in Romeoville. More rain is in the forecast for Wednesday afternoon, said Bill Nelson, a weather service meteorologist....

Currently and repeatedly noted on this blog, the 'pattern' of heat transfer is occurring in the center of the North American continent. "The T-Zone" has been noted as per NASA. The reason these major storms are occurring at far higher latitudes is because there is humidity there.

I'll comment on the satellite images below:

The 'off shore system' in this satellite picture of the North East is the one that devastated a New York City community.

August 8, 2007
Enhanced Infrared Satellite, New England

The link at the title to this entry is the same satellite image. PLEASE, PLEASE note there is another storm over Chicago right now and it is also coming toward the eastern seaboard and New York City.

Again this pattern is fixed.

The 'one thing' the New York community had going for it, AND REALIZING the death occurred ONY in a car accident and not with people in their homes; IS THAT these buildings are solidly built of BRICK/STONE. The folks that built those beautiful buildings so long ago knew what they were doing. These SOLIDLY built buildings will protect people.

continued below:

I can't say it enough. If people are inside brick or stone building AND AWAY from glass, they will be okay.

August 8, 2007

1930 z

UNISYS Enhanced Infrared GOES East satellite

I will repeat it again. When these storms are approaching, stay inside brick or stone buildings away from windows. Protect oneself from flying glass. The houses/buildings made of wood frame will not protect people. They have to have shelter within a stone structure or in the basement of a house as a last minute measure, but, the danger with basements in these storms is there are deluges of water that accompany these tornadoes and if one is in a basement that floods they could drown. These storms are completely 'atypical' of any storms civilization has experienced before. They are intense, immediate and heavily laden with water because of the availablity of humidity when they form.

Okay, the link at the title of this entry is for the GOES East satellite. This is the larger satellite picture of the severe storm that reached New York City yesterday. There is a vortex over the North Atlantic that moved the system through NY City which first visited Chicago. That is NOT the only culprit in this matter.

I have earlier last week and this mentioned the 'anti-cyclonic' (click here) vortex in the center of the North American Continent in the northern hemisphere. This movement is normally noted in the southern hemisphere.

continued discussion in satellite below.

continued...

There is a mixing of 'hot' and 'cold' causing these storms at the latitudes shared by Chicago and New York City. Do you see it?

August 8, 2007
1930z
UNISYS Enhanced Infrared Satellite



Click on the title above and focus on the anti-cyclonic vortex in the center of North American. Do you see it?

The reverse vortex (anti-cyclonic flow) in the center of the USA is carrying hot air north and is meeting the cold air of the polar (Arctic Ocean vortex) vortex and producing severe storms.

The latitude (click here) of Chicago is 41 degrees, 50 minutes

The latitude of New York City is 40 degrees, 47 minutes

These two cities are very close in latitude and receive the same weather facilitated by the Polar vortex.

The latitude of Boston is slightly more north, but, still is affected by weather systems delivered to these major cities.

While Chicago and New York City are experiencing these severe storms nearly at the same time, there is a difference between those cities. Chicago is on the Great Lakes which are currently experiencing drops in their level due to evaporation. New York City and Boston have another problem in that they share the Eastern seaboard of the USA and the reality of sea level rise.

Storms accomplish several aspects of biotic live on Earth. They bring water to Earth, but, in that also comes heat exchange. These storms, severe and sudden, bring with them heat exchange carrying heat from the tropics to the cooling air of the Arctic/Polar Circle and onto stoms with large amounts of rain back to Earth. Also what is occurring is the destruction of the ice at the Polar Circle that facilitates these 'heat exchange' storms. As the rain falls what is also occurring is sea level rise.

When land is exposed to high levels of 'saturation' there also comes the dangers of 'permanent' sea level rise as the saturation of the land raises the water table. This problem will not be visited on the West Coast. Sea level rise on the West Coast of the USA will be much slower and more measurable than on the Eastern Seaboard which is exposed to more complex contributions of sea level rise. On the Eastern Seaboard, sea level rise at the latitudes of New York City and Boston involve land satuaration, rising water tables, high intentsity delugees of water and frequent repeated storms. These storms also bring erosion that may be permanent if 'met' with sea level rise which does not permit reclaimation of land.

If one will entertain one more observation. The deluges of water is very much akin to those experienced by tropical rainforests. Currently the Amazon is experiencing drought due to the very high temperatures that literally 'burn off' the humidity. The storms of the northern latitudes are very much the same type of storms the Amazon normally receives that 'feeds' the rainforest. The northern latitudes could easily 'make the most' of this reality and find effective 'water management' strategies that capture these rains for storage while also realizing the 'forested areas' of these latitudes may very well change. Deciduous trees do not do well in saturated soil, but, other varieties do. All this has to be considered if there is to be a strategy to reverse Human Induced Global Warming. Also, a more viable reality for the northern latitudes regarding it's forests is to provide drainage rather than allow the forest floor to maintain it's high saturation and 'root rot.'

There is a lot of work to do and NO TIME to waste. One reality most conservationists oppose in the face of the destruction they can cause to seaboards are sea walls. In the case of 'cities,' sea walls may very well be the answer, no different than the Netherlands, until these deadly trends are reversed.

Good luck.