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2 Dead, 2 Missing As Another Oil Platform Burning In Gulf Of Mexico
Mere hours after BP settles, the US Coast Guard confirms there is an offshore (shallow water) platform burning in the Gulf of Mexico in the area of West Delta Block 32 (near West Cote Blanche Bay). The platform is owned by Black Elk Energy and is about 25 miles southeast of Grand Isle.
Local TV says that two people are dead and two people are missing after an explosion at the platform. More to come...
- UPDATE:Gulf rig fire was result of rig explosion at oil/gas platform "West Delta 32"owned by Black Elk Oil, ac. to Coast Guard
Via AP:
WEST COTE BLANCHE, La. (AP) — Coast Guard officials say they are investigating a fire at an oil drilling platform off the coast of Louisiana.
A parish officials says the rig is not drilling at a deepwater site like the Macondo well that blew out in 2010. That blowout led to an explosion that killed 11 workers and led to the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.
Jefferson Parish Councilman Chris Roberts tells WWL-TV that the platform is a shallow water platform in the Gulf of Mexico. It is near West Cote Blanche Bay, south of New Iberia on the south-central Louisiana coast.
The Coast Guard says it has activated a command center to investigate the fire.
The size of the fire was not immediately clear, nor was it known if there were any injuries.
And from Reuters:
An offshore oil and natural gas platform in the Gulf of Mexico burst into flames on Friday, killing at least two people and leaving two missing, officials in Louisiana said.
The structure is owned by Black Elk, an energy firm in Houston, according to media reports on local television in Louisiana. Black Elk did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
An official from Jefferson Parish confirmed there were two deaths and two people missing. A Coast Guard official told cable news network CNN that at least six people had been aboard the platform. He said the Coast Guard has search and rescue helicopters en route to the stricken platform.
According to local media reports, the platform produced both oil and natural gas and is located around 17 miles offshore Grand Isle, Louisiana.
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WTF!!! Wait, where's Corzine?
They blew the peak off of peak oil in the GOM (again).
http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=MCRFP3FM2&f=M
how about the cantarell oil field production profile? what's their excuse? "abiotic processes" taking a day off?
http://www.tickbytick.co.uk/_Media/falling_daily_production_med.jpeg
We need more dinosaurs to rot apparently. I can't believe the school my daughter goes to still teaches that shit. Wait, on second thought, I can. Carry on.
So... how far is this rig away from the methane sinkhole bomb?
Dear Eric:
"Black Elk Energy is focused on securing undercapitalized assets with the intention of maximizing financial returns through exploitation and operational efficiencies"
http://www.blackelkenergy.com/investor-relations.html
Did they copy/paste that directly from the Dilbert mission statement generator?
I like the "two missing" comments, as if there's anywhere you could have run off to when you're on a fucking exploding oil rig in the middle of the ocean.
Burning Platform???... I thought this was a Simon Black article so I dutifully clicked thru to gain valuable insights on how to better my shitty life...
Drill, Baby, Drill!
burn, baby, burn!
Call the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co! Corexit prawns are back on the daily specials menu baby!!
http://www.atrixnet.com/bs-generator.html
To answer my own question, roughly 35-50 miles.
Well, it could be worse. They could teach her that the earth is 6,000 years old, and dinosaurs roamed the world while people were around.
Dr. Dick and EK 95% of oil is abiotic as it is mined and pumped to the surface by Morlocks in order to poison the earth's surface.
We don't really know how old the earth is? Modern geology and evolutionary biology are based on tautologies. The geological column is used to date fossils, while at the same time fossils are used to date rock strata. Radio-isotope dating is marred with calibration assumptions among others. The process of planet formation under the consensus gravity-only accretion-disk model is wrought with inconsistencies and contradictions. It's all a mess basically. I'm not saying the earth is 6000 years old but, don't take things for granted either. Just saying.
Excellent point. Tautology = circular reasoning, i.e. "This reading tells me that this rock is somewhere between 3 million to 50 million years old, but I found it in the XYZ layer in the geological column, so it MUST be 2 billions years old." And then the reverse.
My favorite example for the young Earth theory is the Roche Limit, a mathematical axiom of the minimum distance between two planetary bodies before their gravitational fields would begin to tear each other apart. Assuming that the moon has slowly been escaping Earth's gravity well (at 1.5 inches/year) at the same rate, rewind the clock and you'll have the moon well within the Roche limit between the moon and the Earth (11,500 miles) within a few million years. Modern scientists cannot explain how this can be while at the same time insisting Earth is ~ 4 billion yrs old. Total bunk.
"Modern scientists cannot explain how this can be while at the same time insisting Earth is ~ 4 billion yrs old"
Total Bunk indeud.
That ~1.5 inches isn't a constant rate, but an acceleration.
There, I just explained what you claimed no modern scientist ever could.
Sorry, that's an incorrect explanation. Try this:
The present speed of recession of the moon is known. If one multiplies this recession speed by the presumed evolutionary age, the moon would be much farther away from the earth than it is, even if it had started from the earth. It could not have been receding for anything like the age demanded by the doctrine of evolution. There is as yet no tenable alternative explanation that will yield an evolutionary age of 4 billion years or more for the moon. Here is as simple a proof as science can provide that the moon is not as old as claimed.
It turns out that the earth-moon tidal friction causes the earth's spin rate to be slowing down. Lord Kelvin used that changing spin rate, assumed an initial molten earth, and proved that the earth could not be a billion years old, or the earth's present shape would be different.
Hence from theoretical and observational considerations there are two proofs that the earth-moon system can not be as old as a billion years.
Fucking LOL, so because science hasn't yet come up with a conclusive theory, it's a proof of god's existance?
Fuck me, God must have died thousands of times already, as existing frontiers of science have continuously been moved.
Regardless, attraction is a result of mass and distance squared, and as the ebb and tide will shift the gravitational centre around a tiny bit, it could result in the moon escaping earth little by little. Of course, that's just a theory I quickly whipped up, but even that would be hypercomplex and almost impossible to "prove"... to some, at least.
So you prefer your imaginary math "teacher" to have an open mind (among other things), but don't seem to exemplify that trait yourself. Good to know.
Allow me to sum up. Faith can exist without science, but science cannot exist without faith.
Yes, because articles from "Institute for Creation Research", which quote OTHER articles from the same source just screams an open mind.
And my teacher is supposed to have big tits. That's an important point!
It's unbelievable what you god squad morons will believe in and it's very disturbing that so many of the supposedly intelligent people who live here believe in creationism and all the nonsense that goes along with that. You can't accept that you were brainwashed from birth. You won't even contemplate that your whole god theory was made up by primitive people who were mentally weak and needed something to prop up their need for a hierarchy.
Bat shit crazy Christians. This website says it more succintly than I can:
"The Institute for Creation Research (ICR) is a young-Earth creationist faux-research organization that produces voluminous quote mines and logical fallacies in pursuit of debunking evolution and an old earth. They are essentially a bunch of cranks who want to undermine science education and eventually turn the United States into a young-Earth creationist, dominionist society. The Institute was founded by Henry Morris in 1972 and has since gone on to become one of the centers of the anti-evolution movement and quite possibly the general anti-science movement in the US."
http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Institute_for_Creation_Research
I have no intention of reading any replies to this because I won't waste my time on ignorant fucktards, particularly the type on here who don't give a flying fuck about anybody but themselves.
Christians, especially the radically stupid American ones, fuck you.
"The present speed of recession of the moon is known"
Sorry, that's an incorrect explanation. Try this:
As I have already pointed out, the recession of the moon isn't happening at a speed (constant rate), it is a result of acceleration (most likely variable too).
But I'll humour you and assume that all the craters and pockmarks on the moon are just God wanting to make it look like it had bad skin as a teenager, and that 3.6 cm (~1.5")/year is a constant rate in place ever since He conjured it into existence:
A generous to your point Roche limit for Earth/Moon
= 2.423 x (Earth radius) x [(Earth density) / (Moon density)]
= 2.423 x (6,380 km) x [5.52 / 3.34]
= 25,500 km
Current distance between the earth and moon= 384,400 km
Earth to Moon distance 4 billion years in the past using
flat rate of 3.6 cm / year = 240,400 km
240,000 plus km> 25,500 km
Whoops.
Huh. Actually you're right. +1 for you.
I did further research and my own math.
Shame on me for not doing my homework first.
There are other proofs I could point to for a young earth, but I won't.
The gravitational and mass inputs to the earth moon system are unknown for almost all time and hence guesses at past orbiting characteristics are conjecture and theory with a wider margin for error and uncertainty. As we saw with Shoemaker Levy comet, a mass input and small gravitational perturbations occurred on Jupiter. Any time in the past millions of years a wandering interloper small moon sized object could have passed close to the earth moon vicinity and gravitational forces could have changed the orbital characteristics either farther or closer. Roches limit might not been reached so there wouldn't even be a ring to sweep up. The dinosaur killer asteroid 65 million years ago was even a small input.
They can only determine the mininum age of rock not the max. So if radio-isotope decay shows the rock to be 2 billion years it can't be younger than 2 Billion, but it could be older ie 4 billion. FWIW: The not only do they measure the amount of radioactive materials but the quanitity of daughters contained in the sample, Different isotopes can be paired up with their decay products. Each radioactive isotope has its own unique decay chain. More than one isotope can be measured and the data from the measurements can be comparied to validate the age.
I think the Earth is probably closer to 6 Billion years since the Earth was struck by another planet to form the Earth and moon about 4.5 billion years ago. Most of the tests show the Earth is about 4.5 billion, the time of the collision. When that impact happened virtually all of the crust would have been liquidied so it difficult to find rocks older than 4.5 billion. I do recall reading an article that they found a rock in Canada that dated to about 5.8 Billion. Perhaps this rock was blasted off the planet and fell to earth after the collision preserving its age.
They have also dated metorites to 4.5 Billion, but I suspect much of the rock between the sun and Jupiter are remnants of the Earth Collision about 4.5 billion. Pehaps the only way to test the real age is to get samples from Kuiper Belt which probably contain little to none of the Earth Collision remnants.
My guess is that body that the Earth collided with had mass larger than moon and smaller than Mars. Its unlikely that this planet would have grown so soon after the solar system formed and not have crashed into another planet . It probably was in an temporary stable orbit that became unstable because of another body that destabilized its orbit over tens to hundreds of millions of years, leading to its collision with the Earth.
Also consider we have a long history of under estimating the age of the Earth. Its went from thousands to tens of thousands to 100's of thousands, millions... to billlions. I have no reason to believe the current estimate 4.5 Billion is not just another underestimate.
Great observation with:"Modern geology and evolutionary biology are based on tautologies."
I debated with my professor in an evolution course about evolution is merely a tautologies and he just said no and I was 20 years old back then.
Of course it's a tautology:
Whatever species with features which are adaptive to the current environment survives and reproduces.
Whatever species which didn't have features which were adaptive to the current environment did not survive and reproduce.
************
Test of tautological-ness:
Does it(insert any animals/plants/chairs/stuff animals/widgets) survive and reproduce? Yes. Ergo, it is adaptive and evolution is Riiiiiiiiight.
Did it survive and reproduce? No. Ergo. Evolution is Riiight again and it was the species that didn't make the cut and/or was not adaptive.
Whichever way, Evolution is Riiiiiiight!!!!!!!!
At the risk of inviting more bashing upon myself, I actually happen to believe that.
1. A pre-flood Earth encased with upper atmosphere water vapor layer with a single super continent with homogenous climate best explains incredible size of plants & animals (3' long dragonflys, seismosaurus, etc) and longevity of humans at that time (800+yrs). Water vapor layer would increase atmospheric pressure, similar to bariatric chambers used in hospitals today.
2. A cataclysmic global flood caused by water vapor sheild collapsing, combined with violent tectonic/volcanic activity, best explains rapid water burial of enormous masses of organic material contained in the fossil record, as well as fossil fuels (gas, oil, coal, etc).
3. Mainstream scientists today assume that all observable processes today (sediment deposit in the ocean, continental drift/expansion, radioactive decay in organic matter, etc) have always moved at the same rate. What if a global cataclysm violently accomplished almost all of these changes in a period of less than a year? [Scientist's head explodes due to overlooked but very important question.]
Bash away, but people far smarter than myself can articulate this theory quite well. Just take a moment to think about it.
Find yourself a Jesuit in your neighborhood and talk to him about reconciling the Bible with science...
I am being serious....
Edit: Almost forgot, check the sex offender registry first to make sure he isn't a pedaphile....
I have no interest or reason to meet with a Jesuit. I'm not catholic, thankfully.
BTW, the sexual abuse is no laughing matter -- watch the documentary "Deliver us from evil". Gut-wrenching on so many levels.
It's always good to see religious tolerance from a religious person. /sarc
Good grief, what an impressively stupid comment.
Yes, I am 'religious' and am tolerant of other religions, but that has nothing to do with approving of pedophile monsters masquerading around as priests, pastors, reverends, teachers, guidance counselors, coaches, clowns or anything else.
Right, so continents which drift just over an inch per year were connected 6,000 years ago, but moved apart due to a single year of massive moment, which then suddenly stopped. What in the fucking fuck? Has anyone actually calculated the amount of energy required to set this in motion, and ultimately, bring it to a virtual halt soon after?
There's something really badly wrong with my math. I guess I need a new teacher. Preferably blonde, big tits, and with an open mind.
Yeah, Africa/South America, magnetic field reversals.....
I was trying to be polite, faith based science arguments are never won by the scientfic method... LOL
It's not that they're completely unburdened by facts; it's that they're only burdened by the facts they choose to accept.
Not to mention the really profound misunderstanding of how science works. Scientists spend far more of their time trying to disprove their hypotheses than to support them. That is what science is: weeding out the alternatives until the truth remains.
Science in one word: falsifiability.
Got falsifiability? Science.
Fantasy fairytales that can never be disproved/falsified? As in the flying noodles monster? Not Science.
By this definition, none of these are practical "science" subjects due to the vast long time (in terms of human lifetimes) to do any experiments on them:
Archeology, human evolution theory, anything that involves fossils and how they all look (or smell?) like they are related or not.
Although DNA codes are a lot more preferably then long dead fossils, it still doesn't escape the fact that lineages among the living organisms cannot be "proven" or "falsified" with the robustness of other types of science like chemistry or physics.
RH,
can I call you Dick for short?
Anyway, you gotta do better than that tired old strawman about dinosaurs....
damn, even more fallout from Sandy
To illustrate what a tawdry farce the MSM has become, in the early '70s, it would take 50 or more trapped and dying West Virginia coal miners to generate a story of national importance or interest. People then were aware that there's a certain element of risk in just being alive. Today's American is mesmerized by meaningless jackshit.
Sounds like another high pressure gas blowout.
BOOM!!!
How long to $5.00 Gas???!!!
Define what you mean by "$5.00."
Per happy hour-sized shot
"happy-hour" is a brilliant analogy to mankind's brief love affair with oil
how long is the hang over
I've noticed as the cheap food platters disappear and the closing bell looms, more bar fights are breaking out
And the new conventional oil plays are like the fat ugly broads at the bar, what was once ignored now become irresistable....
and the wise older ones that warned us that when our money ran out, so would the spandex
Do you mean "wore out?"
Spandex is a privilege, not a right.
Note: Be wary of the 'Full-size Image' option.
@Flak: Great analogy. Consider the EROEI; I could run my vehicle and reconstitute my orange juice for a year on the alcohol/water mix it would take to get me in the mood for 'Large Marge', assuming I survived the dose. (JMHO, natch. I know some of you cornucopians find beauty in that kind of thing, and can externalize whatever it takes to get it in there.)
Hell in a handbasket.
The Gulf isn't quite completely dead yet. Maybe this time.
But look at the brightside. Wait, never mind. There isn't one.
That oil fire looks pretty bright.
probably hamas
Iranians hating us for our freedom?
Hope transocean get the fucking they deserve, they walked from Macondo... same with Haliburton..
The whole fucking world is going nuts. 12/21 seems to be closing in fast.
The black swan may be a flock of small white swans that block the light.
And it just gets better...
Wal-Mart Workers' Black Friday Strikehttp://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-11-16/wal-mart-workers-black-f...
"America’s biggest retailer may be in for an unexpectedly painful holiday season. Protesting low wages, spiking health care premiums, and alleged retaliation from management, Wal-Mart Stores workers have started to walk off the job this week. First, on Wednesday, about a dozen workers in Wal-Mart’s distribution warehouses in Southern California walked out, followed the next day by 30 more from six stores in the Seattle area.
The workers, who are part of a union-backed employee coalition called Making Change at Wal-Mart, say this is the beginning of a wave of protests and strikes leading up to next week’s Black Friday. A thousand store protests are planned in Chicago, Dallas, Miami, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Milwaukee, Los Angeles, Minnesota, and Washington, D.C., the group says."
We're also out of coffee
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gd6aLnPHqeE
I hope the Waltons take a page from Hostess and close every Walmart!
> ... and close every Walmart!
Mom & Pop couldn't be so lucky.
But, with all the regulations, they prolly couldn't start a business these days and afford to keep it.
Bah. Nevermind.
Spiking health care premiums? Wasn't that a feature of Obamacare? Oh snap!
"The black swan may be a flock of small white swans that block the light."
Or white swans covered in oil.
Another Tar Swan Event
Whocouldaknow?
explosions, wars, riots, austrity, depression, recession all after the election...
Or soot.
Part of the sealed settlement terms were to have another explosion within two weeks to help push a new energy policy
petrol, palestine, patriotism & those pesky derivatives - explosions are the policy de jour
Say that in Pete the Puma's voice.
never waste a crisis.
Looks like the oil industry isn't going to take the chance of another warm winter ruining their profits.
Green Peace sabotage .... again ! On the day after the BP settlement with Holder Fuck ? They've gone "Full PETA" ! Socialism ain't dead yet ! LOL
I'm sure it is labor's fault, just like Hostess' $1,000,000,000 in debt.
It is labor's fault because labor pulled the can away so management couldn't kick it anymore. That company hasn't been financially viable for a decade.
This is also the main problem in Europe; Germany wants out, Greece wants out, but neither is willing to take the blame for destroying the Euro even though it is already destroyed.
Same thing coming to US. The all Democrat Congress from 4 years ago never passed a budget because to put it on paper is to accept blame. The Repubs came in and still no budget and the farce will continue for 4 more years cause Dems and Repubs aren't going to take the blame.
Someone needs to fucking bail out my Twinkie habit company - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h76OxJ8x-6w
How can a company lose money making overpriced sugary crap with GMO wheat?
...in the fattest country in the world, no less.
I wonder if they will find any kalashnikovs in the underwater wreckage for this one too.
Fast and Furious ! S A B O T A G E ! Soooo like liberals .... their stupid predictions don't come true .... they make them happen !
wait, I thought Dick Cheney was with Halibuttorn?
...and this day just keeps getting better.
6.8 Mag earthquake near Kuril Islands, Russia.
ME War, Oil rigs burning in the Gulf, Iran even closer to nuke's, and the US falling off a cliff... All Bullish.
I thought we had unlimited oil everywhere? Why are we having such trouble getting oil out of the ground?
Seems lately we are having trouble keeping it in the ground.
pods
it's almost as if those two subjects are related
The GoM oil disasters show that our technology is not suffecient to extract the oil at these depths. Oil production has peaked worlwide since 2005 and there is nowhere to go but down for EROEI.
This is a shallow well. I do not believe these to be technological problems, but rather planning and operational problems. Such as, you know, turning the warning lights and alarms off because they are annoying.
the amazing pressures down there played no role in the volume that came out so fast and the time it took to cap?
John Jimmi you know geological realites have no place in our "official" energy policy
Another oil rig in the Gulf on fire/leaking?
.
Dont worry, 'they' will corexit and make it right again
Where are those Iranian subs???
*Iranian nuclear subs...
There is a reason oil rig workers are some of the most highly-paid blue collar guys around. Hazard pay.
Combat pay !
obuma to the tv in 5 , 4, 3...my fellow subjects we project BP type fines will balance the budget we just need a few more blowouts..that will be all.
the Glue is coming off...
Waiter! Another order of Shrimp Jambalaya. Hold the secret sauce if you don't mind.
Just more evidence of things concealed until after the election... were is Fox news when we need them. <sarc>
"Somebody hates these oil cans !" .... Steve Martin in "The Jerk"
It's time to go to war with the ancient Mayan terrorists. Save us DHS!!
12:21:12
The pale horse rides; death and hell follow.
I hope so. Otherwise, I'm gonna have a hell of a hangover from the End of the World party.
Shallow water drilling is much more easir to fix than deepwater. Cool down everyone... Might just prove why government bans on shallow water drilling is stupid once this one gets fixed quickly.
So, do you work for BP?
You seem to have neglected to present your credentials indicating your expertise in the appropriate field. Please do so now.......or shut up.
You seem to have neglected to present your credentials as a person who knows when to ask for credentials. Please do so now... or go read some Krugman.
Quick Ben, go stuff some dollars in that leak.
Hey.......a "buck shot"......that just might work!
Hey, on the bright side since it is shallow water we know that the spill can not become very large.... Afterall, there is only so much blood in a turnip...
This just in - it was a stray Hamas missile. Longer range than we thought.
I'm sure if we starve & bomb them, they will become more passive
lol
Houston, TX – 15 November 2012 – Black Elk Energy Offshore Operations, an independent oil and gas company, is pleased to announce that it has been ranked at number 41 in the small business category for The Houston Chronicle Top Workplaces.
http://www.chron.com/business/top-workplaces/
"Tis only a flesh wound." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKhEw7nD9C4
"The platform is owned by Black Elk Energy and is about 25 miles southeast of Grand Isle."
Maybe they should be re-branded, "Black Swan Energy".
The Keynesians needed another broken window to stimulate the economy. Look at all the good the last spill did...
They are leaving it the way they found it?
Fill 'er up! The Gulf, I mean...
False Flag. Dontcha know we couldn't have gasoline prices spike because of Israeli agreesion and our failed foreign policy in the Middle East. Gots to blame something else.
Aaand the Halliburton name shows up once again:
"Effective September 25, 2012, Carl Hammond, Chief Well Officer and a named executive officer of Black Elk Energy Offshore Operations, LLC, is no longer employed by the company. Keith Hubbard will assume the responsibilities and duties of the Chief Well Officer. Mr. Hubbard has served as Well Operations Manager since joining the Company as a consultant in August 2009 and becoming an employee in February 2010. Mr. Hubbard brings over 32 years of oilfield experience. Prior to joining the company, Mr. Hubbard served as Operations Manager at West Star Operating Company from October 2007 to July 2009 and was responsible for all drilling, completion and production operations. Mr. Hubbard also spent 27 years with Halliburton Energy Services"
http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?p...
nice work.
I love it when the dots get connected. . .
Let's see if Barry waits a week before getting off his ass this time.
Surely you smart folks have noticed the number of things blowing up right after the election......I suggest you view former KGB agent Yuri Bezmenov interviews from the 1980's on how to destroy a country from within. Looks like Dear Leader and his troglodytes are pushing us into Phase 3: Crisis. Next up: Phase 4: Normalization....and that my kiddies has nothing to do with 'normal'.
The oil fields in the Gulf are building up pressure from all the recent earthquakes. One day there will be a big black burp. Then what?
Hell, this ia as good a place as any
Extreme Weather Preceded Collapse of Ancient Maya Civilization
ScienceDaily (Nov. 8, 2012) — Decades of extreme weather crippled, and ultimately decimated, first the political culture and later the human population of the ancient Maya, according to a new study by an interdisciplinary team of researchers that includes two University of California, Davis, scientists.
The collapse of the Maya is one of the world's most enduring mysteries. Now, for the first time, researchers have combined a precise climatic record of the Maya environment with a precise record of Maya political history to provide a better understanding of the role weather had in the civilization's downfall.
Their findings are published in the Nov. 9, 2012 issue of the journal Science.
"Here you had an amazing state-level society that had created calendars, magnificent architecture, works of art, and was engaged in trade throughout Central America," said UC Davis anthropology professor and co-author Bruce Winterhalder. "They were incredible craftspersons, proficient in agriculture, statesmanship and warfare -- and within about 80 years, it fell completely apart."
To determine what was happening in the sociopolitical realm during each of those years, the study tapped the extensive Maya Hieroglyphic Database Project, run by UC Davis Native American Language Center director and linguist Martha Macri, a specialist in Mayan hieroglyphs who has been tracking the culture's stone monuments for nearly 30 years.
"Every one of these Maya monuments is political history," said Macri.
Inscribed on each monument is the date it was erected and dates of significant events, such as a ruler's birthday or accession to power, as well as dates of some deaths, burials and major battles. The researchers noted that the number of monuments carved decreased in the years leading to the collapse.
But the monuments made no mention of ecological events, such as storms, drought or references to crop successes or failures.
For that information, the research team collected a stalagmite from a cave in Belize, less than 1 mile from the Maya site of Uxbenka and about 18 miles from three other important centers. Using oxygen isotope dating in 0.1 millimeter increments along the length of the stalagmite, the scientists uncovered a physical record of rainfall over the past 2,000 years.
Combined, the stalagmite and hieroglyphs allowed the researchers to link precipitation to politics. Periods of high and increasing rainfall coincided with a rise in population and political centers between 300 and 660 AD. A climate reversal and drying trend between 660 and 1000 AD triggered political competition, increased warfare, overall sociopolitical instability, and finally, political collapse. This was followed by an extended drought between 1020 and 1100 AD that likely corresponded with crop failures, death, famine, migration and, ultimately, the collapse of the Maya population.
"It has long been suspected that weather events can cause a lot of political unrest and subject societies to disease and invasion," Macri said. "But now it's clear. There is physical evidence that correlates right along with it. We are dependent on climatological events that are beyond our control."
Said Winterhalder: "It's a cautionary tale about how fragile our political structure might be. Are we in danger the same way the Classic Maya were in danger? I don't know. But I suspect that just before their rapid descent and disappearance, Maya political elites were quite confident about their achievements."
this is al Qaeda telling Potus to keep Netty out of Gaza. Or its a Cia shill telling potus to get off Petraeus's back or its a ruski Fsb telling Potus to keep out of Syria or its BP telling the US judicial system that its tired of being bogey man or its the Louisiana pelicans saying if you don't stop oil driling we'll shit on you like wild birds out of a Hitchkock film or its Chavez saying he wants to give his competitors in Gulf area an ottoman shave.
You have so many choices when you don't want to believe the obvious by incurring a conspiracy theory.
very interesting perspective, thanks for linking it Flak.
so maybe the "military" seeking to "own the weather by 2025" has some, uh, backstory?
heh.
I admit the communist has a lot on the plate right now but what better time to nationalize the oil industry to protect the environment, insure the collective stability and safety to everyone in the newly formed USSA..
Yeah, I know it was slated for next year but .. sometimes unexpected windfall opportunities dictates policy decisions, or in this case accelerates them.
Earth calling PR, Earth calling PR!
Put down the crack pipe, put down the crack pipe....