Hey Buz, I was wondering if I could take the liberty of examining your presented sources.
-------------------------------
PA Logo No Tag
quote:
In addition to dry weather, "irrational human activities" such as livestock overgrazing, rampant logging and excessive cutting of branches for firewood were at the root of the crisis, it said.
"Because of this, natural disasters are increasing in frequency, the threat is getting ever bigger and the losses are mounting," the newspaper said.
Environmental news; very interesting, quite complete and seems professional. I'm satisfied that they are a reliable source. However I couldn't find the article in question, and the quote is slightly too vague to make any judgements.
-------------------------------
http://www.forest.nsw.gov.au/...pers/dtpamfcsipf/default.asp
quote:
The global increase in greenhouse gas emissions and growing concentration of radiatively active gases in the atmosphere has emerged as the most significant international environmental issue (UNEP 1999). The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has reported that global mean temperature appears to be increasing in response to these anthropogenic factors (IPCC 1997) and there is increasingly evidence that weather and climate related natural disasters are increasing in frequency and magnitude. As a result the global community has begun the process of setting in place concrete limitations on the net emissions of greenhouse gases by developed countries through the Framework Convention on Climate Change and it’s subsidiary agreement, the Kyoto Protocol.
I wanted to know who the IPCC were, so I found their website -
Page not found IPCC
They're a UN organisation that bases its reports on peer-reviewed scientific research - they don't do it themselves (leaving it to the professionals, I assume). I am satisfied that they are credible.
So, their report as stated on the website is seemingly reliable. Weather-related natural disasters are increasing, and it seems to be our own fault. I'm not sure how exactly that fits into Biblical prophesy, though - I thought it was supposed to be the hand of the Christian god, not human stupidity, that brings about the increase? In any case, this point is valid - these type of disasters are apparently increasing in frequency.
-------------------------------
http://www.nemot.info/index.php?ref=viewnews&newsid
Again a bad link - I couldn't find the article this refers to.
In fact, nothing on the site worked for me - all I kept getting were blank pages. I will not make any judgement on it as result...
quote:
Climate change is increasing the probability of the occurrence and greater intensity of certain weather-related events with the risk of: more frequent and severe water shortages (dry regions becoming drier); more flooding (increased rainfall in humid areas, rising sea levels after the melting of ice caps, leading to a reduction in crop production in marginal areas and thus increased food insecurity). This is putting millions more at risk of losing their lives, livelihoods and assets. Current efforts to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions are unlikely to solve the problems. More drastic reductions are required; yet even these would only deter present trends.
...Although I note that this is essentially the same argument as the IPCC link.
-------------------------------
usunrome.usmission.gov/UNIssues/Forestry/docs/a4102802
Another bad link - this one got me a "page cannot be found" error.
quote:
Washington -- More bilateral and multilateral cooperation is needed to fight forest fires in the Americas, says the United Nations, which warns that forest fires are increasing at an "alarming rate" in the region.
This quote is too bare, and without the rest of the article it is again impossible to make a judgement on it one way or another.
-------------------------------
Page not found - David Suzuki Foundation
quote:
Foresters have noted for many years now that forest fires are increasing in intensity and becoming more difficult to control. When we see the news of fires sweeping across vast areas of forests and into communities, our first reaction is that we must do more to put out these fires. Indeed, in the moment, that must be the priority.
This is very much a layman's site at first glance; that said, they do produce peer-reviewed reports on forestry in Canada, so I suspect the less technical front is for the purposes of accessibility to the general public. They do not present any sources for increasing frequency of forest fires - possibly, again, to keep the technical details to a minimum - but they do note on
this page that the increase is due to climate change caused by global warming - again leading back to the point that it is our own fault.
-------------------------------
http://www.michaelmandeville.com/...vortex_correlations2.htm
This page actually argues for vortex tectonics being the cause of increased volcanic activity, using charts compiled by the author from data taken from the USGS earthquake database. (I doubt his correlations, they don't seem entirely consistent - but that is off-topic here.)
quote:
Both charts show a dramatic major increase in such activity in a steady progressive upward trend over a period of at least forty years. The increase in earthquake and volcanic activity easily seems to be at least fourfold.
The USGS describes the database here:
http://wwwneic.cr.usgs.gov/neis/epic/database.html
The database is inconsistent, and may be inaccurate as a reference - but the USGS are pretty reliable... Difficult call there.
So, the final result seems to be one solid example - the global warming one - and one possibly dubious one. Seeing as the forest fire example apparently ties into global warming, it might be best to abandon it and look for more on the tectonic datasets.
The Rock Hound
"Those who fear the darkness have never seen what the light can do."
™ Version 4.2
