'Tis the "Season" of the Volcano...or not!

Is there an actual thing called a “Volcano Season”?

Well, here we go again. When scientists can’t explain something, they create explanations. They do have the most creative minds among us, right?

Whenever they can’t explain something such as the mystery of why volcanoes are increasing, they decide to come up with a simple explanation to make sure we all feel better about it. And lately, that explanation has to do with the word “season” because it sort of, psychologically, puts us lesser minds at ease. I mean think about it…the holiday season, the fall season, the rainy season, football season. Sounds so nice, right?

Well, now scientists would like to add the volcano season to the list so that we’re not too alarmed about the awakening volcanoes all over the world. 

Last year when it became obviously clear that there was an increase in fireballs, especially after the explosion over a Russian city, scientists decided that February was fireball season. Nothing to see hear, please move along folks.

Fireballs have been back in the news this past month with increasing reports of sightings. But, hey, maybe fireballs have two seasons, February and September. That works. No, it doesn’t. There really is a rapidly escalating rise of fireball sightings over the past few years and don’t let the so-called experts fool you. 

It’s the same with volcanoes. The year 2013 saw 83 eruptions. What is the average year? About 50 to 60, or an eruption every week. The year 2013 was a record year since records began. There hasn’t been a year with 83 eruptions and now this year, 2014, has already seen 65 eruptions. We are only three quarters of the way through the year and yet, we’ve already seen 65. Given, many of these were ongoing eruptions that may have carried over from the previous year, which was somewhere in the 20’s. So, that still gives us around 45 volcanoes. That means, at the current rate, we’ll see at least another 15 eruptions this year putting us right around the same amount as last year. That’s two consecutive extremely high years for volcanic activity.

That’s why scientists are asking why. Why are the volcanoes awaking? Truthfully, they don’t know.

I’m going to share with you an excerpt from my book, Fever Rising, about what I think is causing the increase in volcanoes and it also has to do with the increasing earthquakes. In the book, I focus in depth on why there is an increase in earthquakes in Chapter 12. I examine the volcanoes in Chapter 13. In the earthquake chapter I talk about a couple of similar theories that explain the rise having to do with global warming. When the ice melts, the earth spews fire!

Before I show the excerpt, I’d like to share with you what scientists have said could happen from a rise of 23 volcanoes in one year. First, temperatures globally could cool at least 2 degrees and probably for a few years. This will affect the world in huge ways, including agriculturally from the volcanic winters for the northern portions of planet. There will be devastation to crops causing famines worldwide. This will also slow down the global warming on a temporary basis because the ash clouds will block out the sun. This is only temporary though, because as the volcanoes have increased, that’s methane gas spewing out into the atmosphere only adding to the domino effect of chain reaction global warming.

Here is a link to Jonny Mnemonics Jumping Jack Flash Hypothesis where he presents his MISA theory about melting ice causing pressure on plate tectonics. 

www.Jumpingjackflashhypothesis.blogspot.com/2010/12/misa-theory.html

I go over this theory in the book, but I also go over a similar theory by James McGuire, which he presented in his book, Waking the Giant: How a changing climate triggers earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanoes.

Here is the excerpt:

There is a theory proposed a few years back in a book by James McGuire entitled Waking the Giant: How a changing climate triggers earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanoes,  where the author states that the melting ice at the poles relieves pressure on the earth’s continental plates. The slightest pressure change will cause tectonic movement resulting in earthquakes. Basically, as the atmosphere heats up we experience rapid thawing of Arctic ice from both sea and land (permafrost). As the ice retreats, all that weight relieves pressure on the Earth’s crust which would naturally cause it to adjust.

According to an article on NPR.org the summer of 2012 saw the most dramatic ice melt in several thousand years. It literally smashed records. Of course there is always melt in the summer time, about half the ice, but the article points out three quarters of the ice melted. The previous record for ice melt was in 2007, also within the time frame of the rapid methane increase in the atmosphere. The additional ice melt in 2013 was the size of Texas. That’s a lot of ice and a lot of weight on the continental plates.

 

From NPR.org, September 11, 2012

This melting trend is accelerating because the ice in the Arctic is getting thinner as the region warms. A few decades ago, lots of ice in the Arctic was 10 feet thick and would clump up as wind pushed it around the northern coastlines.

"That ice used to survive and stir around in the Arctic for decades and create a very thick mass that could survive a few warm summers," Scambos says. "We don't get that anymore. We get persistently warm summers that have gradually eroded the ice cover until it's very, very thin and not stable."

 

As the ice retreats relieving pressure on those plates, it causes the water levels to rise, which is another point of pressure on the Earth’s crust. Keep in mind that the plates underneath the oceans are more fragile than land-based plates. Taking that into consideration, you can see that it’s not going to take much extra mass to cause seismic instability. Every square mile of water that is one meter deep is nearly 6 billion pounds. Sure, the waters haven’t risen that much, but consider any additional height is going to add billions of pounds of extra mass into the oceans and the level of the water rising isn’t going to be the same throughout the globe. Some areas are going to experience more sea level rise than others. That’s more pressure on certain areas which would heighten the seismic activity.

Here is a brief description of how Jonny Mnemonic describes this extra mass on his website.

 

JumpingJackFlashHypothesis.blogspot.com

By Jonny Mnemonic

Think about your average volcano sticking out of the ocean. It may have 100 square miles (10x10 miles) where added mass could have some effect. So if the sea level around that volcano is increased by one meter then the amount of newly-introduced weight affecting that volcano is 570 billion pounds. If it was 99% of the way to blowing its top already then that might just be plenty to push it over the edge. The same is true of faults, except their area is often much larger.

 

Are the sea levels really rising? Yes, according to the climate experts, predicting that by the end of this century the sea level will rise 80 centimeters, or 2.6 feet. This is nearly that one meter we were talking about a minute ago that’s going to add nearly 6 billion pounds of weight to the Earth’s crust per every square mile. How can this kind of weight not have an effect on the plates underneath the oceans?

Some of these climatologists actually believe that it could rise to two meters instead of one. Beyond the unimaginable devastation that a two meter rise would do to the coastal cities around the planet, earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis would make these places uninhabitable. We would be faced with an entirely different world than the one we know. Consider that half of the world’s population lives within 62 miles of a coast.

I believe that these experts are being generous by giving us till the end of the century. As I’ve discussed in an earlier chapter, this threat is here and now. The increasing anomalies are now and I don’t think the public is being given accurate numbers.  Earthquakes have risen each year since 2009 at an alarming rate.

END OF EXCERPT

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What does fatal New Jersey black bear attack have to do with dangerous gas theory?

Breaking news as of Sunday, September 21, is that a bear attacked and killed a hiker in a forest preserve in New Jersey, only an hour away from New York City. This preserve is a popular spot for hikers. The victim was with a group of five enjoying a beautiful day until a black bear began following them. After a few moments, apparently the group got spooked and started to run, getting separated.

Four of the hikers later regrouped, but failed to find their missing friend, 22 year old Darsh Patel. They contacted police who found Darsh in what clearly showed he was attacked and killed by the bear. The bear was still on scene and was immediately euthanized. This was two hours after authorities were alerted.

Bear kills hiker in New Jersey

Why is this story significant to my book, Fever Rising? How could I possibly relate dangerous gases, methane and hydrogen sulfide to a New Jersey bear attack?

On the front page of Tuesday, September 23, 2014, the jumpingjackflashhypothesis.blogspot.com, you’ll find a very disturbing story of a man who runs into traffic, nearly getting hit, yelling that someone is trying to kill him. One of the witnesses described him as “foaming at the mouth.”
The first officer on the scene was the k-9 unit and he also determined the man was foaming at the mouth. The disturbed man then charged after the officer who set his dog loose on him. He was only able to hold him down until other officers arrived. They immediately knew he was suffering from a medical emergency, so they got him to the hospital where he was later declared brain dead.

Man yelling and foaming at the mouth, runs into traffic later brain dead

According to Jonny Mnemonic of the Jumping Jack Flash Hypothesis, these crazy animal attacks and stories of humans going insane are only going to continue increasing. He started talking about the animal attacks and strange behavior two years ago on his blog, which explains, examines and tracks events related to both methane and hydrogen sulfide. His blog mostly follows unexplained fires and mysterious explosions happening all over the world, which, he believes are caused by plumes of these dangerous gases that are being released from the oceans, seas, lakes and rivers all over the planet. Sure, these gases are flammable, but they are also deadly toxins when inhaled, for both, humans and animals. This is why he associates strange animal behavior with the hypothesis, because these animals are coming into contact with plumes of gas.

If a dose of the gas is strong enough, it may kill the animal, hence, all the mass animal die-offs. But, quite often, the dose may be just enough to cause neurological damage, which basically drives the animal bat poop crazy!

Visit Jonny’ site or read my book, Fever Rising, for more information on hydrogen sulfide and the potency of this extremely dangerous gas. This is the gas that smells like rotten eggs when the dose is low enough not to harm you. But, as the amount of the gas increases in a dose, it will first knock out your sense of smell, then proceed to cause all kinds of problems beginning with respiratory damages, heart failure and also neurological problems…and then death.

Jonny explains the two gases pretty good at his site. For instance, he explains that hydrogen sulfide is a heavier-than-air gas and will tend to plume up into the air and eventually come back down to the surface where it comes into contact with ignition sources (our fuel-driven infrastructure of cars, boats, trucks, rv’s, gas-heated homes, etc.) and causes many of these mysterious explosions and fires. He also explains how methane gas is lighter-than-air so it will plume into the atmosphere and float around up there where it sometimes causes explosions too. Methane high up in the air may also be the cause of these bird die-offs while they are in mid-flight, just like the one that happened over Beebe, AK on New Years Eve a few years ago. There have been many other instances of these bird die-offs in recent years.

There are also many instances of these erratic animal behaviors. Here is a link to a website that also covers these events. He has a headline from September 22 that highlights several different stories of bear, leopard, coyote and even a wild boar attack of a Japanese cameraman.

Latest strange animal behavior headlines from The Celestial Convergence

I have three different chapters in my book that take a look at these animal and human poisonings. The information I have in Fever Rising is very informative and convincing. It’s important that people read the information that I present and make an informed decision whether it merits more attention or not. In order to help get the word out and at the same time, build my subscriber list, I’m going to send a free PDF of my book to anyone who signs up for my free weekly newsletter. Yes, you heard it right…a free copy of my book in your email inbox. Sign up now at the following link;

www.feverrising.com/pages/newsletter

Here is an excerpt from my book, Fever Rising, from Chapter 22, “The Humans are Dying,” which examines the strange and mysterious deaths of humans happening all over the world.  Most of these deaths can be attributed to hydrogen sulfide poisoning;

FROM FEVER RISING, CHAPTER 22, THE HUMANS ARE DYING

The amount of unexplained human deaths is alarming at best. Disturbing is probably a better word. The general public is far from aware of these deaths as they don’t get much attention and the ones that do usually get some lame excuse from officials about the cause of death. Most often, they may be stumped but they rarely let on to you, the concerned public. They’ve even come up with a new phrase to explain these mysterious deaths…Sudden Adult Deaths Syndrome. Are you kidding me?

There’s only one true place to follow these incidents and that’s at the Jumping Jack Flash website. Once again, Jonny Mnemonic does a phenomenal job of tracking these events. There are so many of these deaths, a dozen of them on his site every day, that can’t be explained by the traditional circumstance. Jonny does a great job of explaining how the next most logical reasoning can be gas poisoning. Hydrogen sulfide only remains in the human body up to eight hours so when an autopsy is done, it wouldn’t be discovered in most cases anyways, and let’s be honest, how often is a coroner going to look for hydrogen sulfide.

The skeptic’s best argument right now is that these deaths have always transpired and that we’re just getting better news reporting, or that we’re looking for it. I can’t argue with this point because there is some merit to it. Sure, I’ve never paid attention until now, but what Jonny has going for him is that he’s been tracking it now since February of 2012 and over that two years he testifies that the numbers are increasing at a rapid and alarming pace.

For example, let’s look at the date of February 7, 2014 on his site. On this date there were three persons in different areas along the coast of California who dropped dead of unexplainable causes. A man was found dead and a woman unconscious in their apartment in Oceanside, while in another case a woman in her 50’s dropped dead on a sidewalk shortly after 7 am in Harbor City, and yet another one was found dead in Koshland Park in San Francisco along the coast. Three cases in one day and authorities report nothing suspicious about it. Alarming, yes, but not suspicious. That’s because they don’t know what they are looking for, but this is becoming all too common.

On his site, Jonny says that California, Texas and Florida are the three most populated states in the U.S. They are the states suffering the highest rates of these strange deaths and most of them are along the coasts where the most instances of floating plumes of methane and hydrogen sulfide gas would be evident. This is just more proof in the pudding basically when you consider that methane hydrates are melting at rapidly increasing rates in the depths of the oceans.

People aren’t just dying alone as they walk outside near the coast. These deaths are happening in pairs as well and they are also happening in land, far from the coast, albeit, not as often but happening nonetheless. Here is a look at a case of an otherwise young and healthy man who was found dead foaming at the mouth.

From Naztoday.com, Feb. 4, 2014
NAZ Today reports on a dead body found on the east side of Flagstaff yesterday.  The body was identified as 34-year-old Jason Yaze.  Yaze was found unresponsive and foaming at the mouth in a drainage tunnel under Route 66.  He was later pronounced dead at the Flagstaff Medical Center. There currently are no suspicions of foul play. Flagstaff Police Department's Cory Runge says there are people who say they saw Yaze alert and conscious an hour before he was found.

 Here is what Jonny posted on his site about this report.

Jumpingjackflashhypothesis.blogspot.com
By Jonny Mnemonic
So in that last hour of his life, he probably got a whiff of hydrogen sulfide blowing by, while walking near that drainage tunnel (which is where a heavier-than-air gas like hydrogen sulfide would tend to accumulate). Then he may have gone blind, wavered in and out of consciousness, and tried to crawl to safety, then laid there in that drainage tunnel, unconscious and foaming at the mouth, until dead. Clearly events involving people dying while foaming at the mouth are now on the rise, as expected. A family of five was found dead at home, foaming at the mouth, in coastal Karachi (Pakistan), as mentioned in the 2013-12-09 update. Two men died foaming at the mouth in their car in Asaba (Nigeria), as mentioned in the 2013-12-12 update. A couple, 23 and 19, were found dead in bed at home in Searcy (Arkansas), one of them foaming at the mouth, as mentioned in the 2012-08-27 update. Three students collapsed unconscious and foamed at the mouth outside Riverside High School in El Paso (Texas), as mentioned in the 2013-06-04 update, just downwind of the Rio Grande. A man was found dead foaming at the mouth in a building in coastal Spanish Town on the island of Jamaica, as mentioned in the 2013-12-17 update. And so on. I could go on for a scarily long while ere without even mentioning all the people found dead bleeding from their mouths, ears and/or noses...

This is horrendous stuff and it’s for real. You don’t have to take my word for it, just check out the site jumpingjackflashhypothesis.blogspot.com and see for yourselves. Jonny isn’t making any of this up either. He links back to news sources for every report that he tracks on the site.

END OF EXCERPT

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Would you like a free copy of Fever Rising? Here's how.

Over the past two years, I’ve worked on a project I never dreamed of doing. I wrote a book. Over those two years there were several steps to completing the book, which included the research, the actual writing, followed by the editing and formatting. As difficult as each of those steps were, it wasn’t until the final stage that I became overwhelmed. The promotion of the completed book was something I didn't bargain for.

Holding the proof I received in the mail just prior to publishing on August 27.

Prior to writing Fever Rising, I considered myself a marketing guy, as owner of my own small newspaper and publishing business, I got to see the side of marketing from the advertising angle. I’ve also set up a digital media campaign for a company. But, over the years, I’ve also owned a couple of businesses that wouldn’t have survived without marketing. Basically, I was no stranger to marketing and promotion, but, promoting a book is an entirely different beast, especially as a self-published author.

I know, I know…I’ve only been published for three weeks and I’m already stressing about sales. I’m like every other author who has dreams of selling a hundred thousand copies and going on a television book tour. Actually, no, I’m not envisioning that because I’ve got stage fright. Don’t you remember old 1990 classmates of Hayward High all those speeches I gave in Jim Benton’s speech class. No, you don’t remember because I didn’t give any, I skipped out letting my stage fright win over. So, although I’m not daydreaming of that TV book tour (who am I kidding, of course I'd love one), I do want to see the book sell. Who wouldn’t?

Even more than wanting to sell a hundred thousand copies, I want at least a hundred thousand people to see it, read it and absorb the message. That’s what is most important to me, not sales, but readership. So I took two action steps this week towards making that happen. First, I lowered my Kindle ebook price down to $2.99, the lowest they would allow me to go. Otherwise, it would be cheaper yet. Unfortunately, the print-on-demand price of $19.99 has to stay because that’s barely over the minimum price Amazon could sell it at…due to the fact the book is 480 pages long with pictures. Sorry bout that. If you want to have a printed copy of the book, you’ll have to spring a few bucks. If you want an ebook, then you’ll have to spring only three bucks, but, here’s the even better news. I’m going to give away free PDF copies to anyone who wants it.

The second action I took this week was to set up a new promotion giving away a free PDF version of Fever Rising to anyone who simply signs up for my free weekly newsletter at Feverrising.com/pages/newsletter. After you sign up, I will turn around and email you the book. All I ask in return for this free copy is if you find the time after reading it, visit my Amazon page in the link below and give me a review (good or bad, that's up to you). Now that would be awesome!

So, what are you waiting for…click the link below and sign up for my weekly newsletter.

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How methane is the cause of all the worldwide disease outbreaks

Many people are asking what the deal is with all the new outbreaks of disease that are occurring all around the world and I have a theory that may answer that question. I started predicting this would happen back in February of 2013. That’s when I wrote my theory and presented at AboveTopSecret.com.

The Dangerous Gas Theory in relation to drug-resistant bacteria and mutating viruses

Chapter 15 of my book, Fever Rising, is dedicated to this theory and examining all the bacterial and viral outbreaks. I’ll describe it in greater detail in a bit, but first, a little about the current outbreaks. There’s the new enterovirus that is raging across America. This disease is scary and mysterious. It’s making kids very ill and sometimes even killing them. To make matters worse, it’s drug-resistant.

US outbreak of rare illness spreads to ten states

Then, there are the outbreaks of measles and mumps over this past year striking hundreds of people, despite being vaccinated. Measles was declared eradicated in 2000, but there were 600 reported and known cases in the U.S. this last year.

Nearly 600 cases of measles despite being eliminated in 2000

The one getting all the headlines of course is the Ebola outbreak in Africa. This outbreak is the worst that the world has ever seen. Ebola outbreaks have normally been contained to African villages for the past 40 years. But now, as many other diseases are breaking out, Ebola decided it's not going to be outdone. This disease has so far killed over 2,300 people (that we know about) and threatens many more. The death toll is rising rapidly with over 200 deaths in one day recently. The CDC reported that at this rate, there will be over 20,000 deaths within 6 months. I believe those numbers are being downplayed. In my opinion, there are many more cases than we are being told about. For one, many Africans are leery of western doctors and blame them for bringing the disease there in the first place. They refuse to seek treatment from these doctors and that means there would be a lot of unreported cases.

Ebola arrives in fifth country in worst-ever outbreak

I also believe that Ebola may be mutating. It’s not an airborne disease at present, but there are some experts who believe it may easily go airborne. If this happens, then we’re all in trouble. Some people try to downplay the significance of this disease, but consider that it is completely out of control in Africa right now and threatens to spread any where in the world because air travel to the region continues as usual.

Finally, just a few days ago, reports surfaced out of Venezuela that an unknown disease outbreak has occurred there very similar to Ebola. There were 8 deaths within a few days and the chief doctor of the Maracay hospital said they were dealing with an unknown virus. He said it wasn’t Ebola, Dengue or meningitis. The victims were ill with fever and vomiting, then they broke out with blisters and finally, coughing up blood prior to death. The governor of the state where the hospital is came out with a statement denying there were any strange deaths and called the doctor a liar, saying he was a terrorist just trying to stir up fears. While just days later another person, a 40-year old man died there in the same fashion and the family said it’s true. This death occurred on Saturday, while on Sunday, another death in Venezuela happened at a nearby clinic. Same symptoms again and this time, the entire clinic was shut down. I think the governor is full of BS and just trying to prevent economic troubles for the country.

Unknown disease kills 8 in Maracay, Venezuela in just a few days

There are many other disease outbreaks, which include Dengue Fever in Japan, chikungunya in the Caribbean and now Florida, and West Nile in California and Texas. The animal kingdom is also suffering immensely. Pigs have a new virus to contend with, as do elks, deer and cattle. There are die-offs every day in the oceans and there is a virus that is killing off many bat species spreading across the United States. Go head, take a look outside tonight, and I’ll bet you don’t see any bats. They are very rare now. Let’s not forget about the honeybee and bumble bee die off.

Nasty outbreak of West Nile virus in Orange County due to mosquitos

Whooping Cough outbreak in four Maryland schools

Japan facing first Dengue Fever outbreak in 70 years

Now that I've gotten your attention, here is a little excerpt from my book, Chapter 15, The Dangerous Gas Theory and Disease Outbreaks. This is what I think is the reason for the rapidly increasing presence of disease in our world. The full chapter is 27 pages and it examines the differences in bacteria and virus and what they are; a future world without drugs; a dozen of the new diseases we face; the flu and other viruses; and of course, the why, which has everything to do with the dangerous gases, methane and hydrogen sulfide, pluming into our atmosphere and warming the planet. Key words…warming the planet. A warmer planet will create an environment for bacteria and viruses to thrive.

From Fever Rising

You may be asking yourself how diseases and pandemics have anything to do with dangerous gases and atmospheric heating. It’s simple really. There are various types of microbes that eat methane. They live deep underground and they live 30,000 feet into the air. Basically, they are everywhere and they feed off methane hydrates.

The theory goes something like this. The more methane increases it becomes a feeding frenzy for the microbes. What happens when these microbes have more than enough to eat? They multiply. As methane release escalates, there is naturally going to be a rapid increase in the microbes that feed.
Through the evolution of bacteria over millions of years you can expect that other species of bacteria can also experience growth. As one species of bacteria rapidly increases, others will follow. I propose in this theory that as the microbes continuously feed on the increased methane hydrates, other bacteria are following the lead, thus, literally thousands of species of bacteria and viruses are experiencing phenomenal growth all over the planet.

To back this idea up, let’s first take a look at what bacteria really are. Bacteria are made up of the same genetic stuff that we are, only we have our DNA stored in the nucleus of the cytoplasm of a cell, while bacteria DNA isn’t stored in the nucleus. Their DNA is stored in the cytoplasm without a nucleus and that gives way for genetic mutation. The bacteria are made up of a genetic material called plasmids, which are small ring-like structures that float in the cell. They are separate from the chromosomal DNA and each has a specific job. One plasmid will cause the production of a chemical which negates antibiotic a, while another plasmid will cause the production of a chemical which negates antibiotic b. Then there is horizontal and vertical transfer of the plasmids to other bacteria. Vertical transfer is when a bacterium transfers the plasmid through its offspring, but it’s the horizontal transfer that may be responsible for the rapid rise in disease. This is when a plasmid replicates itself independently of the host cell and a single bacterium transfers a copy of that plasmid to every bacterium within range, and this includes bacterium of another species.

The chapter goes on to examine the different types of bacteria that feed off methane and where they live, deep underground and as high as 30,000 feet into the air. They are every where and as more methane levels rise, there is more to feed on for these methanotrophs. As they increase, horizontal transfer allows them to replicate themselves and any other bacteria that are nearby, which are many. It’s something to think about. Others have their theories, but when you take a look at the big picture, which my book, Fever Rising, does, you’ll begin to see that this makes sense and explains why diseases continue to escalate and will only get worse as more methane plumes into our atmosphere.

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Not the topic I wanted for my first book

I’ve always wanted to write a book. Ever since I can remember I was writing short stories or poetry. In my younger years I began a few attempts at scrawling novels only to get about 20 pages in and watch the flame slowly dwindle. The passion I felt at the beginning of the book when I had a vision of the entire story would simply disappear. It was frustrating. I figured it out eventually, I didn’t have patience. My mind would drift off to other projects.

My life rolled along and many other ventures would ensue, but that longing to write a novel would persist, always there at the back of my mind. And finally, at the age of 42, I found the passion within to finish writing my first book. The entire episode in my life took nearly two years, a mammoth project indeed.

There was only one problem. It certainly isn't the type of book I ever expected to write, and I mean that on so many levels. For one, climate change was the last thing on my mind until two years ago when I was doing some research on what was causing some loud booms in Clintonville, Wis., a town just down the road from me. I found the Jumping Jack Flash Hypothesis, a scary idea that methane and hydrogen sulfide gases were pluming into the atmosphere and causing unexplained explosions and mysterious fires all over the planet.

That scary notion is what leads to the second reason why it wasn’t the type of book I expected to write.  I wish so badly that it was on a different topic, a much more pleasant and inspiring topic. I wish it was on a topic that would bring smiles to people’s faces. But, unfortunately, that isn’t the case here. My first book became a massive project delivering an important message that we, mankind, may be on the cusp of an extinction level event.

Fever Rising

Fever Rising is a book about the dangerous gases, methane and hydrogen sulfide, and how they are pluming into the atmosphere from many sources all over the planet, and these levels of gases are increasing as we speak. Methane gas is creating a blanket over the planet, trapping in the sun’s heat at 25 times more potency than carbon dioxide.

While discussing my book, I was asked today by a mother of a young daughter what I thought about the future for her child. It was a sobering question, but not something I haven’t put many hours of thought into myself. You see, my wife and I have been together for over 20 years but it was just five years ago that we started adding little rug rats to the household. We have three children now and are expecting a fourth next month. So, yes, my biggest concern about the future isn't myself, but for my children and what will happen to them.

Knowing what I know now after two years of research, do I hold any hope at all for them? Absolutely, I hold hope that mankind can and will survive, and my children will definitely be among them. That is one of the reasons why I so diligently study this theory. Will life change as we know it if the gases continue to rise at the levels they are? Yes, I believe it will and there is a great chance that humans won’t survive it at all. But, I believe some will survive.

I believe we can all survive if we’d just come together and stop arguing about carbon taxes, or who is to blame, and focus our energies on massive mitigation efforts that our governments and corporations can undertake. A worldwide collaborative effort is now the only way that we could possibly stop what may already be a runaway freight train. 

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The biggest mystery in the history of mankind

It may be the biggest mystery in the history of mankind. What could that be, you ask? What was the cause of the worldwide methane gas increase in 2007?

According to a study done at MIT in 2008, researchers were baffled that methane began increasing again after it had leveled off for nearly 10 years, from about 1997 until 2007. They were originally baffled that it had stopped rising in the 90’s, but even more mystified when it started rising again.

http://newsoffice.mit.edu/2008/methane-tt1029

Here’s why it was such a mystery. The guys at MIT said that when the levels started to increase, it was on a worldwide scale. It started rising in both hemispheres. They said that it should have started in the northern hemisphere, where most methane production occurs, such as aquaculture, wetlands, livestock and landfills, and then over the course of a year, the methane would spread into the southern hemisphere. But, that didn’t happen. The increasing methane levels were the same throughout.

According to the MIT report, methane levels had more than tripled since pre-industrial times (the mid 1700’s) and that accounted for about 20% of human contribution to global warming. Researchers assumed that after the rate of emission leveled off in the late 1990’s it had balanced out with its rate of destruction in the atmosphere.

Mysteriously, methane release jumped all at once, adding a million metric tons of gas to the atmosphere. At first, they thought that it may have been because there were exceptionally warm temperatures throughout 2007 over Siberia creating more bacteria from wetlands. Well, this still wouldn’t explain the rise in methane emissions from the southern hemisphere.

One suggestion by the MIT researchers is that there was a drop in hydroxyl radicals that mitigate methane release and keep it all balanced. But, they say that this would still result in a rise in the southern hemisphere.

Of course, after further studies, they came out in a report the following year saying it was “probable” that these new methane emissions were a natural earth cycle. This is what scientists have to do. When they can’t figure something out, they do the next best thing to appear in control. They come up with something, such as this “probable” natural earth cycle. It makes them feel better, but the fact remains that this wasn’t “probably” natural. The levels of methane remained the same for over 400,000 years prior to the industrial times when it started rising in the 1750’s. At this time, mankind started burning coal and we started creating landfills.

It took nearly 250 years for the levels to double from around 400 ppb to over 700 ppb. Then it suddenly leveled off for a decade. Then, in 2007, it skyrocketed. In what took 250 years took only 7 years this time around…but methane levels tripled this time. Now, the levels are over 2,000 ppb.

Why did this happen? That is the greatest mystery in the history of mankind.

I have an opinion. What major change has occurred in our world prior to 2007?

In 2005, George Bush signed into law the Clean Water Act that allowed fracking to begin. How many hundreds of thousands of wells were drilled in that short period of time between 2005 and 2007, or 08 or beyond? And how many were left abandoned and not even used?

It was said that fracking was supposed to be cleaner than coal and in order for that to happen, oil and gas companies could only lose up to 3% of the methane extracted from below or it would be worse than coal. Well, guess what, numerous studies, including admissions from the EPA, have proven now that they are losing more than 3% and it ranges all the way up to 9%. This is gas that is supposed to be captured, but it is "fugitive" and is escaping before they capture it. This is just the gas during the extraction process, not to mention how much gas escapes when these sights are first drilled.

Fracking was supposed to be our savior, cutting down carbon emissions from coal use. Well, the one thing they ignored in these original studies was methane, a far worse threat to our atmosphere than carbon because it is 25 times more efficient at trapping the sun's heat. It's like carbon was a sheet over the planet and now we've thrown a quilt on top of that. Not good at all!

Why methane is to blame for recent Yellowstone activity

NOTE: This is an updated article originally written in April
Yellowstone National Park has been making headlines lately and it’s not the geological activity that persists but rather, the notion that animals are fleeing from the park. There’s a You Tube video that’s gone viral of bison running down from a slope out, onto the road and making a bee line right towards the Yellowstone exit.

Another report from park officials a couple of weeks ago stated that about half of the elk herd is missing and they aren’t sure of their whereabouts. They said that it’s not uncommon for both the elk and the bison to migrate out of the park in autumn and then migrate back in during the spring time looking for cooler climates. The You Tube video was taken in mid-March, spring time, so the bison should have been coming into Yellowstone instead of fleeing.

The question on many minds is what do the animals know that we don’t? Locals who live in the area claim that other animals are also fleeing from Yellowstone and they believe that it may signal that an eruption may occur at the park sometime soon.

Here is a quote about the history of eruptions at Yellowstone that I saw on the LAsinkholebugle.wordpress.com blog;

“The volcanic eruptions, as well as the continuing geothermal activity, are a result of a great cove of magma located below the caldera’s surface. The magma in this cove contains gases that are kept dissolved only by the immense pressure that the magma is under. If the pressure is released to a sufficient degree by some geological shift, then some of the gases bubble out and cause the magma to expand. This can cause a runaway reaction. If the expansion results in further relief of pressure, for example, by blowing crust material off the top of the chamber, the result is a very big gas explosion.”

I finished my book Fever Rising on March 19. In the days prior to finishing, Yellowstone was making headlines for a number of geological activities taking place, so I wrote a piece about it in the chapter dedicated to sinkholes, land cracks and other land subsidence events. In the time since, a fairly large 4.8 earthquake occurred at the park, the largest that struck Yellowstone in 34 years. This event raised some eyebrows. Activity continues.

Last week, officials made an extra effort to convince the public that there is nothing to worry about with Yellowstone. They believe that the Yellowstone caldera is more dormant than active meaning that it may be a million years before it erupts again if it even erupts at all. They suggest that Yellowstone is most likely a dying volcano.

I’m not buying it. I’m not saying that I believe it will erupt any time soon, but I do believe all this recent activity would signal anything but a dying volcano. Honestly, would officials warn the public if there was an imminent eruption about to occur? I doubt it. For one, a full-scale Yellowstone eruption would destroy up to 500 miles away, cover a third of the United States in a volcanic ash cloud creating a volcanic winter and cool the planet for a few years causing major earth changes. Millions would die as a result and that’s not something officials would warn the public about when there wouldn’t be much anyone could do about it. Think about, where and who and how would people evacuate? In my opinion, officials would most likely determine rather than causing a mass panic, let the chips fall where they may.

I describe in my book, Fever Rising, in great detail why I believe that this current activity at Yellowstone is due to the escalating amounts of methane gas in the atmosphere. I’ll just put a brief synopsis here, but it basically has to do with the blanket of methane trapping the sun’s heat, raising air and ocean temperatures, causing land and sea ice to melt in the Polar Regions. This melting ice is adding a lot of extra weight to the thin continental shelf’s off the ocean coasts, thus the rising activity around the ‘Ring of Fire.’ It’s also decreasing extra pressure on the earth’s crust below the melting permafrost as the ice melts into the oceans. More weight in the oceans and less weight on land equals major earth changes and that’s why we are experiencing more earthquakes, volcanoes, sinkholes, landslides, land cracks, land slips and any other land subsidence events, including failing infrastructures in countries all around the world.

To finish off this blog entry I’m going to print an excerpt from the book, from chapter 20, Sinkholes, Land Slips and Land Cracks;

This next story is very disconcerting because it involved the super volcano known as Yellowstone. Officials were tracking some major earth deformation that took place at Yellowstone, such as the formation of a circular pattern from some small ground changes. A 3.5 inch uplift was tracked from a GPS station there in one section of the park. The same ground had moved in a southerly direction about a centimeter and a half. This was tracked over a five-month period. During this period, other events ensued in the same area. Combined, they formed a large circle, like the round mouth of a volcano.

Scientists said this land deformation episode was consistent with an underground build up or minor pressurization about five miles deep near Norris Junction.

And what really worried the scientists was that Yellowstone started emitting helium-4 gases from below. This is a precursor to other volcanic eruptions, such as El Hierro volcano in the Canary Islands. That volcano had some groaning and rumbling sounds for seven months as the gas built up and seeped through the soil and sediment, and then finally erupted with a large plume.

All these events are things that were observed at other volcanoes just before eruption, for instance, elevation of the ground, development of new cracks, earthquake swarms, and the presence of helium-4 coming out of the surface. A week prior to this report about the helium-4 gas, one of the largest earthquakes in the United States for that week erupted near the park which was evidence of magma movement below the crust.

If Yellowstone were to erupt, which hasn’t happened in 640,000 years, it would be one of the worst disasters we’ve ever witnessed, destroying everything up to 500 miles away, creating an ash cloud that would cover 2/3^rd of the United States and cooling the entire planet within a month. It would be earth-changing.

Here is a story from the Los Angeles Times about the helium-4 gas releasing.

http://articles.latimes.com/2014/feb/19/science/la-sci-sn-yellowstone-helium-degassing-20140218

It’s up, up and away for ancient trapped helium at Yellowstone
Los Angeles Times, Feb. 19, 2014
By Monte Morin

Talk about passing gas: Vast stores of helium are escaping from the steam vents and hot springs of Yellowstone National Park after being trapped within Earth's crust for up to 2 billion years, according to new research.

In a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature, researchers with the U.S. Geological Survey determined that the famed national park was releasing hundreds -- if not thousands -- of times more helium than anticipated.

In fact, researchers say, the escaping helium -- about 60 tons per year --  is enough to fill one Goodyear blimp every week.

Steam plumes rise above thermal features along the Firehole River at Yellowstone National Park. Researchers with the U.S. Geological Survey determined that the famed national park was releasing hundreds — if not thousands — of times more helium than anticipated. (Ken McGee / U.S. Geological Survey ) 

They also calculate that this "sudden" release of gas began roughly 2 million years ago, with the advent of volcanic activity there.

"That might seem like a really, really long time to people, but in the geologic time scale, the volcanism is a recent phenomenon," said study coauthor Bill Evans, a research chemist at the USGS office in Menlo Park, Calif.

Helium, or more accurately the isotope helium-4, is produced in Earth's crust as uranium and thorium decay. Often, this nonradioactive, crustal helium is swept away by groundwater, or freed as a result of tectonic movement.

But in areas where there is little groundwater or movement in Earth's crust, helium-4 can remain trapped and build up over time. This is especially true at Yellowstone, where inactive rocks, or what geologists call "craton," have been estimated to be 2.5 billion years old. (The park is located primarily in Wyoming.)

"The Yellowstone crust is among the oldest on Earth, and for most of its history had been part of the tectonically moribund core of North America," said lead study author Jacob Lowenstern, a research geologist and scientist-in-charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory.

Things began to change roughly 2 million years ago, however,  when hot magma intruded on the crustal system from below and triggered several enormous volcanic eruptions, the most recent about 640,000 years ago.  

"Think of it this way: You have these old crustal rocks just sitting around for hundreds of millions, perhaps billions of years," Evans said. "They have this boring little existence, and then suddenly somebody puts the heat on under them and they start giving up all their long-held secrets."

So what do we know about current Yellowstone activity; the ground is rising and moving southeastward in a large circular pattern like the mouth of a volcano; helium gases suddenly appeared and when these gases have appeared at other volcanoes there was usually an eruption; and also prior to eruptions, earthquakes usually appear, which Yellowstone has had recent swarms as well as a 3.6 just outside the Yellowstone crater.

NOTE: (The Following added August 31)

It might be noted that I wrote this original piece in April of this year, and as of the end of August, 2014, the caldera remains active. All the activities that were present earlier, such as ground uplift, helium gases and earthquakes, still persist. Also, earlier in the summer, a road was closed near Yellowstone Lake due to the melting of the road. It was claimed at the time that the road was closed because of hot air temperatures. The temperatures were only in the 80’s for a few weeks. It would take temperatures in the 110’s to actually melt a road. They did come out after a few days and say that the geothermal activity below the road had also “aided in the melting.”

There were also rumors of sinkholes appearing around the Yellowstone Park, and a large landslide did appear in Jackson, Wyoming, just 40 miles south of Yellowstone.

Another bit of information that I stumbled on at AboveTopSecret.com was that a tour guide had said to his group when a certain geyser erupted as he was doing the tour, it was the first time he had seen that one. Later, Yellowstone said that that geyser erupted regularly. So, which were true, regular eruptions and the tour guide had no idea what he was talking about, or was it the first time? Who knows, but new geyser eruptions, sinkholes, landslides and melting roads, would indicate that something peculiar is going on at Yellowstone. Add that to the earthquakes, ground uplift and helium gases, it makes one wonder.

Does that mean there is an imminent eruption coming? Absolutely not. It may indicate that there is magma pressure below and it needs relieving. How much of a gas explosion would be necessary to relieve the pressure is the main question. We may see an increase in activities leading to either a slight eruption or a major eruption or it may relieve itself without an explosion. Only time will tell, but, it does appear that there is an uptick in activity at Yellowstone and officials may not be telling the whole story.

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