The Refreshment Center: The Sky Is A Neighborhood: Younger Dryas, Red Herrings and A Troubling Theory

submission and photography by Gabrielle Jones-Price

Storm cloud 1, 2006

From the NOAA website: The Younger Dryas is one of the most well known examples of abrupt (climate) change. About 14,500 years ago, Earth's climate began to shift from a cold glacial world to a warmer interglacial state.

Partway through this transition, temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere suddenly returned to near-glacial conditions. This near-glacial period is called the Younger Dryas, named after a flower (Dryas octopetala) that grows in cold conditions and that became common in Europe during this time. The end of the Younger Dryas, about 11,500 years ago, was particularly abrupt. In Greenland, temperatures rose 10°C (18°F) in a decade.

"temperatures rose 10°C (18°F) in a decade."

It is that bit of data that has been keeping me up nights scratching my head and poring over as much data as I can find. Especially after learning about the work being done by Randall Carlson and Graham Hancock. I literally stumbled upon them discussing a theory during a random Joe Rogan podcast playing in the background. That's an interesting tale about synchronicity for part two of this series.

Please bear with me. I do not claim special knowledge on climate science, nor do I claim to know more than half a dozen scientists through my work as a media analyst. Analysis requires I choose carefully what data I share. I've always been keen to share 'news you can use': the kind of information that may motivate people to prepare for consequences that mainstream media neglects to inform a (supposedly) democratic society. There is a LOT we're not told. There's also a lot more on the internet and wading through what means absolutely nothing or doesn't seem a damn bit useful to human beings trying to make sense of the world has been a lot like herding cats. Now it's like trying to catch a lone catfish barehanded from a barrel full of red herrings.

It is time to back away from the barrel and announce those waters have been intentionally muddied, making it more difficult to grasp a clear picture. As a photographer it is annoying for any subject to be out of focus. At the same time, focusing too much on the same subject gets increasingly dull and myopic. Even science can get stuck in a dogmatic loop when it ignores new data. So I must admit that when I see large corporations, mainstream media and multi-billion dollar NGO's parroting the same evidence as independent scientists [especially among what are known as 'doomer' or extinction groups], I simply cannot help but be a little skeptical...especially during an 'information drought'.

Is this really ALL there is to know? Can this really be the end of the road? I'm finding the answers to these questions are as preposterous as the notion that America is still a 'superpower'.

Anyone who has known me and the work I've done knows I'm jaded, but I'm in pretty fine company. I'm reminded of the words of Wendell Berry, from his poem, Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front,

As soon as the generals and the politicos
can predict the motions of your mind,
lose it. Leave it as a sign
to mark the false trail, the way
you didn’t go. Be like the fox
who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction.

That's exactly how I'm viewing Randall and Graham's work. The picture is far bigger than the barrel of red herrings. Frankly, I consider most news an utter distraction, not at all useful, unless of course your favorite pastime is paying a cable company to supply your own lobotomy.

I Was Born A Victory Gardener's Granddaughter

I know scientists familiar with economics, peak oil, limits to growth, botany, ecology and permaculture. By sheer proxy of living in Indiana and being a photographer, who used to be crazy enough to chase thunderstorms, I needed to employ keen and intuitive observation skills for abrupt weather changes. This also meant paying attention to radar, barometric pressure and even animal behavior. Tracking storms was how I came to know areas of my home state intimately...not to mention a cornucopia of music on the road.

Storm cloud 2, 2006

Something that is asked of those who study permaculture is to 'be intuitive with your landscape.' I suppose this is exactly how I earned the title analyst. After all, observation and intuition is what any good photographer possesses. However, when you decide to chase storms, you have to analyse data along with using your intuition. Otherwise mother nature will treat your vehicle like a child's toy or hand you your ass...literally. 'Game over' by lightning, flying debris, or flash flooding. Awareness is key.

Admittedly, it was a bit of an adrenaline rush but I wasn't in it for that. It was the feeling of sheer awe to witness the beauty of nature's rage and her calmness; the bounty of blooming fields, the brightness of flowers and budding trees, even after the most violent spring storm. Incredibly humbling experiences. Fascinated by those changes since I was a little girl, I always asked lots of questions about my surroundings. Such is the bane of most adults; an overly inquisitive child with questions they couldn't always answer. We didn't have Google then so it was 'Get thee to a library!' if I wanted some answers no one could give me.

It was in a library I learned that lightning has enough electrical energy to separate nitrogen atoms in the air. Once separated they can fall to earth with the rain water, and combine with minerals in the soil to form nitrates, a type of fertilizer. Nitrogen made the grass and the leaves on the trees a brighter shade of green with every storm. A circle of life which I've come to learn is fractal on many levels.

Thank goddess for Carl Sagan.

Storm cloud 3, 2006

Chasing storms was not unlike a sport, trying to capture lightning on film. A bit like fishing with a regular 35mm film camera, it was a game of chance. I had to read radar, pay attention to wind speed and direction in order to be out ahead of a storm, and then hope I was in the right place at the right time. I saw a lot more than I was ever able to capture but was never disappointed by a light show. Living in tornado alley, I thought humans who lived within it would, like me, automatically have great respect and reverence for nature. They certainly respect the destructive power, as evidenced by the large emergency/warning systems throughout the state. Many family farms employ their root cellars for cover during tornadoes. However, the little girl full of questions grew up to discover that farming techniques have changed for the worse. The rise of toxic fertilizer, pesticides and corporate seed has nothing to do with reverence but exploitation.

This is why I continue to support those working to shift that agricultural paradigm.

Myself and farmer friend, Megan | Greenhorns Tent, Neil Young ecovillage, 2015, Monsanto Years Tour, Ohio

You just aren't supposed to mess with natural cycles...but then again I've also learned that this is precisely what agriculture has been from the beginning. Agriculture is the birth of civilizations. Our industrial civilization which continues large scale mono-cropping is making the soil, the water, the air, the animals and all of us -- even our psyches -- incredibly sick. We did not remember the lessons of the Dust Bowl. We are disconnected from the circle of life; plugged into a mechanistic system that now hinges on the precipice of a cataclysm, known as 'peak oil' : steep energy decline. Growing seasons are unknown to many and younger generations don't understand that their food does not originate at a grocery store, or that water doesn't originate at the sink tap. To be fair, I may never have known these things myself had it not been for savvy grandparents; victory gardeners who were close to the land. What we now call organic is what my ancestors called, "food."

I miss their knowledge. The kind of folk wisdom that is passed down and sorely missing from our human experience.

We're A Species With Amnesia

This 'forgetting' is something that Graham Hancock reiterates often and I could not agree more. I would add that this is not simply because his work reveals more about ancient civilizations but that this amnesia continues through deliberate brainwashing of the current civilization. That barrel of red herrings we call 'news' is accurately described as propaganda, the brainchild of Freud's nephew, Ed Bernays. Public Relations has made us forget that we are human, that we are connected to the land, the animals, our food -- but we believe that a corporation is a person? This is dangerous amnesia. Revisionists have control of school books, newspapers, media, libraries and now work in the White House. Women's rights are being dragged into the dark ages. Racism is rampant. The social contract is in absolute tatters along with our psychological fabric when this is considered progress:

I'd say that is pretty cataclysmic...and fractal when we consider history we were never meant to forget. These things happened during WWII and what I learned from my grandfather about his service during his time as a field radio technician in France. He fought fascism, and so did I when I took to the streets during Occupy. Begging the question, if you are not anti-fascist...what are you if not an enemy of my ancestor who sacrificed greatly to secure Constitutional rights you're content to throw away? What we lose after that is basic human rights that are not handed to a soul but given by birthright.

These are heady and existential questions for another time. For the moment, I want to talk about a theory which is new to me, it is utterly mind-blowing and its consequences more dire than everything I have just mentioned...

...yes, everything.

After the storm - Mandelbrot tree reflection in pond, 2007

There are some problems we can collectively do something about. Some issues that are not muddied, not unfocused. The theory put forth by Randall and Graham will require a great deal of political will to evoke a response worthy of the challenge we face. I'm unsure any subject will ever be more important and here is where I know my stance will be irrevocably controversial; the following subject is more important than the theory of "human caused" climate change.

Why?

Climate change began a really, really long time ago before fossil fuels were even discovered by humans...and the theory is that Younger Dryas ended "about 11,500 years ago, was particularly abrupt" and points to cosmic impacts. In other words, a comet [possibly a few] slammed into the earth and ended the ice age abruptly. The glaciers have simply been in steady decline and flux ever since.

Exactly like cheap, easy-to-get oil has been in decline since 1970. One thing we're certainly not running out of soon is a sky that is neighborhood to a LOT of comets. We just happen to be dodging some big debris that can effectively hand us our collective ass in an instant. Boom: No agriculture. No storm chasing. No libraries. No animals. No music, no art, no women, no men, no dancing, no books, no Democrats, no Republicans, no fascists, no Nazis, no money, no rights...no people.

Nothing.

This tragedy would not occur because of something any of us did but because of something we failed to do. We stopped paying attention and looking at the natural world with reverence. We stopped seeing the bigger picture of our Earth in the sky. We were hypnotized by red herrings, propaganda, celebrity culture, zit creme, alien conspiracies, shitty pop music, manicured lawns and steel belted radials. All the while, centuries of amazing knowledge has been lost to us, continues to be rewritten, censored, mocked and even burned. What of the clues left behind? What if Mr. Carlson and Mr. Hancock have stumbled upon a great truth -- the mother lode of all truths? A global reset button. The 'three finger salute' from the Universe. Control, Alt, Delete.

Reboot.

Now are you grasping what Graham Hancock means when he says 'we're a species with amnesia?' What has happened before, can happen again. Have mercy on us, goddess Kali! What I'm realizing in all the data they present is that climate change cannot be stopped. It is a natural cycle. It can only be mitigated and adapted to with as many permaculture principles as we can muster, teach en masse to heal the soil we've destroyed. Climate change did not do that -- humans did that. But we can evolve. We can adapt.

We also have the technology available to avoid another comet catastrophe. We'll not be able to avoid another one, unless and until -- we realize we're all one human family on this spaceship Earth and we start speaking loudly with one voice. A human voice. Like the heroic figures who fought Nazi's in WWII. Sophie Scholl comes to mind often these days because she understood that we will never survive what's on the horizon if we're at war with ourselves. The biggest questions left I can even think to ask are whether that one voice will be heard and if so, will it be the last cry of civilized humans to echo through the cosmos?

I don't know. I do not believe for an instant that any soul on this hurtling rock CAN know. What I can tell you is the curious little girl in my heart is amazed at the possibilities and in sheer awe of it all. She hopes you'll come back and see more data to be shared here and perhaps join her to work together to make something amazing happen. I am starting to follow some leads in the landscape to observe and continue study. Along with permaculture, this is my work. The work.

No more red herrings!

My 50 year old self invites my fellow human beings to work to find themselves and their authentic voices. Cut your cable cord. Do your shadow work. Go outside for 24 hours. No. Go outside longer. Get away from social media. Dance. Sing a song. Heal. Write a shitty poem. Define yourself or this culture will destroy that, too. It's the most important freedom we still have. Our voice needs to be sober, focused, clear and it damn well better be loud.

In the spirit of a focused voice of clarity, please note that in the last 11,500 years of data, there is no proof that the Earth revolves around anyone's genitals...nor is it flat. Hail Sagan.

___________

The Sky Is A Neighborhood Part II: Permaculture, Heretics and Synchronicity