In Search Of The Next Eco-Crisis
Commentary by Harold Hough 

            It seems that the man-made global warming theory was buried this winter under several feet of snow.  True, Al Gore tried to tell us that colder weather and more snow was conclusive proof of global warming, but nearly everyone was too busy shoveling their driveways to listen.

            So, what are global disaster mavens going to do now?  They have tried global warming, over population, non-sustainable development, ozone depletion, overuse of pesticides and fertilizer, acid rain, and rain forest destruction – all ideal methods to raise taxes and control our lifestyles.

            If I were going to bet on the next “man-made global crisis,” I would bet on the shifting earth’s magnetic field.  Scientists have been aware for several years that the earth’s magnetic filed is weakening and the magnetic north is shifting more rapidly than in the past.  The story gained more visibility when Tampa Airport recently closed a runway to change the magnetic company headings. 

            There are some concerns about what a sudden shift would mean to modern society.  Many are concerned with what it would do to man made electronics.  Others see massive storms and an increase in cosmic radiation.  Others see the end of all life on the planet.

            Here is a symptom in search of a cause.  And, needless to say, some are already saying humans are at fault.  Although much of this belief resides in the tin foil hat regions of the Internet, it is probably only a matter of time before it goes mainstream.

            The theory, as it goes now, is that the earth is becoming more encircled in man made electromagnetic energy – especially the massive power grids that enable us to live our modern lives.  Since the current weakening of the earth’s magnetic field coincides with the growing use of electricity by mankind, there must be some sort of relationship they claim.  In a book titled, The Everything Guide to 2012, the author claims, “More than 30 percent of disturbances in the magnetosphere are now caused by electricity production, transmission, or consumption.   For example, the Van Allen radiation belts over the eastern United States have moved inward from more than 200 miles above the surface of the planet to slightly more than six miles. This is caused by the massive amount of energy being transmitted between the power stations around the Great Lakes to the eastern seaboard. The transmission route runs along one of Earth's magnetic meridians, and the frequency of electricity transmission in the United States is at 60Hz, which is resonant with the ionosphere.”

            There are already some who are claiming the super storms that pummeled the United States during this winter were caused by the weakening magnetic field.  Even the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration got into the act by saying that such super storms could wipe out California – leaving government to deal with the homeless, ruined crops, and mass starvation.

            This is the ecologist’s ideal crisis.  The threat is more immediate – no half a degree rise in temperature in the next half century.  This time we face the immediate crisis of a shift in the Earth’s polarity or a collapse in the magnetic field that allows x-rays, cosmic rays, and ultraviolet light to cook all the critters on the surface of the Earth.

            The solution is what every radical ecologist wants – an end to all modern lifestyles.  Forget just outlawing energy sources that produce carbon dioxide.  This theory says all electricity is evil – especially national power grids.  We must shut down our power grid, eliminate as much electrical power usage as possible, and cut down on the building of large steel structures that may interfere with the earth’s magnetic field.  Even wind mills and solar cells won’t save us.

            Of course, not everyone thinks a diminishing magnetic field is bad.  According to one internet writer, “The Earth has increased its resonance with the center of the galaxy, its vibratory frequencies accelerate and the force of its magnetic field diminishes.  The acceleration of all atomic and subatomic particles of matter is generating among conscious human beings the necessary energy to overcome limitations of time and space that alien agents arbitrarily imposed on our ancestors…It is vertiginously getting near the moment in which the reincarnational chain will be broken and the Earth Human Race will be free to soar to the top of the Life Spiral to which it belongs.” 

In that case, crank up the air conditioner and buy a bigger HDTV!