The 'wobble' that wipes out life on Earth every 2.5m years

The Daily Mail ^ | October 12, 2006 | JULIE WHELDON

[MadIvan]

If you are the kind of person who worries about the future, this might not make happy reading.

Scientists have found that on average mammal species enjoy only 2.5 million years of life before being wiped out because of the Earth's "wobble."

They say when the tilt and orbit reach key points it can spark dramatic global cooling - and the last time this happened was 2.6 million years ago.

This suggests we are overdue a wave of extinction.

However, before you panic, scientists say our planet has changed beyond all recognition in the last 3 million years.

The new research published in the journal Nature (must keep) however sheds new light on just why individual mammal species seem to come and go with mysterious regularity.

The study, conducted by researchers at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, involved looking at 22 million years of data on rodent species to see which ones appeared and died out at key points.

They then studied the pattern of the Earth's wobble, which is caused by two factors, our orbit around the sun and the tilt of the planet.

Both of these can be slightly altered by the gravitational pull of other planets, in the case of the tilt it can adjust by as much as two degrees, and the orbit can vary from a circle to an ellipse.

Lead researcher Dr Jan van Dam said when the tilt reaches a certain point and the orbit is almost a perfect circle it can trigger ice sheet expansion.

This could then lead to colder summers, changes in humidity and significant climate cooling.

He found a clear pattern between the Earth's wobble and mammal species dying out.

There were two distinct cycles of species turnover, one with peaks every 2. 5 million years and the other every million years.

Dr van Dam said the last peak was 2. 6 million years ago.

However he said this does not necessarily mean we are on the brink of dramatic global cooling.

'The last three million years are not representative of those we studied,' he said.

"Northern hemisphere glaciation is fully developed and that also affects the climate system."

He said global warming and destruction of habitats could also change the patterns of the past.

He also thinks people may well be able to survive global cooling, give the way our ancestors coped with past Ice Ages.

"Humans have survived ice ages which were quiet extreme and are well adapted to survival," he said.

Based on the fossil record it appears on average we have lost around 10 to 100 species - including insects, bacteria, fungi and mammals - each year.

There are currently around 5,000 known species of mammal at present and in the past 400 years 89 mammals have died out.

[MadIvan]

Perhaps we actually need some global warming.

Regards, Ivan

[MadIvan]

Ping!

[Cementjungle]

Stop Global Wobble now!

[battlegearboat]

This is Gored awful!

[HKMk23]

Ox.

Gored.

Priceless.

[Cinnamon]

so no matter what we do, the planet still goes through massive, cyclic climatic changes... regardless of what kind of gas we burn on our freeways. amazing.

[piasa]

Based on the fossil record it appears on average we have lost around 10 to 100 species - including insects, bacteria, fungi and mammals - each year.

How many do we gain each year on average according to the fossil record?

[MadIvan]

My sister bought into the global warming nonsense until I brought up the actual geological record of the earth. The world goes through massive and subtle changes, as you rightly say - stasis in weather patterns has never happened. Never. Anyone who says otherwise is lying.

Regards, Ivan

[tcrlaf]

Global Cooling?

Libs want to make it a CRIME not to believe the Global Whoring hype!!

[Cobra64]

I'm outta here!

[2ndDivisionVet]

Perhaps former Vice President Gore could start the W.E.E.B.L.E. program, because weebles wobble, but they don't fall down...

[BIGLOOK]

In the cyclical nature of climate change, we've yet to find our bearings.

However at the first wobble, I intend to withhold all tax remittances.

[Sterling]

Looks like cockroaches and weebles will survive us all

[LiberationIT]

Bump for later read.

[fabian]

the fossil record also doesn't show obvious transitional life forms that the theory of evolution says should be there. So many scientist just propose stuff as though it were true. In many things, they really don't know alot about what they think they know.

[gr8eman]

VAHT?! YOU HAVE SPOKEN A CRIME AGAINST STUPIDITY! VE VILL SEND YOU TO NUERNBURG FOR TRIAL DEN DE GULAG!

[tired&retired]

I have been following this subject for about 15 years. There is no question it has merit. Here is a link to a NASA website article I read back in 2003 that pretty much explains the science of it in simple terms. The proof is there. The exact timing of when it takes place is the real question. We are overdue right now as the shift happens about every 300,000 years and the last one was 780,000 years ago.

http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/lookingatearth/29dec_magneticfield.html

Most people don't realize that the sun actually reverses its polarity every peak solar cycle,(11 years) thus causing all the increased activity in sun spots and the coronal mass ejections which effect our weather. Back in 1978 a CME hit North America and knocked out a large sector of the Canadian power grid. The resulting mass influx of charged particles, which also cause the aura borealis, hit the power lines resulting in an overload that knocked out transformers. NASA has been monitoring this carefully for many years with the SOHO satellite.

The evidence is pretty clear just from analyzing the magnetic fields around the Mid Atlantic Ridge. When molten lava forces up between the separating teutonic plates the iron particles align with the magnetic north like a compass needle. When the lava solidifies, it locks the particles into whatever direction they were pointing when they were molten. The research clearly shows a pattern of direction shift of these particles which repeats itself. If you look at all the data from other research, you will see that the rate of change of location of our magnetic north pole has increased significantly in the past 30 years and there is a decrease in the strength of our earth's magnetic field. Just as in the sun, this decrease in polarity strength is a precursor to a shift. I'm not a catastrophist. I'm a realist. But, realizing this does not cause me to worry as, how should I say.....I'm not in control, a higher power is, so why worry about it!

[happinesswithoutpeace]

I read Edgar Cayce when I was a kid and that stuff freaked me out.

[happinesswithoutpeace]

"Humans have survived ice ages which were quiet extreme and are well adapted to survival,"

YAY! Extreme cold weather. I love it. Good to go.

[sinanju]

If Edgar Cayce had been right about his predictions then beginning in the 1960's till 2000 the Pacific Ocean would have extend to Wyoming. The Great Lakes would now be a great inland sea, Atlantis would have 'riz and J.C. would have returned to us.

He made a mistake by giving a specific timetable, unfortunately for us, his disciples never mention all the predictions he made that should have come to pass by now.