The Demise Of The Mayan Civilization

Listen up, Earthlings!

The ancient Mayan people once lived in the area of the Yucatan Peninsula and modern-day Guatemala. The disappearance of their entire civilization has been a topic pursued by many scholars. Author Ambika Choudhary Mahadjan writes about new research that links the Mayan disappearance to severe drought.

The Blue Hole, Belize - Photo credit Belize.com

Excerpts from the article:

    Findings of a new study now suggest that the ancient race might have been wiped out due to a century old drought. The proof of this new explanation, believe the researchers, might be hidden in an underwater cave in Belize.

    Minerals taken from a famous underwater cave in Belize, known as the Blue Hole, and from adjoining lagoons now confirm that the area was hit by a severe drought between 800 AD and 1,000 AD. After the drought ended and normal conditions returned, these people moved northwards only to disappear again after a few centuries. The sediments found from the Blue Hole now confirm that the final disappearance occurred at the same time as the other dry spell.

    Though this is not the first time that the demise of this civilization has been linked to a drought, there is now concrete evidence pointing in this direction for the first time. That’s because the data come from several spots in a region central to the Mayan heartland, said study co-author André Droxler, an Earth scientist at Rice University.

    Though it is still too early to confirm that the unduly long dry spell over the region was indeed responsible for wiping off one of the most intelligent races in the history of mankind, there is strong evidence pointing in that direction for the first time.


Read the full article here: http://thewestsidestory.net/2014/12/29/26013/underwater-cave-called-blue-hole-belize-unravels-mystery-behind-mayan-disappearance/

More News On The Sinkholes in Siberia

The sinkholes that appeared in the permafrost in Siberia this year received a great deal of media coverage around the world. The latest news is not receiving as much attention, although I think it should.

Excerpts from the article:

The magnificent images of a crater on Yamal Peninsula, caused by collapsing permafrost, have become world famous. But did you know that this permafrost extends to the ocean floor? And it is thawing.

Credit: Image courtesy of CAGE - Center for Arctic Gas Hydrate, Climate and Environment

“Yamal Peninsula in Siberia has recently become world famous. Spectacular sinkholes, appeared as out of nowhere in the permafrost of the area, sparking the speculations of significant release of greenhouse gas methane into the atmosphere.

What is less known, is that there is a lot of greenhouse gas methane released from the seabed offshore the West Yamal Peninsula. Gas is released in an area of at least 7500 m2, with gas flares extending up to 25 meters in the water column. Anyhow, there is still a large amount of methane gas that is contained by an impermeable cap of permafrost. And this permafrost is thawing.

"The thawing of permafrost on the ocean floor is an ongoing process, likely to be exaggerated by the global warming of the world´s oceans." says PhD Alexey Portnov at Centre for Arctic Gas Hydrate, Climate and Environment (CAGE) at UiT, The Arctic University of Norway.

It was previously proposed that the permafrost in the Kara Sea, and other Arctic areas, extends to water depths up to 100 meters, creating a seal that gas cannot bypass. Portnov and colleagues have found that the West Yamal shelf is leaking, profoundly, at depths much shallower than that.

Significant amount of gas is leaking at depths between 20 and 50 meters. This suggests that a continuous permafrost seal is much smaller than proposed. Close to the shore the permafrost seal may be few hundred meters thick, but tapers off towards 20 meters water depth. And it is fragile.

"The permafrost is thawing from two sides. The interior of the Earth is warm and is warming the permafrost from the bottom up. It is called geothermal heat flux and it is happening all the time, regardless of human influence," says Portnov.

Permafrost keeps the free methane gas in the sediments. But it also stabilizes gas hydrates, ice-like structures that usually need high pressure and low temperature to form.

"Gas hydrates normally form in water depths over 300 meters, because they depend on high pressure. But under permafrost the gas hydrate may stay stable even where the pressure is not that high, because of the constantly low temperatures."

Gas hydrates contain huge amount of methane gas, and it is destabilization of these that is believed to have caused the craters on the Yamal Peninsula.”

Read full article here: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/12/141222111559.htm

Dryden: The Town That Fought Fracking - And Won

Good news in the battle against fracking in New York state.

The town of Dryden in upstate New York is fighting to stop an out-of-state gas company's bid to to force the town to accept industrial gas drilling - including fracking - within the town.

Dryden is actually being sued by Anschutz Exploration Corporation in a bid to force the town to permit gas drilling, which includes fracking.

The people of Dryden stood up against Anschutz Exploration Corporation  and won. Read more about how this town stood up to the oil and gas industry and won.

Read more here: http://earthjustice.org/features/the-story-of-dryden-the-town-that-fought-fracking-and-is-winning