VULCAN AND COMETS RELATED SITES

EARTH DEFENSE
15 January 2008 © Copyright - Only Italicized Comments
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  1. OFFICIAL WARNINGS
  2. DESTRUCTION OF THREATENING IMPACTORS
  3. UNUSUAL SURVIVAL STRATEGIES

RELATED SITES LISTINGS

  1. OFFICIAL WARNINGS
    • NATIONAL SECURITY AND HOMELAND SECURITY PRESIDENTIAL DIRECTIVE - May 9, 2007
      NATIONAL SECURITY PRESIDENTIAL DIRECTIVE/NSPD 51
      HOMELAND SECURITY PRESIDENTIAL DIRECTIVE/HSPD-20
      (b) "Catastrophic Emergency" means any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions;
      (c) "Continuity of Government," or "COG," means a coordinated effort within the Federal Government's executive branch to ensure that National Essential Functions continue to be performed during a Catastrophic Emergency;
      (e) "Enduring Constitutional Government," or "ECG," means a cooperative effort among the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the Federal Government, coordinated by the President, as a matter of comity with respect to the legislative and judicial branches and with proper respect for the constitutional separation of powers among the branches, to preserve the constitutional framework under which the Nation is governed and the capability of all three branches of government to execute constitutional responsibilities and provide for orderly succession, appropriate transition of leadership, and interoperability and support of the National Essential Functions during a catastrophic emergency;
      (h) "National Essential Functions," or "NEFs," means that subset of Government Functions that are necessary to lead and sustain the Nation during a catastrophic emergency and that, therefore, must be supported through COOP and COG capabilities; and
      (f) Provision must be made for reconstitution capabilities that allow for recovery from a catastrophic emergency and resumption of normal operations;
    • NATIONAL SECURITY PRESIDENTIAL DIRECTIVES [NSPD] - George W. Bush Administration
      NSPD 51 National Continuity Policy 4 April 2007
      HSPD 20 National Continuity Policy 4 April 2007
      Six months before the 5 October Camelopardalids debris field intersects Earth's orbit.
    • GIULIANI CREATES 'CATASTROPHE COMMITTEE,' APPOINTS BUSH LOYALIST AS ITS HEAD - January 10, 2008 06:30 PM
      Rudy Giuliani's presidential campaign announced on Thursday the formulation of a Catastrophe Advisory Committee, designed to provide the former New York City mayor with advice on the needs of local communities in regards to catastrophe response.
    • COUNTRIES MOST AT RISK OF 'SMALL' ASTEROID IMPACT IDENTIFIED
      The software, called NEOimpactor, has been specifically developed for measuring the impact of 'small' asteroids under one kilometre in diameter, and early results indicate that the ten countries most at risk are China, Indonesia, India, Japan, the United States, the Philippines, Italy, the United Kingdom, Brazil and Nigeria.
      'The threat of the Earth being hit by an asteroid is increasingly being accepted as the single greatest natural disaster hazard faced by humanity,' comments Nick Bailey of the University of Southampton's School of Engineering Sciences,
    • UN URGED TO TAKE ACTION ON ASTEROID THREAT
      Although the odds of an impact by this particular asteroid are low, a recent congressional mandate for NASA to upgrade its tracking of near-Earth asteroids is expected to uncover hundreds, if not thousands of threatening space rocks in the near future, former astronaut Rusty Schweickart said.
    • GOVT. DOC: GIANT COMETS, EVOLUTION AND CIVILIZATION
      or
      Giant Comets, Evolution and Civilization
      Abstract: Climatic cycles, ice epochs, mass extinctions and other global disturbances may be attributed to episodes of bombardment by giant comets. Such bodies now in chaotic orbits beyond Jupiter present the most serious current celestial hazard. A point at issue is the greater complexity of the cometary as opposed to the asteroidal hazard, as well as its more pervasive effects.
    • DECLASSIFIED GOVT. DOC- HAZARDS DUE TO FIREBALLS-COMETS
      Narrative Report on the Hazard to Civilization Due to Fireballs and Comets
      Abstract: The 100,000 year average interval between asteroid strikes (Chapman & Morrison 1994) first became apparent during the 1970s. Another discovery of considerable moment about this time was that of object Chiron. Considered to be a "giant comet" and found to be moving in a chaotic orbit beyond Saturn close to the ecliptic (Kowal l979,Oikawa & Everhart 1978), the possibility of its future transfer to a more stable sub-Jovian orbit capable of penetrating near-Earth space and hence threatening the Earth was also soon recognized (Bailey et al 1994, Steel et al 1994). The report then is by way of being a flier delineating the current state of research (historical and scientific) concerning the cometary and fireball threat.
    • 'DOOMSDAY' VAULT DESIGN UNVEILED
      The vault aims to safeguard the world's agriculture from future catastrophes, such as nuclear war, asteroid strikes and climate change.
    • MOVE TO NEW PLANET, SAYS HAWKING
      human race must move to a planet beyond our Solar System to protect the future of the species, physicist Professor Stephen Hawking has warned.
      He told the BBC that life could be wiped out by a nuclear disaster or an asteroid hitting the planet.
      Vulcan's existence in our solar system places all the inner Earth like planets at risk of long period comet impacts. Vulcan draws Kiuper Belt objects into Sun grazing orbits, then they form comet swarms which cause the visible impact craters on Mars, Venus, Mercury, Earth and the Moon.
    • REPORT OF THE TASK FORCE ON POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS NEAR EARTH OBJECTS
      A UK report! Could the USA and UK be working together again?
    • MAJOR IMPACT SOON - January 31, 2005: British MP says, "We're living in a bowling alley."
      I hope you will excuse my cynicism but there is something quite remarkable about this interview with Lembit Opik, the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Montgomeryshire. You will not find one single trace of political gobble-de-gook or point scoring.
    • SCIENCE'S DOOMSDAY TEAM VS. THE ASTEROIDS
      "The good news is that comets represent 1 percent of the danger," said Donald K. Yeomans, who manages NASA's Near-Earth Object Program at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "The bad news is that should we find one, there's not a lot we can do about it. . . . We detect them only nine months from impact."
      Asteroids, by contrast, generally offer decades or even centuries of warning - unless they are too small to detect, in which case there is no warning at all. But today's technology enables astronomers to get a fix on any asteroid capable of causing a global "extinction event" - six miles in diameter or bigger.
      So, what can be done? The first thought, dramatically depicted in the 1998 movies "Deep Impact" and "Armageddon," is to nuke the intruder into small pieces so it will burn up in Earth's atmosphere.
      Many scientists say, however, that this is unacceptably sloppy - instead of obliterating the target, the bomb could break the asteroid into large radioactive chunks capable of transforming huge stretches of Earth into wasteland.
    • WHAT SHOULD U.S. MILITARY DO IN SPACE?
      White House strategy shift sparks heated debate
    • PENTAGON REPORT DESCRIBES GLOBAL WARMING DANGERS
      • INEVITABLE SURPRISES: Thinking Ahead in a Time of Turbulence - Peter Schwartz (AMAZON.COM)
        To top it off, there's the eventual collision with a killer asteroid. How accurate are these predictions? "All of them are inevitable," declares Schwartz.
      • NOW THE PENTAGON TELLS BUSH: CLIMATE CHANGE WILL DESTROY US
        · Secret report warns of rioting and nuclear war
        · Britain will be 'Siberian' in less than 20 years
        · Threat to the world is greater than terrorism
        Already, according to Randall and Schwartz, the planet is carrying a higher population than it can sustain. By 2020 'catastrophic' shortages of water and energy supply will become increasingly harder to overcome, plunging the planet into war. They warn that 8,200 years ago climatic conditions brought widespread crop failure, famine, disease and mass migration of populations that could soon be repeated.
        See THE 6,200 BC STRIKE - Swarm A - 8,200 YA
      • THE GREAT CLIMATE FLIP FLOP
        One of the most shocking scientific realizations of all time has slowly been dawning on us: the earth's climate does great flip-flops every few thousand years, and with breathtaking speed. We could go back to ice-age temperatures within a decade and judging from recent discoveries, an abrupt cooling could be triggered by our current global-warming trend. Europe's climate could become more like Siberia's.
      • AN ABRUPT CLIMATE CHANGE SCENARIO AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR UNITED STATES NATIONAL SECURITY
        PETER SCHWARTZ & DOUG RANDALL / GBN Global Business Network October 2003 In 2007, a particularly severe storm causes the ocean to break through levees in the Netherlands making a few key coastal cities such as The Hague unlivable. Failures of the delta island levees in the Sacramento River region in the Central Valley of California creates an inland sea and disrupts the aqueduct system transporting water from northern to southern California because salt water can no longer be kept out of the area during the dry season.
      • AN ABRUPT CLIMATE CHANGE SCENARIO AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR UNITED STATES NATIONAL SECURITY - Peter Schwartz and Doug Randall
        A USA report. Could the USA and UK be working together again?
      • AN ABRUPT CLIMATE CHANGE SCENARIO AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR UNITED STATES NATIONAL SECURITY
        by Peter Schwarz and Doug Randall, October 2003 Published by the Pentagon
      • AN ABRUPT CLIMATE CHANGE SCENARIO AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR UNITED STATES NATIONAL SECURITY,
        by Peter Schwartz and Doug Randall
      • PENTAGON DOWNPLAYS REPORT ON CLIMATE CHANGE THAT IT COMMISSIONED
      • BRITAIN FACES BIG CHILL AS OCEAN CURRENT SLOWS
      • KEY FINDINGS OF THE PENTAGON
        · Future wars will be fought over the issue of survival rather than religion, ideology or national honor.
        · By 2007 violent storms smash coastal barriers rendering large parts of the Netherlands inhabitable. Cities like The Hague are abandoned. In California the delta island levees in the Sacramento river area are breached, disrupting the aqueduct system transporting water from north to south. The 2006-7 impact
        · Between 2010 and 2020 Europe is hardest hit by climatic change with an average annual temperature drop of 6o F. Climate in Britain becomes colder and drier as weather patterns begin to resemble Siberia. The 2015-16 impact
      • NETHERLANDS MUST BOOST FLOOD DEFENCES
        The Hague (AFP) May 30, 2006 ATTENTION -details on European cooperation, quotes deputy minister /// Dutch authorities will have to boost their already significant flood protection measures to cope with increasingly warmer, wetter winters and summer droughts, according to forecasts released Tuesday.
      • CLIMATE CHANGE FROM A METEOR IMPACT, WHAT DO WE KNOW SO FAR?
        Many remote viewers tell us two interesting things:
        • No one can RV the years 2012-2013. All they get is a blank like a wall. Tremendous human emotions and stress can block remote viewing. (Like massive death and related suffering.)
        • When they look past those years, what do they see? Nothing. Only desolation and destruction.
        CONCLUSION It won't be a slow climate change that causes such a fast global climate shift- it will more likely be either a comet or meteor, or perhaps a nuke exchange. Imagine the consequences if America and world economies collapse according to the pentagon report.
      • SEA CHANGE: WHY GLOBAL WARMING COULD LEAVE BRITAIN FEELING THE COLD
        · No new ice age yet, but Gulf Stream is weakening
        · Atlantic current came to halt for 10 days in 2004
      • NO NEW ICE AGE FOR WESTERN EUROPE
        Fears that a shutdown of ocean currents is about to plunge Europe into a mini ice age have receded.
        So much for the basis of the Pentagon study unless there is a comet-Earth impact of course.
    • GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER HIGHLIGHTS COMPLETED LEVEE REPAIRS, PRESSES FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FOR REIMBURSEMENT FOR WORK ON FEDERAL LEVEES 10/20/2006
      Gov. Schwarzenegger highlighted the completion of the repairs on the critical levee erosion sites before the next flood season.
      "This site and all 29 critical erosion sites we identified in February will be repaired by November 1, just like we planned and the four other critical sites we identified in August are on track to be repaired by November 30," said Gov. Schwarzenegger. "These repairs protect lives and homes which is why we negotiated with the federal government to cut through the red tape and get the necessary permits to start strengthening our levees as soon as possible. Our actions shaved years off the repair times. That's why we can have these finished now before the rains start."
      The Department of Water Resources pledged to finish the levee repair work on the original 29 critical erosion sites by November and much of the levee repair work was completed ahead of schedule. The repairs on 12 of the 29 critical levee sites identified in the Governor's February emergency declaration are complete, and the remaining 17 sites will be finished by November 1. An additional four sites discovered subsequent to those identified originally identified will also be completed by the end of November.
      In February, the Governor declared a state of emergency for California's levee system. Since then, state and federal agencies have cooperated in an unprecedented manner to expedite the permits and begin work on these critical repairs.
      As part of the bipartisan Strategic Growth plan, the November ballot includes a $4.1 billion bond for levee repair and flood control.
      Comet impacts (anticipated in 2007) can generate a lot of rain.
    • GOVENOR HASTENS CALIF. LEVEE REPAIRS
      Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency Friday for California's levee system, a step officials said would help speed up repairs to 24 flood- prone sites.
      Officials said the declaration would allow the state to waive environmental and contracting laws in making the repairs and open up emergency funding as part of an attempt to complete the work before next winter's flood season.
      "If we did this through normal funding and normal procedures it probably would take us three to four years," said Lester Snow, director of the Department of Water Resources.
      • ATTEMPT TO PLACE PUBLIC WORKS BOND ON JUNE BALLOT FAILS
        "We ran out of time," Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata said, after the Senate passed an urgency bill appropriating $1 billion for levee repairs from the state's reserve fund.
        The Assembly passed two bills to place measures on the June ballot: a $10.4 billion bond to build schools and upgrade universities, and a $4.15 billion bond to repair the state's fragile levee system. It also included a $9.1 billion school and university bond measure that would be placed on a ballot in 2008.
        The Senate considered only the emergency levee appropriation, which passed on a 33-0 vote.
        Many Republican and Democratic lawmakers were concerned about the size of Schwarzenegger's original borrowing plan. He later proposed adding another $3.5 billion for levee repairs after he said it was unlikely the federal government would offer substantial financial help.
        Not to worry, the levee repairs will start.
      • LEVEES OVERTOP IN CALIF.'S SONOMA COUNTY - Mon Mar 6, 9:45 PM ET
        SCHELLVILLE, Calif. - A storm that dumped about two inches of rain in Sonoma County overnight flooded part of a highway for several hours as water overtopped nearby levees, officials said.
        No damage to homes or businesses was reported, said Sandy Covallalves, a Sonoma County emergency services coordinator.
        Political cover!
      • GOVERNOR SEEKS FAST LEVEE FIXES
        Some call state of emergency political ploy -- move nullifies environmental regulations
      • ASSEMBLY PASSES RECORD PUBLIC WORKS BOND PACKAGE
        Flood Protection -- $4.09 billion
        • $3 billion for levee inspection, repair, flood control improvements, and delta levee protection;
        • $500 million for flood control subventions;
        • $290 million for flood corridors, bypasses, and flood plain mapping; and
        • $300 million for storm flood management.
      • LARGEST INFRASTRUCTURE BOND EVER HEADING TO CALIFORNIA VOTERS
        Headed to the governor, then the voters, November ballot is the largest bond issue ever -- four bonds totaling $37.3 billion, consisting of billions for transportation, schools, levees, and affordable housing.
        "Besides the bond packages, lawmakers passed an added $500 million appropriation for levee repairs.
      • WOLK CALLS BOND DEAL 'A BIG WIN FOR YOLO AND SOLANO COUNTIES'
        The flood protection component includes $3 billion for levee inspection, repair, flood control improvements, and delta levee protection; and $290 million for flood corridors, bypasses, and flood plain mapping. Finally, there is $300 million for storm flood management, which would fund work on flood infrastructure outside of the Central Valley, including some in Solano County. Part of the $300 million could go towards preventing urban runoff and protecting water quality in Fairfield and Vacaville, hard hit in the recent New Year flooding.
        Additionally, the Assembly approved a $500 million (AB 142) appropriation, actively pursued by Wolk, which includes money for the immediate repair of the 29 critical erosion sites designated by the Governor, including 9 sites in Yolo County. Private levees such as Huff's Corner that could affect urban areas will also be eligible. The $500 million could also be used on other flood improvements throughout Yolo and Solano Counties.
        "This bond will make a difference in the lives of all Californians, not just those in the Central Valley. Since the State suffers liability for failing levees in the Central Valley, the General Fund stands at risk," said Wolk, who has led the development and coordination of a comprehensive Assembly Democratic Legislative Package on Flood Protection to prepare and protect Californians. "That means California's schools, health services, and highways stand at risk. "Think of the billions that the Federal Government has spent on recovery from Katrina. Now imagine a major flood in Sacramento, with the State – not the Federal Government – stuck with the bill for recovery. And more than the Sacramento Valley and General Fund is at stake here. A serious flood could take out the water supply for Southern California, for the Bay Area, and for the San Joaquin Valley.
      • WATERSHED NEWS FOR MAY 2006
        • Schwarzenegger/Fed Government Reach Agreement to Fix Critical Levee Sites Before Flood Season [Press release] Gov. Schwarzenegger and the Bush Administration finalized an agreement yesterday that provides an expedited permitting process to allow California to fix the critical levee sites by the end of the year.
        • Levee repair accord reached An agreement announced Tuesday between state and federal agencies ensures that 29 eroding levees will be fixed by Nov. 1, officials said, and it also ensures the state gets credit for its share of the costs
        • Deal puts levee repair on fast track Agreement will speed up environmental review necessary to begin work on Sacramento River tributaries -- not Delta
        • Levee funds increased in Senate bill An Oklahoma Republican senator, facing certain defeat on an amendment to strip levee-repair money along the Sacramento River from an emergency spending bill, abruptly withdrew it Wednesday as California's two Democrats announced that they had secured another $13 million in the measure
        • Schwarzenegger's new levee board shows its pro-developer tilt [Commentary] The Reclamation Board voted to allow the developer of an immense subdivision on a Delta island south of Stockton to begin widening the existing levee and - ignoring warnings from the board's attorney that it was violating state open-meeting laws - expanded the developer's permit to indirectly allow construction of luxury, riverview homes atop the widened levee
    • INVESTORS BET ON LONDON FLOOD
      AN insurance firm is offering investors the chance to bet against a catastrophic flood devastating London.
      German insurer Allianz has issued the bond to protect itself against the risk of flooding due to the levels of claims from homes and businesses which could arise from such an incident.
      London's Thames Barrier currently protects the capital against flooding up to a once in every 2,000 years catastrophe.
      Large comet/meteorite impacts can cause lots of flooding, ask Noah!
    • APOCALYPSE NOW? IRANIAN PRESIDENT AHMADINEJAD'S LETTER TO PRESIDENT BUSH
      Personally, I am humbled by these events. For the first time in my entire life I am catching glimpses of what I can only describe as the "end times." Tel Aviv, by the way, is not too far from the valley of Megiddo, where the apocalyptic battle of Armageddon is prophesied to take place in Revelation 16:16 (see also Revelation 20.7-10).
    • CLIMATE EXTREMES ARE COMING, STUDY SAYS
    • CLIMATE CHANGE 'WILL CAUSE REFUGEE CRISIS'
      The report, from the aid agency Tearfund, raises the spectre of hundreds of millions of environmental refugees and says the main reason will be the effects of climate - from droughts and water shortages, from flooding and storm surges and from sea-level rise.
    • HAWKING: COLONISE MARS TO SURVIVE
      The survival of the human race depends on its ability to find new homes elsewhere in the universe because there is an increasing risk that a disaster will destroy Earth, Stephen Hawking has said.
    • 93% OF ALL US NAVY SHIPS SAID AT SEA - WHY?
      Perhaps a practice deployment for an impending comet impact a few years in the future? Military actions are sure to accompany a major impact event as people relocated due to climatic change.
    • TEN US NAVY CARRIERS NOW AT SEA - ONLY TWO IN PORT
    • MORE ON US NAVY MASS DEPLOYMENT
    • DON'T MENTION THE WAR: BBC PLAN FOR SURVIVING NUCLEAR ARMAGEDDON
      In the event of all-out nuclear war, the BBC was to distract the nation by broadcasting a mix of music and light entertainment shows, secret papers released by the Home Office reveal.
      A similar policy may be expected in the event of a comet impact.
    • WHITE HOUSE ASKS TO CALL UP TROOPS FOR DISASTER AID
      The federal government should be able to deploy troops to deal with major disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and, in "extraordinary circumstances," should take over the entire operation from states and localities, the White House said yesterday.
    • FEMA PREPARING FOR CATASTROPHIC NEW MADRID EQ
      Pawlowski told a congressional committee that FEMA has "significant concerns" for the potential of a catastrophic earthquake equal in magnitude to those that struck parts of the Mississippi River Valley in 1811-1812, and again in 1895. The estimated magnitude of those earthquakes is 7.5 or 8. The probability of a magnitude 6 or larger earthquake is 25 percent to 50 percent over the next 50 years.
      Pawlowski said FEMA expects to have a regional response plan in place by June 2007. Just in time.
    • RUSSIAN SCIENTISTS FORECAST GLOBAL COOLING IN 6-9 YEARS
      Khabibullo Abdusamatov said he and his colleagues had concluded that a period of global cooling similar to one seen in the late 17th century — when canals froze in the Netherlands and people had to leave their dwellings in Greenland — could start in 2012-2015 and reach its peak in 2055-2060.
      He said he believed the future climate change would have very serious consequences and that authorities should start preparing for them today because "climate cooling is connected with changing temperatures, especially for northern countries."
      these values agree nicely with our predicted impact dates,
      Are There Any Credible Precise Predictions
      given the ocean's cooling after impact in 10 to 15 years.
    • BRITISH SCIENTIST PUTS ODDS FOR APOCALYPSE AT 50-50
      Rees calculates that the odds of an apocalyptic disaster striking Earth have risen to about 50 percent from 20 percent a hundred years ago. The cosmologist concedes that natural disasters have always loomed -- so-called supervolcanoes could explode at any time and asteroids could slam into the planet, causing massive climate changes -- but says the most frightening risks are probably man- made. Now what would the recently knighted Royal Astronomer Rees be an expert in, manmade disasters or astronomical ones?
      • POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS NEAR EARTH OBJECTS COMING TO YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD SOON
        Report of the Task Force on potentially hazardous NEAR EARTH OBJECTS
        However, our particular thanks go to the following people who have made substantial contributions to our understanding of the subject and in other ways:
        ... , Martin Rees, ...
      • REPORT OF THE TASK FORCE ON POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS NEAR EARTH OBJECTS
        NEAR EARTH OBJECTS - Cover (front and back)
        SOLAR SYSTEM showing the Sun, the planets, the main belt of asteroids and the orbit of a typical comet (drawing not to scale). The planets are, counting from the Sun: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars (to the left), the giant planet Jupiter (to the right) and Saturn (top left,back cover). The comet, coming from the far reaches of the Solar System, is shown in two positions along its orbit. The comet's tail always points directly away from the Sun. The belt of asteroids contains about one million objects over 1kilometre in size. Some asteroids are deflected by Jupiter's gravitational field to become Near Earth Objects. A stony asteroid is shown at the bottom of the cover; it is covered with small craters by the impact of other asteroids over the ages.
        ... , Martin Rees, ...
    • NOW: HUMAN EXTINCTION WITHIN 100 YEARS WARNS SCIENTIST - 17 NOVEMBER 2004
      A top New Zealand researcher is using a prestigious award ceremony in Christchurch to warn that humans face extinction by the end of the century. Professor Peter Barrett will be presented with the Marsden Medal tonight for his 40-year contribution to Antarctic research, latterly focusing on climate change.
      • THEN: WHAT ICE AND SEDIMENT CORES TELL US ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE TODAY. - 22/10/2001
        But orbital changes take place over millennia and cannot explain the sudden changes in climate we are now experiencing in one century. Today, it is human activity – with the burning of fossil fuels and the destruction of carbon- absorbing soils and forests – which is filling the atmosphere with greenhouse gases and causing temperatures to rise and the climate to change. As Peter Barrett says: 'Changes in Earth's climate of this speed and magnitude are unprecedented to our knowledge, aside from large meteorite impacts.'
      • THEN: THE WEEK THAT WAS JUNE 22-28, 1998
        In fact, the chief scientist on the project, New Zealand geologist Peter Barrett, played down fears that "a deluge on a Biblical scale" (the latest activist buzz-phrase, courtesy of Fenton Communications) was imminent. Instead, Barrett made this rather amazing statement: "NO ONE thinks the ice sheets are going to melt in the next hundred years.
      • THEN: (METEOROBS) LONG... ANCIENT ASTEROID - 28 Nov 1997
        The researchers believe fallout from the steam and vapor cloud dropped micro-fossils directly on the mountains, an idea that geologist Peter Barrett at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, called "reasonably plausible."
      • THEN: BIG SPLASH: SCIENTISTS DESCRIBE ANCIENT ASTEROID IMPACT - November 28, 1997
        The fallout from the blast may explain the "Sirius enigma," the puzzle of why marine fossils are found high above sea level in the Transantarctic Mountains. The researchers believe fallout from the steam and vapor cloud dropped micro- fossils directly on the mountains, an idea that geologist Peter Barrett at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, called "reasonably plausible."
      • THEN: BIG SPLASH: SCIENTISTS DESCRIBE ASTEROID'S ANCIENT OCEAN PLUNGE - November 26, 1997
        The blast was well after the Northern Hemisphere's Ice Age began but "close to one of the strongest cooling events in this time period," the researchers' paper said.... The researchers believe fallout from the steam and vapor cloud dropped micro- fossils directly on the mountains, an idea that geologist Peter Barrett at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, called "reasonably plausible."
      • THEN: HOW TO HEAL THE AIR -
        The resulting increase in carbon dioxide is changing the atmosphere at "a speed and magnitude unprecedented to our knowledge, aside from large meteorite impacts," according to climate scientist Peter Barrett of the Antarctic Research Center in New Zealand.
    • THE THREAT FROM OUTER SPACE - Jul 23rd 2007
      Although the chance of an impact may be small in any given year, the consequences could be enormous. The effect of an impact depends on an object's size and speed. A meteorite a few metres wide could level a city. The largest (a kilometre or more in diameter) could wreak ecological havoc across the entire globe.
      Other plans have been suggested. One is to use a high-speed spaceship simply to ram the asteroid out of the way; another is to land a craft on the rock's surface and use its engines to manoeuvre the asteroid to safety. A subtler method is to park a spaceship nearby and use its tiny gravity to pull the asteroid gradually off course. For now, all such suggestions are theoretical, although the European Space Agency is planning a mission, named Don Quijote, to test the ramming tactic in 2011.
      But perhaps the biggest problem is humanity's indifference. Currently only America is spending any money on detection, and even there, politicians have other priorities. Much of the work is done by Cornell University's Arecibo radar in Puerto Rico, which is facing federal funding cuts. The telescope costs roughly $1m a year to operate. As an insurance policy for civilisation, the price looks cheap.
    • WHAT A WAY TO GO
      Super-volcano, robotic rebellion or terrorism? Kate Ravilious asks 10 scientists to name the biggest danger to Earth and assesses the chances of it happening. According to Sir Martin Rees, author of Our Final Century, astronomer royal and professor of cosmology and astrophysics at the University of Cambridge, humans only have a 50-50 chance of making it through the 21st century without serious setback. "Some natural threats, such as earthquakes and meteorite impacts, remain the same throughout time, while others are aggravated by our modern- interconnected world. But now we also need to consider threats that are human induced."

      So what are the greatest threats to humans and can we do anything about them? Below, 10 scientists talk about their greatest fears and explain how society could be affected. Afterwards we estimate each threat in two ways: first, the chance of it occurring in our lifetime (the next 70 years); and, second, the danger that it would pose to the human race if it did happen (10 = making humans extinct, to one = barely having an impact on our lives).

      Donald Yeomans is manager of Nasa's Near Earth Object Program Office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California: "Over very long timescales, the risk of you dying as a result of a near-Earth object impact is roughly equivalent to the risk of dying in an aeroplane accident. To cause a serious setback to our civilisation, the impactor would have to be around 1.5 km wide or larger. We expect an event of this type every million years on average. The dangers associated with such a large impactor include an enormous amount of dust in the atmosphere, which would substantially shut down sunlight for weeks, thus affecting plant life and crops that sustain life. There would be global firestorms as a result of re-entering hot ejecta and severe acid rain. All of these effects are relatively short-term, so the most adaptable species (cockroaches and humans, for example) would be likely to survive."
      Chance of the Earth being hit by a large asteroid in the next 70 years: Medium
      Danger score: 5

      Professor Bill McGuire is director of the Benfield Hazard Research Centre at University College London and a member of Tony Blair's Natural Hazards working group: "Approximately every 50,000 years the Earth experiences a super-volcano. More than 1,000 sq km of land can be obliterated by pyroclastic ash flows, the surrounding continent is coated in ash and sulphur gases are injected into the atmosphere, making a thin veil of sulphuric acid all around the globe and reflecting back sunlight for years to come. Daytime becomes no brighter than a moonlit night.

      Chance of a super-volcano in the next 70 years: Very high
      Danger score: 7
      Large comet impacts and Super Volcano eruptions go hand in hand. Meteorite impacts occur quasi-periodically over several of millions of years once a Kuiper belt object is slowed by Vulcan and drawn into a 3:2 resonate orbit. However, the injection of a Kuiper belt object into such an orbit occurs randomly over hundreds of millions of years. So there is sustained periods of bombardment once the Kuiper belt object is drawn in. Noah's great flood is an indication that Earth is now in one of those several million year long periods.
    • COULD THE SUPERVOLCANO NIGHTMARE COME TRUE? It's the subject of a terrifying new TV drama.
      Deep below Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming lies a slumbering giant that could bring the world to an end when it finally awakes. Comet impacts can set off super volcanoes
    • THE SECRETS OF SUPERVOLCANOES
      Because the thick continental crust and heat sources needed to create such massive magma chambers are rare, supervolcanoes themselves are also uncommon. In the past two million years, a minimum of 750 cubic kilometers of magma has exploded all at once in only four regions: Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, Long Valley in California, Toba in Sumatra and Taupo in New Zealand. The search for similarly large eruptions continues in other areas of thick continental crust, including in western South America and far eastern Russia.
    • ASTEROID-WATCHERS WORRY ABOUT COSMIC KATRINA
      The U.S. Congress amended the Space Act in 2005 to charge NASA with responsibility to "detect, track, catalog and characterize" NEOs wider than 460 feet (140 meters) in diameter.
    • THE COSMIC TIMEBOMB
      The asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs was thrown to Earth in a moment of 'planetary madness'. And scientists can now predict when the heavens will go haywire again, says Marcus Chown.
      Don't worry, be happy
    • EXPERTS CALL FOR EXPANDED ASTEROID SEARCH - March 09, 2005
    • NEAR-EARTH ASTEROIDS BUZZ THE US GOVERNMENT or
      NEAR-EARTH ASTEROIDS BUZZ THE US GOVERNMENT
    • GLOBAL WARMING APPROACHING POINT OF NO RETURN, WARNS LEADING CLIMATE EXPERT
    • COUNTDOWN TO GLOBAL CATASTROPHE
      Climate change: report warns point of no return may be reached in 10 years, leading to droughts, agricultural failure and water shortages
      Yes, but from an impact disaster, not global warming!
    • MEETING THE CLIMATE CHALLENGE?
    • MEETING THE CLIMATE CHALLENGE
      Rt Hon. Stephen Byers MPSen.
      Olympia Snowe(United Kingdom)
      (United States)
      Hon. Bob Carr MP (Australia)
      Professor John P Holdren (United States)
      Dr Martin Khor Kok-Peng (Malaysia)
      Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet MP (France)
      Dr Claude Martin (Switzerland)
      Professor Tony McMichael (Australia)
      Jonathon Porritt CBE (United Kingdom)
      Adair Turner (United Kingdom)
      Dr Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker MdB (Germany)
      Professor Ni Weidou (People's Republic of China)
      Hon. Timothy E Wirth (United States)
      Cathy Zoi (Australia)
      Scientific Advisor to the Taskforce Dr Rajendra K Pachauri (India)
    • SO SHALL WE REAP, by Colin Trudge Book: Hardback Penguin UK
      'Extraordinary ... required reading' Jonathon Porritt
      The universe at large is dangerous too: in particular, we share the sky with a swarm of wayward asteroids, and every now and again they encroach upon us. An asteroid the size of a small island, hitting Earth at 10,000 miles an hour (a modest relative speed by the standards of heavenly bodies) would strike the ocean bed like a rock in a puddle, as if the water was not there at all, send a tidal wave around the world as high as a small mountain and as fast as a jumbo jet, and propel us into an ice age that could last for centuries. There are plans to head off such disasters (including heroic and hugely expensive rockets to shove approaching asteroids into new trajectories), but in truth it's down to luck.
    • MELTDOWN BLAMED FOR BIG FREEZE
      or MELTDOWN BLAMED FOR BIG FREEZE
    • COULD GLOBAL WARMING TRIGGER MEGA-TSUNAMIS?
      or ALARM OVER DRAMATIC WEAKENING OF GULF STREAM
      Slowing of current by a third in 12 years could bring more extreme weather Temperatures in Britain likely to drop by one degree in next decade
    • TRIGGERING ABRUPT CLIMATE CHANGE
      Scaremongering at its best
      The favorite scenario of certain climate modelers, as Mr. Gagosian's, is one in which the North Atlantic oceanic "conveyor belt" and Gulf Stream are turned off, thereby turning Western Europe into Siberia. But more realistic models show that the warmer European temperatures are not set by the Gulf Stream but by the perturbation of the atmospheric circulation induced by the Rocky Mountains of the Western US [Seager, Richard. 2003. Quart. J Royal Meterorol. Soc]. Another model shows that even as there is a freshening of the North Atlantic, the conveyor belt is strengthened not weakened: Read the abstract:
      It is well know that global warming will not produce an Ice Age, but a comet impact could. This work repudiates the obvious, that global warming does not cause global cooling. However, it is not unreasonable to believe that those who prepared the Pentagon's climate change to an Ice Age report are well aware of the comet impact threat.
    • TRIGGERS TO CLIMATE CATASTROPHE
      His simulation -- entirely hypothetical -- of the Gulf Stream shutdown suggests that parts of Britain would be far colder than the so-called Little Ice Age of the 17th and 18th centuries, when winter "Frost Fairs" were held on the frozen River Thames. A comet impact is a good trigger.
    • CLIMATE CHANGE: THE SCIENCE ISN'T SETTLED
      We know nothing!
    • 'STEALTH' COMETS POSE UNSEEN THREAT & WARNING OVER 'STEALTH' COMETS
      Professor Chandra Wickramasinghe, head of the team at Cardiff University's Centre for Astrobiology, which delivered the warning, said: "It's possible we need to think again about mitigating strategies.
    • DEFENSE AGAINST ASTEROIDS BEGINS STUDY
    • EXPERTS CALL FOR EXPANDED ASTEROID SEARCH
      The more refined hunt should start in 2008, the panelists conclude. It could be done with present technology and could find and catalog 90 percent of potentially threatening objects down to 153 yards (140 meters) by 2028.
      Too little, too late!
    • IS EARTH IN IMMINENT DANGER FROM INBOUND METEORS?
      Al Franken saying that Bush was more concerned with "meteors" than with terrorists.
      Valid report? INBOUND METEOR STORY PLAGIARIZED
    • IS EARTH IN IMMINENT DANGER FROM INBOUND METEORS? "First off, please keep my name off this article as I have found that the information I am revealing is so confidential, individuals who have leaked it have had their lives threatened. At any rate, here is the information I feel I have to reveal."
      "Al Franken saying that Bush was more concerned with "meteors" than with terrorists."
    • AUTHOR OF "INBOUND METEORS" RESPONDS "I found all the information that I have spent months digging up curious, and alarming, and certainly worth keeping an eye on. However, in all of my threads, the two referenced here, and the others he/she has taken information from, I have been careful to state that nothing is proven, only that there are a lot of "signs" that something MIGHT be up."
      "I would appreciate it if you will post the following where ever you have that article or link posted."
      ---------
      I think he is referring to the "PAY ATTENTION" post here at Rumor Mill News, which has a link to bushcountry about meteors at the bottom.
      AND Because Don said posts (plural) I searched "meteors" for the last 14 days here. So we also have this one:
      IS EARTH IN IMMINENT DANGER FROM INBOUND METEORS?
      http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/forum.cgi?read=48208
    • QUEEN'S TALK TO DISCUSS ASTEROID IMPACT THREAT
      Dr Fitzsimmons and his colleagues from the UK Astrometry and Photometry Programme (UKAPP) for Near-Earth Objects, based at the University, are currently tracking NEOs and feeding their information into the international programme of protecting the Earth from any future impact by a comet or asteroid.
    • EARTH AT RISK: NEW CALLS FOR PLANETARY DEFENSE
      It is past time to get serious about planetary defense, experts say. The threat of Earth being on the receiving end of a cosmic calling card in the form of an asteroid or comet is real.
      A clear and present danger for those studying planetary defense is the lack of any chain-of-command to take on the duties of dealing with the prospect of disruptive collisions from asteroids and comets.
    • REVISED ASTEROID SCALE AIDS UNDERSTANDING OF IMPACT RISK
    • COMET DETECTION IS SERIOUS SCIENCE
      I have been with the Spaceguard Program in mitigation process and research since 1994 and the Stellar Research Group's efforts in asteroid and comet detection, verification and tracking. This program is not just about a bunch of scientists needing new toys for our labs, but about survival of the species and life as we know it.
    • ASTEROID SCARE PROMPTS NASA TO FORMALIZE RESPONSE
    • NEOS, PLANETARY DEFENSE AND GOVERNMENT - A VIEW FROM THE PENTAGON
    • UK GOVERNMENT RESPONSE TO THE NEO TASK FORCE RECOMMENDATIONS UPDATE JANUARY 2005
      The Government takes the threat from Near Earth Objects (asteroids, comets) very seriously. Lord Sainsbury set up a Task Force (TF) to consider what part the UK could play in the international effort.
    • SCIENTISTS WANT TO BE READY TO BLOCK ASTEROID FROM HITTING EARTH
      Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-California, introduced a bill this month to bolster NASA spending on the search for near-Earth asteroids 100 yards or more across.
    • EARTH ALMOST PUT ON IMPACT ALERT - 24 February, 2004
      Practice makes perfect!
    • SCIENTISTS WARN OF RISK FROM DOOMSDAY ASTEROIDS
      The bad news? A big one could smack into Earth in the coming century, they said.
    • WHAT HAPPENS SHOULD A LARGER ASTEROID COME CALLING?
    • SCIENTISTS GATHER THIS FALL TO STUDY PREVENTING AN ASTEROID STRIKE ON EARTH
    • ASTEROID DEFENSE
    • IGNORING SPACE THREAT
      Scientists claim British officials 'not serious' about asteroids
    • NATURAL CATASTROPHES DURING BRONZE AGE CIVILISATIONS
      The final paper in the section on archaeology, geology and climatology is by Euan MacKie, who begins by warning that astronomers will have to produce clear evidence of comet swarms or the likelihood of large impacts at specific dates before most archaeologists will be willing to re-examine their data with this in mind. Keep looking up!
    • (9) I AM WORRIED ABOUT GOVERNMENT CONSPIRACIES & COMET IMPACTS
      Finally, if we're concerned about a public suspicious of government conspiracies and cover-ups, then perhaps we should address the big question: "What should the policy be if a comet suddenly brightens and is bound to collide with Earth in six months?"
    • CURRENT GIGANTIC US DEBT BUBBLE CHART
      Notice that the public debt began to soar shortly after the results of the IRAS satellite (launched in 1982) were analyzed.
    • CONCERNED CITIZENS ASK FOR CONGRESSIONAL ACTION ON NEAR EARTH OBJECTS
    • AN OPEN LETTER TO CONGRESS ON NEAR EARTH OBJECTS - July 7, 2003
      Dear Members of Congress:
      We write to you today as concerned citizens, convinced that the time has come for our nation to address comprehensively the impact threat from asteroids and comets.
      A growing body of scientific evidence shows that some of these celestial bodies, also known as Near Earth Objects (NEOs), pose a potentially devastating threat of collision with Earth, capable of causing widespread destruction and loss of life. The largest such impacts can not only threaten the survival of our nation, but even that of civilization itself.
    • (6) SCIENTISTS: THINK ABOUT DEFENDING EARTH FROM ASTEROIDS or
      Scientists: Think about defending Earth from asteroids
      Congress has mandated that NASA find 90 percent of one-kilometer Near-Earth Objects by 2008. So far, 672 have been detected, and none is a sure threat for roughly the rest of the century.
    • APPEAL FOR ACTION ON COMET THREAT
      One such object would cause a global catastrophe, killing about one quarter of the Earth's population. Impacts would cause "such a catastrophe that we must not let it happen.
    • RISK ANALYSIS
    • UPCOMMING CLOSE APPROACHES TO EARTH
    • ASTEROID IMPACT MOTTO: BE PREPARED
    • U.S. MILITARY CONSIDERS COORDINATED CLEARINGHOUSE TO MONITOR AND RESPOND TO ASTEROID, COMET THREAT
      It's a "virtual certainty" that Earth is going to be on the receiving end of an asteroid or comet.
    • LITTLE OR NO WARNING
    • WILL THE GOVERNMENT SAVE US? King Gilgamesh didn't
    • SPACEGUARD INDIA
    • AUSSIE ASTRONOMERS JOIN ASTEROID HUNT
    • NEAR-EARTH OBJECT THREAT - OCTOBER 3, 2002
    • CHAPTER 3: PLANETARY DEFENSE SYSTEM (part A)
      Long Period Comets: Warning 0-30 Days, Impact velocity 10-40 km/s
    • POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS NEAR EARTH OBJECTS COMING TO YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD SOON
    • CIVIL DEFENSE PERSPECTIVES - IMPACT EVENTS
      For long-period comets, the warning time might be only a few months (and that is the threat we face!).
    • REDUCING AMERICA'S VULNERABILITY TO NATURAL HAZARDS
    • WATCH IS ON FOR DOOMSDAY ASTEROIDS, COMETS
    • COMETS: HOW BIG A THREAT TO EARTH? 28 January 2003
      "The worst scenario I can think of is a multi-kilometer-diameter, long-period comet discovered several months out on an impact trajectory as it is entering the inner solar system," How about a swarm of comets?
    • (7) THE BERLIN DECLARATION ON THE COSMIC IMPACT HAZARD
      The fact that asteroids and comets have hit the Earth in the past with calamitous consequences for life on this planet, and will do so again in the future with calamitous implications for the continued existence of our civilisation, has become common knowledge
      The Berlin Declaration
      1) The human risk posed by near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) is real and current search efforts are incommensurate with the level of the hazard.
      2) There is no broad-based international search and tracking effort to deal with the risk posed by NEAs.
      3) Given current search efforts, any NEA due to impact within the next few decades and capable of causing significant regional damage is unlikely to be recognized with sufficient warning time to allow it to be averted.
    • (1) IMPACT IMPERATIVE: LASER ABLATION MAY SOON BECOME AN EFFECTIVE TOOL OF PLANETARY PROTECTION or
      BEAMED PROPULSION: OUT OF THE LAB INTO SPACE
      Preventing collisions with the Earth by hypervelocity asteroids, meteoroids, and comets is the most important immediate space challenge facing human civilization. This is the Impact Imperative. Note: such a device could be effective at penetrating the debris surrounding threatening comets in the comet swarm as well at heating the comet's surface causing a "jet" that could shift its trajectory. Such a device would be more effective than a nuclear tipped missile.
    • CATASTROPHE-CLASS KILLER COMETS ARE COMING
    • OBSERVATORY OPENS EYES AT NATURE CENTER or (5) U.S. AIR FORCE FUND SOUTHERN COLORADO NEO SEARCH PROGRAMME
    • "PREPARING THE PUBLIC FOR AN IMPENDING IMPACT"
    • GENERAL CALLS FOR METEOR WARNING SYSTEM or IBID
    • FIRST STRIKE OR ASTEROID IMPACT? The Urgent Need to Know the Difference
      Military strategists and space scientists that wonder and worry about a run-in between Earth and a comet or asteroid have additional worries in these trying times.
    • ECLIPSED 26 Feburary 1999
      Arizona Asteroid Hunters Were Poised To Save The Earth From Armageddon. Then A Secret Air Force Project Took Over.Big Surprise!
      With no fanfare, a secretive operation developed by the Air Force began dominating the field of asteroid and comet detection. Now, with equipment developed at costs they won't discuss, a small group of Air Force technicians using a single, modest-size telescope in New Mexico has almost completely taken over the responsibility of mapping the Earth's neighborhood in space. It will be Air Force technicians, not Arizona astronomers, who will most likely tell Earthlings when they can expect Armageddon. Maybe not if this web site is correct.
    • (5) LET'S WHUP THAT GIANT SPACE ROCK OF DEATH Baltimore Sun - 10 February 2002
      Here's the scary part: The Times did not print one word about the asteroid. Instead, as this thing whizzed past, The Times printed the following exciting astronomy news:
      • JAN. 8 - Astronomers have discovered that certain gamma rays, which they used to think came from billions of light-years away, in fact came from only a few hundred million light-years away!
      • JAN. 9 - Having studied the far edges of the universe with the Hubbell telescope, astronomers now believe that roughly 14 billion years ago, stars formed more quickly than was previously thought!
      • JAN. 10 - Astronomers "peering deep into the heart of the Milky Way" have discovered more than 1,000 sources of "powerful X-rays," far more than were previously known!
    • (2) COLLISION COURSE - 22 May 2000
      Lurking beyond the outer planets are huge slabs of ice that could spell our destruction. They are the stealth bombers of the Solar System. Almost invisible in their pitch-black coats, they can come at us from any direction, giving almost no warning. Mostly they pass us by, but one day, one of these marauders will be right on target. And when it does it will devastate the Earth.
    • THE CONGRESSIONAL LUNCHEON BRIEFING ON THE IMPACT HAZARD AND NASA'S PLANS - June 1998
      Throughout his lecture Dr. Pilcher had given estimates for NEOs and the NEO threat by type, with 70% coming from asteroids, 20% from Short Period Comets, and 10% from Long Period Comets.
      Yeomans claimed that the vast majority of objects which could intercept the Earth were asteroids, which we would almost certainly detect a few decades before predicted impact. The same was true for short period comets, which have orbital periods of 5 to 6 years. The only wild card was long period comets, which would not be detected until they began gassing inside the orbit of Jupiter. These comprised 10% of the threat, and were the only objects for which we would not have several years warning. (Once again: NASA limits itself to 1 kilometer diameter objects and excludes anything 100 meters or so across.) Smoke and mirrors.
    • TASKFORCE TACKLES ASTEROID THREAT
      An expert taskforce to assess the threat of an asteroid strike on Earth has been appointed by the UK government. The men who will examine the risk of the Earth being destroyed by an object from outer space were named on Tuesday.
    • (1) BRITAIN PLANS ARMAGEDDON CENTRE (sic!) AS COMET SHIELD - 28 November 1999
      A mature soul country is usually smarter, but less productive.
    • (1) CITY'S BID TO SAVE PLANET - JMU Could Build £15m Telescope To Spot Comets - 19 September 2000
      LIVERPOOL is aiming to spearhead the international drive to create an early warning system for asteroids threatening the Earth. A task force of experts is calling on the Government to build a new super telescope to watch the skies for asteroids and comets.
    • CHINA BUILDS NEW OBSERVATORY TO DETECT NEAR-EARTH ASTEROIDS - August 15, 2000
      The observatory will house a telescope with a mirror diameter of 1.2 metres to observe near-Earth asteroids and comets.There's not much food to go around after a comet strike.
    • ASTEROID AND COMET IMPACT HAZARD - David Morrison
      Click "NEA POPULATION AND IMPACT FREQUENCY" - November 9, 2001 NO LONGER LISTED
      Can a study of asteroids in the main belt provide new information on how often the Earth is struck by a Near Earth Object (NEO)? Some believe so, but most are doubtful.
      Click "Read more" to finally find mention of "the comet threat".
      When asked about polar bears, the Dr Snobbs said that, according to their working definition, white animals cannot be dangerous. "To imagine otherwise would be as silly as thinking that a comet could strike the Earth," he said. "Clearly this makes no sense. We deal with white animals all the time ? cats and mice, mostly - and although a cat may scratch you occasionally, they are not life-threatening." When pressed further, he commented that in any case polar bears live only in parts of Canada, not the United States, and Canadians don't count. Since a comet strike could bring an Ice Age to Canada, this analogy does appear ironic.

      Click "IS THE EARTH TARGETED FOR AN IMPACT?"
      Not that we know of! None of the asteroids or comets discovered so far is on a collision course with Earth. However, we can't speak for those that are not yet discovered. In principle, one of those could hit any time, but statistically the chances are very small. Don't worry, be happy?
      But this "Vulcan, Comets and the Impending Catastrophe" web site offers warnings of two threatening comet swarms. It employs geochronological and archeological data to date possible past comet impact events. Additionally, it documents prophecies warnings from such notables as:
      • Christ as recorded in Matthew, Luke and John (Revelation)
      • Biblical prophets such as Zachriah, Daniel and Moses (Hebrew Pentateuch)
      • 15 th prophets such as Nostradamus and Mother Shipton
      • Assorted theological prophets
      • The late Fred Hoyle (royal astronomer of the UK) and Isaac Newton
      • Assorted astronomers and geologists
      • Even (if you can accept it) from various past and current space alien contacts
      Unlike humans, it is envisioned that the latter could have the technology to detect threatening long-period comet/meteor swarms and predict when they could again threaten Earth.
      The scenario envisioned is that comet swarm B will decimates mankind in the early 21 st century, killing (by starvation) a significant fraction of humanity and destroying much of our technology. Unless we can recover and destroy the next threatening swarm (swarm A), mankind will be annihilated circa 3797. However, evolutionary cycle of mankind's collective conscience-ness will not end then. It (we) will reincarnate as a new and different sentient species. Our culture and technical ability would be lost, as well as our biological life form. We would likely reincarnate in another (e. g. a squid like) life form, bound to (the seas of) a new and different planet and "begin again".
    • IMPACT HAZARD - EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
    • ASTEROID IMPACT CENTRE SITE SELECTED - 1 January 2002
      It will analyse the potential threat posed by NEOs and inform the public about asteroids and comets.
    • THE COMET/ASTEROID IMPACT HAZARD: A SYSTEMS APPROACH
      Clark R. Chapman and Daniel D. Durda - 24 February 2001

      The threat of impact on Earth of an asteroid or comet, while of very low probability, has the potential to create public panic and, should an impact happen, be sufficiently destructive (perhaps on a global scale) that an integrated approach to the science, technology, and public policy aspects of the impact hazard is warranted.

      Comparatively little attention has been devoted to finding or dealing with other potential impactors, including asteroids smaller than 1 km or long-period comets. And essentially no analysis has been done of how to mitigate other repercussions from predictions of impacts (civil panic), how to plan for other kinds of mitigation besides deflection (e.g. evacuation of ground zero, storing up food in the case of a worldwide breakdown of agriculture, etc.)

      We believe it is appropriate, in the United States, that the National Research Council develop a technical assessment of the impact hazard that could serve as a basis for developing a broader consensus among the public, policy officials, and governmental agencies about how to proceed. The dinosaurs could not evaluate and mitigate the natural forces that exterminated them, but human beings have the intelligence to do so.
    • ASTEROID AND COMET IMPACT HAZARDS
    • PLANETARY DEFENSE: ELIMINATING THE GIGGLE FACTOR Lt Col Martin E. B. France, USAF - 7 August 2000
    • DISASTEROIDS!
      For the past 25 years, U.S. spy satellites have recorded high-altitude explosive flashes of incoming meteoroids. Produced by car - to garage - size objects as they enter the upper atmosphere, they are seen as often as 40 times a year. To scientists, their frequency is a warning of the number of NEOs up there.
    • PLANETARY DEFENSE: CATASTROPHIC HEALTH INSURANCE FOR PLANET EARTH
    • (5) NEAR-EARTH ASTEROID SAMPLE RETURN WORKSHOP STEERING COMMITTEE
      • Derek Sears, Chair, University of Arkansas
      • Dan Britt, University of Tennessee
      • Don Brownlee, University of Washington
      • Andrew Cheng, Johns Hopkins University
      • Benton Clark, Lockheed Martin Astronautics
      • Leon Geffert, NASA Glenn Research Center
      • Steve Goreven, Honeybee Robotics
      • Marilyn Lindstrom, NASA Johnson Space Center
      • Carle Pieters, Brown University
      • Jeff Preble, SpaceWorks, Inc.
    • NASA MAY BE INCHING ITS WAY TO DISCLOSURE...02/10/00 As you can see, there are several reasons to believe something extremely exceptional is upon us. Could it be that NASA has known this for sometime, but did not quite know how to tell us?
    • FIRST CONGRESSIONAL TESTIMONY
      STATEMENT OF David Morrison; Chief, Space Science Division; NASA Ames Research Center
      Before the Subcommittee on Space; Committee on Science, Space and Technology; U.S. House of Representatives - March, 24, 1993
    • SECOND CONGRESSIONAL TESTIMONY
      John D. G. Rather, Ph.D.: Assistant Director for Space Technology (Program Development): National Aeronautics and Space Administration
      Before the Subcommittee on Space; Committee on Science, Space and Technology; U.S. House of Representatives - March 24, 1993
    • Daring encounter with asteroid
      A Japanese spacecraft is about to make a close encounter with an asteroid in a mission to recover space dust.
    • Asteroid encounter postponed
      The planned touchdown of a Japanese space probe on a distant asteroid has been cancelled at the last minute.
    • PROBE YIELDS EARTH DEFENCE CLUES
    • JAPANESE ASTEROID TEAM REPORTS ON BALL OF RUBBLE
    • NEW COMET FINDINGS FROM DEEP IMPACT
      The Deep Impact collision with Comet Tempel 1 on July 4th revealed that the main component is too soft to be ice. Scientists once thought ice would be the main component. The comet may have been composed of a fine powder more like talcum powder, not a beach sand. A hot vapor of water and carbon dioxide was also detected by Deep Impacts flyby instruments.
      Some hydrocarbons were detected.
    • DEEP IMPACT COMET BASH LIVE
    • DEEP IMPACT COMET BASH part 2
    • IMPACTOR EJECTS MIGHTY WATER MASS
      The Nasa projectile that slammed into Comet Tempel 1 last year kicked out at least 250,000 tonnes of water.
    • THUNDERBOLTS PREDICTIONS ON 'DEEP IMPACT'
    • 'STARDUST' SHATTERS COMET THEORY - Part 1
    • DEEP IMPACT
      When Nick Kaiser won a whopping contract to build an asteroid-spotting telescope, he also created a high-tech bonanza for Hawaii
    • NASA TO LOOK INTO NEO THREAT RESPONSE PROPOSALS
      "The U.S. Congress has declared that the general welfare and security of the United States require that the unique competence of NASA be directed to detecting, tracking, cataloguing, and characterizing near-Earth asteroids and comets in order to provide warning and mitigation of the potential hazard of such near-Earth objects to the Earth," the Act states.
    • POWERFUL TELESCOPE SET FOR CHILE
      A large telescope that will scan the entire visible sky every three nights is to be built on a mountain in Chile. The LSST should be under construction by 2009 with a planned completion date in 2012.
    • (4) COMETARY DETECTION
      NASA ( Ron Baalke ) released the following piece of news a few days ago:
      "Interestingly, when Comet Halley reaches its largest distance from the Sun in December 2023, about 35 AU, it will only be 2.5 times fainter than it is now. The comet would still have been detected within the present exposure time. This means that with the VLT, for the first time in the long history of this comet, the astronomers now possess the means to observe it at any point in its 76-year orbit!"
      This is great news to the NEO community, since it points to the feasibility of predicting impacts from 10km comets several decades prior to the event, when they are well beyond the orbit of Neptune. - On condition that we scour the skies for them of course, but should funding be a question at all when the survival of our civilization, if not our species, on planet Earth is at stake?
    • UNSEEN COMETS MAY RAISE IMPACT RISK FOR EARTH
    • (9) SPOTTING COMETS AT GREAT DISTANCE
      Feasibility, yes, practicality... well, maybe not. The Halley image was the sum of 81 individual images totalling 9 hours over three nights, taken with three (!) 8.2 meter telescopes. It must have taken weeks to reduce that data. And they saw Halley. Barely.
    • (7) DON'T IGNORE SMALLEST ASTEROIDS, COMETS
      The weak part of the NASA report is, as Ed Grondine described it, the apathy with which it faces the threat from comets. How great a percentage of the residual risk from >1km objects stems from comets? How can the objects in that size range be deemed 100% detected, if comets are excluded? The report expects that the new search programme will lead to a guaranteed six-months warning time for comets, but is that so? I fear not, since the asteroid search is likely to concentrate on the skies near the ecliptical plane. But stray rocks traversing interstellar space may arrive from any direction.
  2. DESTRUCTION OF THREATENING IMPACTORS
    • US RETURNS TO MOON IN 2012
      NASA official Jeff Hanley said they had been planning to go to Mars again and will hopefully send a team in 2014; the flight test program will begin in 2012.
    • AIR FORCE SEEKS BUSH'S APPROVAL FOR SPACE WEAPONS PROGRAMS - An Anti-Comet Weapon? I hope not!
      With little public debate, the Pentagon has already spent billions of dollars developing space weapons and preparing plans to deploy them.
      The Air Force, saying it must secure space to protect the nation from attack, is seeking President Bush's approval of a national-security directive that could move the United States closer to fielding offensive and defensive space weapons, according to White House and Air Force officials.
    • ASTEROID SURVIVAL: HOW TO SURVIVE A COLLISION WITH AN EARTH-SHATTERING ASTEROID
    • DEFLECTING A NEAR EARTH OBJECT WITH TODAY'S SPACE TECHNOLOGY
    • A RAPID AND SCALABLE APPROACH TO PLANETARY DEFENSE AGAINST ASTEROID IMPACTORS Maybe not that good for long period comets.
    • FOUR PLANNING SCENARIOS FOR PLANETARY PROTECTION and FULL PAPER
    • CRASH MISSION TO DEFLECT EARTH-BOUND ASTEROID - July 16, 2004
      The European Space Agency's near-Earth object advisory panel has recommended high priority for a Spanish mission to smash into a distant asteroid.
      The mission, named Don Quijote, will use two spacecraft. One, called Sancho, will head for a target asteroid 500 metres (1,540ft) in diameter and go into orbit around it for at least seven months. It will drop detectors to measure the asteroid's internal structure.
      The second spacecraft, Hidalgo, will be launched at the same time but approach on a longer orbit - and smash into the asteroid at more than 22,000mph, while the first spacecraft watches the fireworks. The collision would hardly stop the asteroid in its tracks but it might slow it on what could be a collision course with Earth.
      The Spanish scientists will now look for partners for the mission. With international cooperation, Don Quijote could be launched between 2010 and 2015. Hidalgo will be the first true attempt at deflecting an asteroid.
      In December Nasa will launch Deep Impact, which will fire a copper projectile into a comet, deliberately gouging out a crater.
      And a European space mission called Rosetta is on its way to an encounter with a distant comet in 2014. Keep looking up!
    • DEEP IMPACT SPACECRAFT READY FOR MISSION
    • NASA THROWS DEEP IMPACT SPACECRAFT AT COMET
    • SPACECRAFT COUNTS DOWN TO BLAST-OFF AND A CLOSE ENCOUNTER WITH A COMET
      Explosion will cause a fireworks display visible from Earth and give clues to origin of life
    • NASA SEARCHES FOR A SNOWBALL IN HELL
      God must be laughing at us silly humans, because NASA has about as much chance of finding ice in Tempel 1 as the proverbial snowball in hell. It just ain't going to happen. There's too much contrarian evidence. It's been accumulating for years, and should have melted the ice model, long ago. Yet, NASA stolidly presses onward. The agency greets every new anomaly with ad hoc improvisations, and has gone to increasingly outlandish lengths to preserve its ice theory. Why? Answer: because so much hangs in the balance. The stakes are very high. More is involved than simply comets. At issue is the Red Shift, the expanding universe, the theory of black holes, and yes, even the big bang---all at risk if NASA's cometary house of cards comes crashing down.
    • FORMER ASTRONAUT, ENGINEERS HOPE TO DEFLECT ASTEROID
    • CRASH PLANNING: MISSION TO DEFLECT AN ASTEROID - 13 July 2004
      A mission to smash into a space rock to deflect it and study its structure has been given priority over five other potential asteroid projects by the European Space Agency.
    • BLINDED BY THE LIGHT
      Lasers may one day be our first line of defense for finding and fighting asteroids.
    • ON ENERGY-ASTRONOMICAL-LASER SPACE BASE FOR THE ASTEROID-COMET HAZARD MITIGATION
      A lunar base to mitigate the asteroid-comet hazard for the Earth is investigated.
    • PLANETARY DEFENSE LINKS
    • (7) SENATE NATURAL HAZARDS CAUCUS (NHS) MEETING ANS ASTEROID TUGBOAT
    • ASTEROID PROTECTION PLAN PROPOSED
      An unmanned spacecraft should test ways to deflect a threatening asteroid, two astronauts have told the US government.
    • EARTH DEFENSE GRAPHIC
    • KILLING ASTEROIDS
    • A SECOND LINE OF DEFENSE
    • IMPACT
      What can I do, if a large comet or asteroid is on a collision course with Earth?
    • SCIENTISTS AIM LASERS AT SUPER TASKS 11/03/02
      HUNTSVILLE A meeting here this week will focus on how beams of energy microwaves and lasers and such could be used to propel spaceships, deflect asteroids or even push microscopic crafts through our veins.
    • THE NEED FOR EXPERIMENTS ON COMETS AND ASTEROIDS By Dr. Edward Teller Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
    • PROTECTION OF THE EARTH AGAINST ASTEROIDS AND COMETS ON THE BASE OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY
    • COMET PROBE IS RARING TO GO
    • (3) PLANETARY DEFENSE FROM THE NEAREST 4 LAGRANGIAN POINTS - 14 February 2002
      Too little, too late!
    • (2) ASTRONOMER SAYS SPACE ROCKETS MAY BE EARTH'S BEST DEFENSE - 14 February 2002
      Too little, too late!
    • CONTINUE But the Project Icarus model is probably worth dusting off and trying again either as an exercise for aerospace engineering students or for a government science and engineering advisory board. Although it would not be a valid contingency plan, at least it would help to identify our options in the event that something like this happened. If humanity suddenly realized that an asteroid was heading our way and we had only two years to respond, could we do something? Or would we simply be condemned to sit back and stare at the clock, waiting for the brief flash in the upper atmosphere signifying impending doom? It may not have taken into account the debris field surrounding the comets.
    • (5) RUSSIAN RESEARCH ON NEOS & PLANETARY DEFENSE BOOMING - 15 November 2000
      Our Russian colleagues are doing an excellent job of starting to seriously look at what we could do, if the whistle blew tomorrow. Without preparations, it would take us about 2 years (minimum) to put-togeather and launch a system. The trip, to interception, could take another year. We might not have three years. It gets cold in Russia after a comet strike!
    • (3) COULD LASERS ZAP INCOMING ASTEROIDS? or
      Reuters
    • EARTH DEFENSE A study defining ways to protect earth from a potential comet or meteor strike.
    • NEW TELESCOPE TO REVOLUTIONIZE ASTEROID WARNING SYSTEM
      A group of telescopes using the world's biggest digital cameras will soon start scanning the sky from the Hawaiian Islands, tracking down thousands of the smaller, dimmer and overlooked objects in the Sun's neighborhood. The reason? Hunting for those dangerous space rocks that still elude detection.
    • SPACEGUARD UK OPENS OBSERVATORY Friday, 28 September, 2001, 21:58 GMT 22:58 UK "We want to raise public awareness of the threat of asteroid and comet impacts, and the ways in which we can predict and prevent them."
    • COMET CHASER SET FOR 12-YEAR MISSION
      Rosetta and its landing craft, Philae, will be launched from French Guiana next Thursday (26 Feb. 2004) for a 12-year mission.
    • SPACEPROBE SET FOR COMET ENCOUNTER
    • NASA TO CRASH PROBE INTO COMET
    • DEEP IMPACT NASA HOME PAGE Possible NASA project to penetrate comet with 1,100 pound (nuclear weapon sized) copper projectile on 4 July 2005. Like in the movie "Deep Impact", a direct route from launch in January 2004 to the comet is planned. What convenient timing. Actions speak louder than words!
    • DEEP IMPACT: SMASHING INTO A COMET MAY IMPROVE PLANETARY PROTECTION Imagine that!
    • (5) DEEP IMPACT MISSION IN DEEP TROUBLE?
    • DEEP IMPACT SPACE PROBE AIMS TO SLAM INTO COMET
      The impact with Tempel 1 is likely to produce a crater the size of a football stadium on a comet with a diameter of about 3.7 miles. But if the comet's nucleus is more like a solid ice cube, the impact might create a much smaller crater. If the comet is made of what A'Hearn called solid pumice rock -- hard but full of holes -- the impact would simply compress the existing material. Or the comet might even have the consistency of powdery snow, in which case the impactor would tunnel right through it. A remote possibility is that the impact would create a shockwave that would break it apart, though A'Hearn called this the least likely scenario.
    • COMET CHASER COSTS RISE
      Officials must now juggle their funds to pay for a new flight for the probe early in 2004. Rosetta is currently being stored in a "clean" facility at the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana. Scientists have confirmed they want to send the spacecraft to Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko now that the original target, Comet Wirtanen, is no longer reachable in the desired timeframe.
    • IMPACT ON A COMET: ROSETTA LANDER SIMULATIONS

      During 2012 the Rosetta Lander spacecraft will be ejected from the Rosetta orbiter and touch the surface of comet 46P/Wirtanen. The objective of these simulations are the understandings of the dynamics of the spacecraft upon impact with the surface. The surface details are unfamiliar and must be described within a range of possible parameters. The collision must be damped upon impact and the spacecraft must be secured on the comet's surface. What convenient timing. Actions speak louder than words!
    • EUROPE GEARS UP FOR COMET CHASER
      It will now lift off in February 2004, after a delay of more than a year. Rosetta is scheduled for launch on 26 February 2004 on an Ariane-5 G+ rocket from Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.
      The new destination has posed some engineering challenges for the European Space Agency (Esa), not least because the comet is three times larger than Wirtanen, its original quarry.
    • (3) ROSETTA: A COMET RIDE TO SOLVE PLANETARY MYSTERIES
      The mission's target is Comet Wirtanen and the encounter will occur in 2011. Rosetta's name comes from the famous Rosetta stone, that almost 200 years ago led to the deciphering of Egyptian hieroglyphics. In a similar way, scientists hope that the Rosetta spacecraft will unlock the mysteries of the Solar System.
  3. UNUSUAL SURVIVAL STRATEGIES
    • WHERE ARE AMERICA'S EMERGENCY FOOD SUPPLIES?
      Reserves for national disaster shockingly low, rapidly disappearing
    • HOMELAND SECURITY CONTRACTS FOR VAST NEW DETENTION CAMPS
      A multimillion program for detention facilities will greatly increase NORTHCOM's ability to respond to any domestic disorders.
    • FEMA CONCENTRATION CAMPS: - Locations and Executive Orders - Think Comet Impact.
    • DOOMSDAY VAULT TO AVERT WORLD FAMINE
      WITHIN a large concrete room, hewn out of a mountain on a freezing-cold island just 1000 kilometres from the North Pole, could lie the future of humanity.
      The room is a "doomsday vault" designed to hold around 2 million seeds, representing all known varieties of the world's crops. It is being built to safeguard the world's food supply against nuclear war, climate change, terrorism, rising sea levels, earthquakes and the ensuing collapse of electricity supplies. "If the worst came to the worst, this would allow the world to reconstruct agriculture on this planet,"
    • 'DOOMSDAY' SEED BANK TO BE BUILT
    • CHINA PLANS 1,000 DISASTER SHELTERS
    • HARD CHOICES - SITE LOCATION & THE MORALITY OF SURVIVAL
      Survival preparations must incorporate a plan of action regarding those unfortunates who have never given survival or self-reliance a second thought.
    • VERY BIG BOMBS AND ROCKETS: ARMAGEDDON FOR REAL - 10 July 2000
      IBID? Over thirty years ago, a group of engineers-in-training at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology designed a far more realistic defense against a doomsday rock. Their plan would have involved a half dozen Saturn V rockets carrying some really big bombs. Wasn't that about the time the third secret of Fatima was suppose to be released?
    • CHROMDYNAMIX An Unofficial ISS web site.
      Hypothesis: The International Space Station Secret.
      The ISS is a huge kinetic device designed to deflect asteroids and comets that intersect the orbit of earth. NEO (near earth orbit) asteroids and cosmic debris will one day threaten to destroy civilization as we know it. It has happened in the past it will happen in the future. Note: such a beam would not be as vulnerable to the potential impacts from meteors found in a comet related debris field and may have a greater chance of reaching and reacting with its target than a nuclear tipped missile.
    • CASSINI AT SATURN - Approach & Phoebe
      June 2004, a few weeks before entering the orbit of Saturn, the Cassini spacecraft will fly by Phoebe and begin its landmark scientific mission. Notice Phoebe in this Bible Code.
    • CASSINI SIGNIFICANT EVENT REPORT
      Discussions focused on the upcoming Phoebe flyby on June 11, 2004, and Saturn orbit insertion on June 30 (PDT) (July 1, GMT), as well as public affairs plans to support these key activities.
    • PHOEBE
      Phoebe is the last of the known satellites of Saturn, at a distance of 12.952 million kilometers (8 million miles). Phoebe orbits Saturn in a retrograde direction (opposite to the direction of the other satellites' orbits) in a plane much closer to the ecliptic than to Saturn's equatorial plane. Voyager 2 found that Phoebe has a roughly circular shape, and reflects about 6 percent of the sunlight. It also is quite red. Phoebe rotates on its axis about once every nine hours. Thus, unlike the other Saturnian satellites (except Hyperion), it does not always show the same face to the planet.