In a June 13 article in The Guardian of the UK, reporter John Vidal writes that the weather extremes our planet is now experiencing constitute a “new normal.” WMR has been citing planetary anomalies for a few years and now the so-called “main stream” media is beginning to take notice. Vidal calls the phenomenon “global weirding.” While Vidal does not add the increase in quakes and volcanic eruptions plaguing the Earth, the suggestion that something is radically wrong is being noticed.
Although U.S. government scientists and their stenographers in the media continue to call the spate of quakes, volcanoes, and wild weather “normal,” it is becoming clear that our planet is being affected by forces that have little to do with human activity. Whether the planet is flipping its axis prior to the cataclysmic event foretold by the ancient Mayan calendar is still any one’s guess, but what is clear is that Earth-changing events are now affecting politics, economics, the environment, and standards of living around the planet.
Volcanic ash is even affecting the ability of U.S. leaders to travel abroad. Recently, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was forced to cut off a visit to Ethiopia after the Nabro volcano in Eritrea closed air routes to and from the Horn of Africa. Just last month, President Obama was forced to cut off his trip to Ireland when Iceland’s Grimsvotn volcano forced the closure of air routes in northern Europe. And last November, Obama was forced to cut short his visit to Jakarta after volcanic ash imperiled the planned air route for Air Force One.
Ash from Chile’s Puyehue volcano, which is blanketing southern South America, has forced Uruguay’s President Jose Mujica a visit to Argentina. Airports are closed throughout Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay, contributing to travel chaos, such as that previously experienced in Europe when an eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano resulted in cancellations of European and transatlantic flights, stranding thousands of travelers at airports. Obama was forced to cancel his attendance at the Lech Kaczynski in April 2010 when ash from Eyjafjallajökull prevented Air Force One from crossing the Atlantic.
The fact remains that never in recent history has the Earth witnessed such a degree of disruption from repeated natural disasters and drastic earth changing events. Japan’s economy, the world’s third largest, was devastated as a result of the super-quake, tsunami, and Fukushima nuclear core meltdown. Haiti is still in economic paralysis from its devastating quake and New Zealand continues to be hit by a series of destructive quakes. Extreme weather in the United States and Australia has partially destroyed entire towns.
Tornadoes in the southern states of the U.S. and Missouri have devastated small businesses, contributing to pre-existing high unemployment in the states most affected by the extreme weather. The Gulf Coast of the United States is still recovering from the twin disasters of hurricane Katrina and the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil blowout.
Based on The Guardian’s prediction about the future of weather patterns on our planet, we should all prepare ourselves for the a continuation of “disaster capitalism” policies that see wealthy investors thrive on natural disasters and the man-made calamities that stem from them.
Previously published in the Wayne Madsen Report.
Copyright © 2011 WayneMadenReport.com
Wayne Madsen is a Washington, DC-based investigative journalist and nationally-distributed columnist. He is the editor and publisher of the Wayne Madsen Report (subscription required).
