Canadian nabbed with 51 turtles in his pants

Yahoo – AFP, 26 Sep 2014

In a picture taken on June 20, 2012, red-eared slider turtles are seen at an enclosure

at the Manila Zoo. Red-eared sliders were one of the varieties of turtles found in the

pants of a man arrested for smuggling at the US-Canada border (AFP Photo/Noel Celis)

Ottawa (AFP) - A Canadian has been caught at the US-Canada border with 51 live turtles stuffed in his pants in what American authorities claimed was an elaborate reptile smuggling operation.

The scheme was uncovered last month but was only revealed this week in US federal court documents cited in a Friday report by the Toronto Globe and Mail.

According to the newspaper, Canadian border officials arrested Kai Xu as he tried to cross into Windsor, Ontario from Detroit, Michigan in August, and handed him over to US authorities.

"Xu was found to have 51 live turtles taped to his person," a US Fish and Wildlife Service said in an affidavit cited by the Globe and Mail.

The seized turtles were North American varieties including eastern box turtles, red-eared sliders and diamondback terrapins that sell for as much as $800.

A second Canadian, Lihua Lin, was arrested on Wednesday at the Detroit airport, bound for Shanghai with more than 200 North American pond turtles in his checked luggage. He had been dropped off at the airport by Xu.

Xu and Lin have been charged with smuggling and other related offenses, and face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

None of the allegations have been proven in court.

Related Article:

UN: 'Time to take the heat off turtles'

Despite truce, Gaza fishermen under fire at sea

Yahoo – AFP, Adel Zaanoun and Yahya Hassouna, 25 Sep 2014

The Gaza Strip has long been known for its plentiful seafood and fish although

 the stocks have been depleted by pollution, frequent wars and the blockade (AFP

Photo/Mohammed Abed)

Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - Every time Gaza fisherman Rami goes to sea, the same thing happens: five nautical miles offshore, shots ring out and a voice over an Israeli loudspeaker demands he turn back.

Officially, Gaza's fishing fleet has the right to trawl the waters up to six nautical miles off the shore under the terms of Israel's eight-year blockade.

Although that outer limit has frequently been reduced, or even cancelled outright over the years, it was formally reinstated by virtue of an August 26 truce agreement which ended a deadly 50-day war between Israel and Hamas militants.

Palestinian fish traders sit around a 

sculpture of a boat propeller as they wait

 for fishermen to come back with their 

catch on August 18, 2014 at the harbour

in Gaza City (AFP Photo/Roberto Schmidt)

But nearly a month after the ceasefire took effect, even those six nautical miles -- which the fishermen say is not nearly enough -- are unattainable.

One afternoon, Rami Bakr and his 10-man crew put to sea for a 10-hour fishing expedition. With them was an AFP team.

Very quickly, warning shots skimmed the boat as an Israeli navy vessel approached. On board were around a dozen soldiers armed with machine guns, shouting through a loudspeaker for them to stop.

"These are the worst conditions we've ever known," said the 41-year-old fisherman, who has spent more than three decades of his life fishing the waters off Gaza.

"During the war, the Israelis bombed fishing huts on the beach and now they are preventing fishermen from earning their crust at sea," he said.

The Gaza Strip has long been known for its plentiful seafood and fish although the stocks have been depleted by pollution, frequent wars and the blockade.

Today, the coastal enclave counts some 4,000 fishermen, more than half of whom live below the poverty line, said Nizar Ayash, head of the Gaza fishermen's syndicate.

During the recent seven-week war, 80 of Gaza's fleet of around 1,500 fishing boats and dozens of fishing huts were destroyed in the Israeli bombardment, which also reduced nets and fishing equipment to ashes, he said.

'Too risky'

For Ayash, the problems experienced by Rami are widespread.

"Since the ceasefire, many Israeli attacks have been reported," he said, referring to repeated shooting at fishing vessels.

Israeli forces say the warning shots are necessary because Palestinian boats flout the six-mile limit.

With their tackle destroyed and the price of oil soaring, Gaza's fishermen are almost working at a loss.

Today, a single fishing expedition can cost up to about $500 (roughly 400 euros), said another fisherman called Mehdi Bakr, who lost his hand when an Israeli navy vessel fired at his boat in 1997.

Gaza counts some 4,000 fishermen, more than half of whom live

below the poverty line (AFP Photo/Mohammed Abed)

For every night on the water, they need 270 litres (59 gallons) of diesel and 250 litres of petrol, he explained.

And all this for a very small catch.

"September and October is sardine season and they are only found between six to nine nautical miles from the shore, so with a six-mile limit, we're bringing home hardly anything," explained Taha Bakr, a 24-year-old member of Rami's crew.

Because fishing is a trade passed on from father to son, and because he can no longer provide for his family and the job is so dangerous, the young man with green eyes and a neatly-trimmed beard has signed up to journalism school.

"It's so that I don't have to fish again, that job is just too risky," he told AFP.

Maria Jose Torres, deputy head of office in the Palestinian branch of the UN humanitarian agency (OCHA), said that the 1993 Oslo Accords established a fishing zone of up to 20 nautical miles.

"It is essential to increase the fishing zone beyond six nautical miles to allow the fishermen to earn their living," she said, indicating that the vast majority today are unable to support themselves.

"Some 84 percent of them are only able to survive thanks to help from the UN," she said.

Rami said he keeps putting out to sea so that he can feed his children.

"It has been a long time since we last heard the singing and laughter of fishermen at sea who returned with their nets full," he said.

But Mehdi fears for the future of this millennia-old profession in Gaza.

"We, the young generation, are not happy with this. If it carries on like this, there won't be any more fishing in Gaza at all," he said.

Related Articles:

Israel must ease new Gaza restrictions: rights groups (24 March 2013)

Gaza fishermen: 'They will fire bullets and shoot water at me' - video (24 July 2011)

Barack Obama to create world's largest ocean reserve in the Pacific

Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, which bans commercial fishing, to be expanded to six times its current size

theguardian.com, Suzanne Goldenberg, Thursday 25 September 2014

A hermit crab emerges from its shell at Howland Island national wildlife
refuge in the Pacific Ocean. Photograph: Alamy

Barack Obama will use his presidential powers on Thursday to create the world’s largest marine reserve in the Pacific, banning fishing and other commercial activities across vast swaths of pristine sea populated by whales, dolphins and sea turtles and dotted with coral atolls.

Thursday’s proclamation will expand the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument reserve, created by George Bush, to about six times its current size.

It will ban commercial fishing and deep sea mining in about 490,000 square miles around remote tropical atolls and islands in the south-central Pacific Ocean, a White House fact sheet said.

Other vast swathes of the Pacific will also come under protection on Thursday, with the tiny island state of Kiribati due to announce that it will ban commercial fishing in one of the last great tuna grounds left in the world.

Kiribati’s no-take zone, around the Phoenix Islands protected area, will cover about 158,000 sq m, about the size of California. It comes into effect in January 2015.

Young boys cover each other in reef-mud near the village of Ambo on South
Tarawa in the central Pacific island nation of Kiribati. Photograph: David Gray/Reuters

Campaigners said the Pacific Remote Islands reserve – because of its sheer scale – would cement Obama’s conservation legacy.

However, they noted that Obama had dramatically scaled back the reserve following opposition from the commercial tuna industry.

The Marine Conservation Institute had been pressing Obama to expand the marine park to the fullest extent possible, around all seven islands and atolls, which would have pushed the limits of the no-take areas to about 782,000 sq m instead of the 490,000 being announced on Thursday.

But after protests from Hawaii-based tuna fleets, Obama opted to leave the seas around four of those islands – Howland and Baker islands, Palmyra atoll and Kingman Reef – open to fishing.

The existing boundaries of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument
 are outlined in light blue. The other Monuments, outlined in purple and green, are
not being changed. Photograph: Noaa

It was the 12th time Obama has bypassed Congress and used the antiquities act for environmental protection.

“This is a great moment,” said Greg Stone, chief scientist for Conservation International. “This is some of the last real tropical ocean wilderness left on the planet, so it’s good put some of these kind of reef systems aside. On top of that there are the protections for the opean ocean and I’m assuming for the sea floor from mining,” he said.

Tarawa atoll. Photograph: Richard Vogel/AP

The White House said it created the marine park in response to changing ocean chemistry caused by climate change.

“Expanding the monument will more fully protect the deep coral reefs, seamounts, and marine ecosystems unique to this part of the world, which are also among the most vulnerable areas to the impacts of climate change and ocean acidification,” it said.

It said the expanded monument would broaden protection for wide-ranging marine species such as whales, sea turtles and manta ray, as well as the millions of birds that nest on the atolls.

“We have very few places left in the ocean that are still near pristine and it is very important to protect them,” said Enrique Sala, explorer-in-residence for National Geographic.

Thursday’s proclamation nearly doubles the expanse of ocean off limits to fishing and deep sea mining, he said.

Obama has adopted ocean protection as one of the signature issues of his second term – with assistance from the secretary of state, John Kerry, who is a veteran supporter of environmental causes.

Pacific Ocean reserve Photograph: Guim

The proposal for a marine preserve was first floated last July at a state department ocean summit.

Catherine Novelli, undersecretary of state for economic growth, energy and the environment, said the administration was working with Kiribati and other small island states to expand protections across the Pacific.

“These marine protected areas are very important for the ocean. The reason why we are going to get more countries to do them is because the whole biosphere, including the fish, need to be able to regenerate,” she said. “If everyone is just fishing, fishing, fishing, there is no space for that to occur.”

The state department is launching an initiative with other governments and charitable foundations on Thursday that will look at ways of enforcing no-take rules in marine preserves, and cracking down on pirate fishing fleets.

Related Article:

Obama Wants to Create World’s Largest Marine Sanctuary in the Pacific (+Video)

US experts visit China to seek solution for Asian carp invasion

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2014-09-24

Before and after pictures of a carp dish from Tianjin. (File photo/Xinhua)

American fish experts visited China in early September to seek a solution to the proliferation of Asian carp in the United States. The fish is considered a delicacy in China but is posing a threat to America's native fish and clam species.

The proliferation has been widely discussed by Chinese internet users who joked that the US government could save money on the planned dam to stop the fish if they just paid Chinese tour groups to come to the US to eat all the carp.

The US government has been considering building a dam or a permanent barrier to stop eight Asian carp species, including common carp, black carp, grass carp, silver carp and bullhead from entering the Great Lakes. The barrier would cost US$18 billion and could significantly increase transportation costs for neighboring regions such as Chicago's shipping and steel industry, according to the BBC.

Carp was introduced to the US in the 1970s to reduce algae build-up and improve water quality in ponds, however, the fish escaped to waterways after floods and threatened native species with their large size and rapid reproduction rate. Jim Garvey, director of Southern Illinois University's Fisheries and Aquaculture Center, worried that the fish will eat and destroy native mussels. He was one of the American experts visiting China to explore the commercial potential of Asian carp.

The experts visited a seafood market in Shanghai and seafood processing factories in Wuhan in Hubei province. They also tasted carp dishes such as braised carp and a northeastern Chinese dish consisting of bread soaked in fish head soup.

World's biggest cruise ship to dock in Rotterdam

DutchNews.nl, Tuesday 23 September 2014

The massive Oasis of the Seas in a company photograph

The world’s biggest cruise ship, the Oasis of the Seas, is due to arrive in Rotterdam port next Monday night after a week long cruise from the Spanish city of Malaga.

The ship is 60 metres wide and can carry 6,360 passengers plus nearly 2,400 crew. It is owned by Royal Caribbean Cruises.

Meanwhile, sister ship Quantum of the Seas on Monday left its wharf in the German port of Papenburg for the Dutch North Sea port of Eemshaven.

The 348-metre-long ship was towed down the river Ems by two tugs – a journey which involved keeping the water level in the river artificially high. From Eemshaven, the ship - the world's third biggest cruise liner - will undergo a first short ‘test drive’, owner Royal Caribbean Cruises said.

China and Iran prepare for historic joint military exercise

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2014-09-21

The People's Liberation Army Navy's Changchun Type 052C destroyer arrives
 at the Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas, Sept. 20. (Photo/Xinhua)

China and Iran are preparing to launch a joint military exercise, reports the Global Times, a tabloid under the auspices of the Communist Party mouthpiece People's Daily.

Warships from the People's Liberation Army have docked at the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas ahead of the historic drills, the first time Chinese vessels have ventured into the Persian Gulf.

Admiral Amir Hossein Azad, commander of Iran's First Naval Zone, said on Sept. 20 that the five-day military exercise would entail joint rescue operations and testing the technical readiness of the respective fleets of both sides. The exercises are aimed at "establishing peace, stability, tranquility, and multilateral and mutual cooperation" between the two countries, he added.

The admiral's sentiments were reciprocated by Huang Xijiang, deputy chief of staff of the PLA's East Sea Fleet, who led the Changchun Type 052C destroyer and the Changzhou Type 054A frigate in Bandar Abbas on Saturday morning, when they were greeted by Iranian military officials and representatives from the Chinese embassy in Iran.

Huang said in his arrival speech that the PLA Navy was visiting for "peace and friendship," adding that he hopes the experience can help both sides improve their mutual learning and understanding.

Both the Chinese and Iranian navy will open up their vessels for inspections by the other side during the cultural exchange, which will also reportedly include friendly soccer, table tennis and tug-of-war matches.

The exact timeline of the imminent drills currently remain unclear, though they will take place just days after the Iranian navy announced that they had foiled a pirate attack on Chinese container ship in the Gulf of Aden.

Egyptian breaks record for world's deepest scuba dive

Yahoo – AFP, 19 Sep 2014

Scuba divers swim with turtles in the Red Sea near Sharm el-Sheikh (AFP Photo)

Cairo (AFP) - Egyptian frogman Ahmed Gamal Gabr has broken the world record for the deepest scuba dive with a plunge into the Red Sea, the Guinness Book of Records said on Friday.

Gabr, a member of the special forces, reached the depth of 332.35 metres (1,091 feet) in 12 minutes but took almost 15 hours to return to the surface in order to avoid injury or illness.

The record was achieved Thursday at the popular Red Sea diving resort of Dahab, surpassing the previous mark of 318.25 metres set in 2005 by South Africa's Nuno Gomez.

"I would like to confirm that the record for the deepest scuba dive (male) in Dahab, Egypt was successful and was achieved by Ahmed Gabr," Talal Omar, a Guinness Book of Records judge told AFP in an email.

A team of hyperbaric doctors, French and Egyptian diving specialists aided Gabr in his feat by creating custom-made decompression tables and using more than 60 different diving tanks of several gases to keep him alive on his way back.

The team trained him for four years as the risks were enormous for the 41-year-old lieutenant colonel as his plan had been to reach a depth of 350 metres, organisers said.

At that depth water pressure reaches 35 kilos per square centimetre amid risks such as nitrogen narcosis and high pressure neurological syndrome (HPNS), which killed former world record holder American Sheck Exley.

Nations vote against Japanese whaling, agree to tighten scrutiny

Countries at an international whaling conference have voted against Japan's plans to resume scientific whaling, and increase their scrutiny of the controversial practice. Japan plans to go ahead despite the backlash.

Deutsche Welle, 18 Sep 2014

Nations meeting on the closing day of the International Whaling Commission's (IWC) meeting in Portoroz, Slovenia agreed to tighten the review process over Japan's whaling program.

In a 35-20 vote, with five abstentions, the nations said Japan should abide by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling that found Japan's government-sanctioned whaling to be illegal because it is not for scientific purposes.

Thursday's meeting IWC meeting was the first since the ruling by the UN's highest court in March.

Immediately after the IWC's resolution was adopted, Japan said it would begin a new "scientific" whale hunting program in the Antarctic in 2015.

The IWC's scientific committee investigates all proposals for scientific whaling, but Japan does not require its approval to conduct its own missions.

Japan killed more than 250 minke whales in the Antarctic during the 2013-14 season, and 103 the year before that. It also killed 132 whales on "scientific" hunts in 2013 in the Pacific Northwest, and 92 off the Japanese coast.

Countries voting in favor of Thursday's resolution included Britain, the United States, Australia, Brazil, Mexico and New Zealand. Along with Japan, those against it included Russia, Cambodia, Colombia, Guinea and Iceland, which also conducts whaling missions.

dr/sb (AFP, AP)

UN: 'Time to take the heat off turtles'

At a UN-organized meeting in Bonn, experts are discussing the plight of endangered sea turtles. Expert Colin Limpus told DW climate change is just the latest human-made factor making life tough for turtles.

Deutsche Welle, 17 Sep 2014

DW: Why are turtles on the agenda?

Marine turtles have a number of very critical issues related to climate change. The first is ‘temperature dependent sex determination’. The sex of the hatchlings is determined by the temperature of the nest half-way through incubation. And a warm beach creates mostly females, and a cool beach creates mostly males. One of the concerns with rising global temperatures is that we will shift potentially into an all-female producing population in a number of places. So this is a concern of the effect of rising temperatures.

The second big issue is that turtles nest on sandy beaches. That's the only place they can lay their eggs. And sea levels rise, then nesting areas could potentially see a rise in the water table, flooding of the nesting sites and loss of eggs as a result.

Limpus is a special UN advisor on turtles

Additionally, the increasing the intensity of hurricanes or cyclones: the more intense a cyclonic disturbance, the greater the destructive effect when the cyclone crosses coastal waters. So this leads to dramatic changes and the loss of critical habitat in coastal areas and the feeding areas for sea turtles. And major damage to a feeding area, may take years to recover. So any change in the frequency and intensity of these events is going to be detrimental.

Are we already seeing signs of these things already happening?

Yes, we can see the effects of major floods and cyclones. Part of the problem is judging which way this could go with our turtle population. A lot of studies try to predict on the basis that the population is static and will not shift. But if we look at what has happened over the last 10 to 12,000 years in Australia, for example, today, nesting beaches have multiple species nesting in places where 10,000 years ago it was dry land, and the nearest beaches would have been 900 kilometers away. We've gone through a major climate change from the ice ages through to the present, and sea turtles survived that. They did it by changing where they breed. So it's a challenge for how the turtles will respond. Will they stay where they are right now and suffer the consequences? Or can the population shift to areas that are suitable for them as change occurs? We have to consider how fast they can adapt with a rapid change in climate compared to what they went through in the past.

So we are probably talking about a faster climate change than what we have seen to date?

That's what some people are saying. If that's the case, it may challenge the capacity of turtles to do adapt. On the other hand, there are areas of their biology that we have not really investigated very well. A turtle comes back to the area where it's born. Recent research suggests that they don’t necessarily go back to the same beach where they were born, but go back to the region. So that suggests that as a turtle grows up, it choosing where it wants to breed. It may be able to make choices and may respond to changes, and choose a different site maybe within hundreds of kilometers of where it was born. So it could choose a beach with the right temperatures and stability.

But we don't know? And what can we do about it?

No but I guess I have some confidence that these animals, which have survived the past millions of years, have come through many climate change events. They’ve survived the catastrophic events that caused the demise of the dinosaurs. But in the past they didn't have to deal with human impacts. All of our sea turtles are listed as threatened species. It's going to depend on how we help them. Obviously the broader community has to address the issue of climate change. We need to start looking at how we manage temperatures of beaches, how we tackle the recovery of foraging areas, sea grass pastures, coral reefs. We need to keep them viable. We have to look at the sediment runoff that comes with floods, because that has a very big negative impact. How do you stop that soil eroding from your farmlands? These are all things we can do to soften the impact on turtles.

Why should we be worried about marine turtles in general, what role do they play in the ecosystem?

That depends on in which society you ask that question. A person living in Berlin might say “can't see much point in it.” If you were talking to an indigenous person in northern Australia, they would talk about the iconic value of the turtles in terms of totemic animals that are an integral part of their religious culture. And there are areas where it is the primary source of red meat for the community, so for them as a food resource and a cultural thing, very important. In the area where I grew up, the eco-tourism around turtles is the primary cash flow for the district economy for about five months of the year. Tourists come to look at nesting turtles. So the people in the business community would see it as an important economic component. As a biologist I see them as an integral part of the ecosystem. The loggerhead turtles have a function in the regulation of the density of shellfish in some areas, they feed on them. The green turtles are herbivores feeding on sea grass and their activity promotes the turnover of nutrients in a sea grass pasture. So turtles have lots of significance to different parts of the world.

Related Article:

"A Summary" – Apr 2, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll)

(Subjects: Religion, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Intelligent/Benevolent Design, EU, South America, 5 Currencies, Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Middle East, Internet, Israel, Dictators, Palestine, US, Japan (Quake/Tsunami Disasters , People, Society ...), Nuclear Power Revealed, Hydro Power, Geothermal Power, Moon, Financial Institutes (Recession, Realign integrity values ..) , China, North Korea, Global Unity,..... etc.) - (Text version)

“… The Weather

Let's talk about the weather. We retreat to exactly what we told you before in this very chair. The water cycle is a cooling cycle, not a heating cycle. You're going to have more severe winters and storms. It's going to get colder. But it gets warmer before it gets colder. That is the cycle, and it has always been the cycle. You can see it in the rings of the trees and the cores of the ice. Don't let your scientists pull the political wool over your eyes for their own purposes. Start seeing these things for what they are. It's a recurring cycle based on four Earth alignment attributes, including the wobble (the precession). You're in this cycle. Prepare.

The beginnings of it will be with you from now at least until the end of the 2012 36-year window, and you can watch it work. The first thing that happens is that the ice melts at the poles, but not completely. It's the way it has happened before. As the redistribution of weight from the poles to the oceans of the earth takes place, the weight is redistributed to the crust, and that creates earthquakes. And the earthquakes that will be the most powerful are the ones that are closest to the poles. We told you that some time ago. So it's not a mystery that suddenly you have some of the most powerful earthquakes that you've ever had. Not only that, but a cooling ocean creates larger storms.

What do the conspiracists do with all this? "See? We're doomed. Here it comes," they say. "Here it comes! The end is here!" Twenty-two years ago, we gave you the information that is happening today. We told you about the weather. We told you to get ready for it, but we still haven't told you why the water cycle is needed. We've hinted at it since it is very controversial, and we'll lose many readers right here and now. Here's the prediction: The scientists are going to laugh and biologists are going to scratch their heads and roll their eyes.

The Refreshing of the Cycle of Life

When you change the temperature of the waters of the planet, it changes the life cycle of the ocean and it eventually renews itself. The life cycle of the planet has a limit to its viability over time. There has to be a refreshing of the very cycle of life, and this is what the water cycle does. Are there any places you've seen too many fish lately? Yes. Millions of salmon in the north. Odd that it was in Alaska, isn't it? Alaska is very close to the poles where the water temperature is being felt first. Oh, again the experts will tell you that this is not the reason. It's about hatcheries and rivers. But nobody predicted this, did they? Science is fast to give you reasons, but slow to give you logic in advance. They always seem to be surprised.

We are saying things we haven't said before. Again, watch for this, an actual change in the life cycle of the planet's oceans because of the water temperature shift. Biologists are going to have to start redesigning the paradigm of how everything works, including reefs, ocean bottoms, and how plankton survive and reproduce. Listen, this is not the first time that the life cycle has been refreshed! But again, this may take generations of humanity to complete. In the process, you may again lose species. This is normal. Gaia is slow, and Humans are impatient. Your textbooks may someday tell of how naive humanity was back in 2011 when they tried to blame weather changes on everything but a natural cycle. Now you know why there is a water cycle.

So what does that tell you about Gaia? Gaia is beginning the cycle of refreshing life on over-fished oceans. It tells you that in the cracks, there is love and caring about the Humans who live on the earth. There's a reason you're here. There's a plan here, and a benevolent Universe and quantum energy with intelligent design. All is there for you, precious, sacred Human Being. …”

New Antarctic sea ice record — but scientists aren’t ‘confounded’

The Conversation, James Whitmore, 15 September 2014

Sea ice on the Ross Sea - part of Antarctica where the ice is increasing.
Brian Stetson/Flickr, CC BY-NC-SA

Antarctic winter sea ice has once again broken the record for maximum extent. On September 12, the coverage measured 19.619 million square kilometres, the highest since satellite records began.

The ice has broken daily records on about 150 days this year, indicating consistently greater coverage than in previous years. With several weeks of growth still to go, more records could fall.

2014 is the third year in a row that the ice has broken the maximum extent record. In 2013 the sea ice reached 19.47 million square km, 3.6% above the average for 1981-2010. The records continue a weak trend towards greater sea ice cover, which evidence suggests is linked to increasing greenhouse gases and climate change.

Dr Guy Williams, a sea ice specialist at University of Tasmania who has previously written on The Conversation, said the new records add to an “exciting” puzzle for climate scientists. Each record-breaking year is different due to variations in seasonal weather and ocean conditions — “it’s those differences that will tell us something.”

Trends in sea ice duration, 1979-2010,
showing large regional variations. Figure
from Maksym et al. 2012 Guy Williams

Total sea ice extent is not the full story either. The weak positive trend masks declines in some regions, and increases in others. Parts of the Antarctic — particularly to the west of the Antarctic Peninsula — show a very large decline in sea ice. In other regions, such as the Ross Sea, sea ice is increasing.

There are also as yet no published data on sea ice volume — a much better measure of whether sea ice is increasing or decreasing.

Two suspects: wind and water

There are two main hypotheses to explain the changes in Antarctic sea ice. The first is that westerly winds, which flow around Antarctica, are speeding up and shifting south. Counter-intuitively, this drives sea ice further north.

Scientists have shown that there is a direct link between the winds shifting south and increasing greenhouse and ozone-depleting gases, and a link between the winds and increasing sea ice cover, but not as yet a link between all three.

Dr Williams said so far this year the hypothesis checks out — atmospheric patterns, comparable to El Niño that affects the Pacific Ocean, mean the westerly winds are further south than normal.

The other hypothesis is that melt water from Antarctica’s melting glaciers and ice sheets is making it easier for sea ice to form. As the ice melts, cold, fresh water pours into the surrounding ocean. Colder and fresher surface water freezes more easily, and also reduces the heat from deeper in the ocean reaching the surface.

Dr Williams said scientists investigating satellite-derived sea surface temperatures in the Ross Sea — where sea ice is increasing — are reporting that the surface water has indeed been colder this year.

Related Articles:

Greenland ice melting at record speed

Russian Scientist: World Facing ‘Mini-Ice Age’ Rather Than Global Warming

Global warming slowdown 'could last another decade'

Global warming slowdown answer lies in depths of Atlantic, study finds


“2011 and Beyond” - What you are seeing, and why - Jan 16, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Text version)

New Mini Ice Age

“… So now we've refreshed that which we have said before, a review. You are in the middle of a cycle that will bring cooling to the planet. It is not a heat cycle, but rather a cooling cycle. But it always starts with a short heat cycle. It has been here before. It will come again. It is a long cycle - one generation plus five years. That's how long it's going to last. It starts with the melting of the ice caps, which is far more than any of you have seen in your lifetime or those of your ancestors. It is a cycle whose repetition is thousands of years long, but one that has not yet been recorded to the books of Human record. But it's definitely been recorded in the cores of the ice and in the rings of the trees.

Thousands of years old, it is, and it happens in a cyclical way. It's about water. It starts with that which is the melting of the ice caps to a particular degree, which has a profound effect on the planet in all ways. You can't have that happen without seeing life change as well as Gaia change and you've seeing it already. What happens when you take that which is heavy on the poles [ice] and you melt it? It then becomes cold water added to that which is a very, very gentle and finite balance of temperature in the seas of the planet (1). The first thing that happens is a redistribution of the weight of water on the thin crust of the earth from ice at the poles to new water in the seas. The results become earthquakes and volcanoes, and you're seeing them, aren't you? You are having earthquakes in places that are not supposed to have earthquakes. Volcanoes are coming to life in a way that you've not seen before on a regular basis. There will be more. Expect them.

Is it too much to ask of a Human Being that if you live by a volcano that you know might erupt, maybe you ought to move? Yet there will be those who say, "It hasn't erupted in my lifetime or my parents' lifetime or my grandparents' lifetime; therefore, it won't." You may have a surprise, for all things are changing. That is what is happening to Gaia. ….“

"A Summary" – Apr 2, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll)

(Subjects: Religion, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Intelligent/Benevolent Design, EU, South America, 5 Currencies, Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Middle East, Internet, Israel, Dictators, Palestine, US, Japan (Quake/Tsunami Disasters , People, Society ...), Nuclear Power Revealed, Hydro Power, Geothermal Power, Moon, Financial Institutes (Recession, Realign integrity values ..) , China, North Korea, Global Unity,..... etc.) - (Text version)

“… The Weather

Let's talk about the weather. We retreat to exactly what we told you before in this very chair. The water cycle is a cooling cycle, not a heating cycle. You're going to have more severe winters and storms. It's going to get colder. But it gets warmer before it gets colder. That is the cycle, and it has always been the cycle. You can see it in the rings of the trees and the cores of the ice. Don't let your scientists pull the political wool over your eyes for their own purposes. Start seeing these things for what they are. It's a recurring cycle based on four Earth alignment attributes, including the wobble (the precession). You're in this cycle. Prepare.

The beginnings of it will be with you from now at least until the end of the 2012 36-year window, and you can watch it work. The first thing that happens is that the ice melts at the poles, but not completely. It's the way it has happened before. As the redistribution of weight from the poles to the oceans of the earth takes place, the weight is redistributed to the crust, and that creates earthquakes. And the earthquakes that will be the most powerful are the ones that are closest to the poles. We told you that some time ago. So it's not a mystery that suddenly you have some of the most powerful earthquakes that you've ever had. Not only that, but a cooling ocean creates larger storms.

What do the conspiracists do with all this? "See? We're doomed. Here it comes," they say. "Here it comes! The end is here!" Twenty-two years ago, we gave you the information that is happening today. We told you about the weather. We told you to get ready for it, but we still haven't told you why the water cycle is needed. We've hinted at it since it is very controversial, and we'll lose many readers right here and now. Here's the prediction: The scientists are going to laugh and biologists are going to scratch their heads and roll their eyes.

The Refreshing of the Cycle of Life

When you change the temperature of the waters of the planet, it changes the life cycle of the ocean and it eventually renews itself. The life cycle of the planet has a limit to its viability over time. There has to be a refreshing of the very cycle of life, and this is what the water cycle does. Are there any places you've seen too many fish lately? Yes. Millions of salmon in the north. Odd that it was in Alaska, isn't it? Alaska is very close to the poles where the water temperature is being felt first. Oh, again the experts will tell you that this is not the reason. It's about hatcheries and rivers. But nobody predicted this, did they? Science is fast to give you reasons, but slow to give you logic in advance. They always seem to be surprised.

We are saying things we haven't said before. Again, watch for this, an actual change in the life cycle of the planet's oceans because of the water temperature shift. Biologists are going to have to start redesigning the paradigm of how everything works, including reefs, ocean bottoms, and how plankton survive and reproduce. Listen, this is not the first time that the life cycle has been refreshed! But again, this may take generations of humanity to complete. In the process, you may again lose species. This is normal. Gaia is slow, and Humans are impatient. Your textbooks may someday tell of how naive humanity was back in 2011 when they tried to blame weather changes on everything but a natural cycle. Now you know why there is a water cycle.

So what does that tell you about Gaia? Gaia is beginning the cycle of refreshing life on over-fished oceans. It tells you that in the cracks, there is love and caring about the Humans who live on the earth. There's a reason you're here. There's a plan here, and a benevolent Universe and quantum energy with intelligent design. All is there for you, precious, sacred Human Being. …”

Solar storm heads Earth's way after double sun blasts (12 Sep 2014)

THE RELATIONSHIP TO GAIA - April 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll)

"... Magnetics: Always a Player in The Shift

Many things are happening with the planet at the moment. The magnetics are changing as well. The magnetics of the solar system and the sun in particular, have an influence on your weather. How many sun spots have you seen lately? What do you think about the correlation of a sun that has very few, with your earth climate?  When can you remember that in your lifetime? What does it mean? I will tell you, dear Human Beings, that it's all related to what's happening on the earth. You may not understand the correlation, but I will tell you there is a profound one. What if [astronomy hint coming next], what if sun spots were created by gravitational and other interdimensional forces caused by the orbiting planets? Has there even been a correlation made between sun spots and the positions of the planets? Too weird? The invitation is there to see the correlations.

The sun is the fulcrum of the interdimensional gravitational pull attributes of the planets around it. There is information that is interdimensional – call it a gravitational patterning, if you wish – which the sun generates every moment of the day. As the planets push and pull on the fulcrum of the solar system [effect the sun through gravity], they affect the sun's attitude. These patterns are unique every day, and they intersect the magnetic field of the earth as they are blasted from the Sun in what you would call the solar wind.

The solar wind is a magnetic heliosphere, and has very multidimensional properties. This magnetic wind strikes the earth, intersecting with the magnetic field, and you can see it! You call it the Aurora Borealis. It's one giant magnetic field [the sun] intersecting another [the earth]. Science calls this intersecting phenomena inductance. In that intersecting energy, there is a transference of the informative patterning of the sun [at that moment] to the magnetic grid of the earth. Now, it's the magnetic grid of the planet that you sit in. All of life does.

Now we give you information we've given you before: The Merkabah. That is to say, your DNA imprint - the field around you - receives the magnetic grid's sun information, and the instructions within that field are passed right to the DNA, which is also magnetic. I have just given you the magnetic transmission chain that you think is esoteric. It's not. It's hard science. But to think that the interdimensional, magnetic and gravitational attributes of the solar system are going to your DNA is very esoteric. Some call it astrology. The truth is that it's for humanity, and also for Gaia! For remember that it is the earth that is part of the magnetic chain of information to your cellular structure [the Magnetic Grid]. It tells it when to do what it does. It's all related. So how related are you to Gaia? How much do you address this consciousness? ..."