Stagnation is a desired state-of-being.
In fact, many people don’t want anything to change and will fight tooth and nail to avoid any real changes. This may be due to the idea that, in general, people want things to stay the same forever and ever, even when things are not as great as they could possibly be. Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t–or so they say.
Well, we Taobabes are under no illusion about the state of permanence (or lack thereof) of the universe. In fact, the I Ching is not called The Book of Changes for nothing, because for better or worse, EVERYTHING changes, including those things that were once thought of as immutable and invincible.
The North Pole, although not exactly permanent, was still one of those immutable things that I never would have thought would change within my lifetime, but stranger things have happened. According to NASA, the North Pole is (slowly) moving towards London.
“Around the year 2000, Earth’s spin axis took an abrupt turn toward the east and is now drifting almost twice as fast as before, at a rate of almost 7 inches (17 centimeters) a year. ‘It’s…moving…toward the British Isles,’ said Adhikari.” [1]
Seven inches is not a huge amount, granted, but grand canyons have been carved from drops of water, grinding away relentlessly at it over time. Add to this the fact that pole changes are not constant (meaning it can–and quite often did–move quickly over a very short amount of time), points to the likelihood that we are poised on the edge of that inconceivable pole change.
Please do not confuse this pole change to that very dramatic movement called Pole Reversal, which although quite grandiose in comparison and very much overdue, is not part of the scope of this post. This north pole movement is more in line with that of the Precession of the Earth, which I detailed in one of my previous posts, Winter In July.
The shift in the direction of the north pole would cause northern Europe to become subsumed into the frigid region of extreme north, causing certain areas of the world to become much more difficult to live in. Conversely, it will also open up other parts of the world, allowing for milder climate and the dissipation of what had heretofore been considered perma-frost. In other words, with that much shift in the pole’s location, Alaska would be almost tropical.
Almost.
With warmer days ahead for Alaska and its Russian counterparts, life on this part of the North American continental plate would become much easier. Warm days will be longer, and cold days will lessen. This has already been reported to NASA by the Native Americans living in and around Alaska.
The Inuits have been reporting as early as 2013 that the earth has shifted or “wobbled”. The elders declare that the sun rises at a different position now, as opposed to where it previously rose. The sun is much higher in the sky now than at any time in Inuit collective memory. The Inuit reported a longer daylight, allowing them to hunt for longer time period.
Furthermore, the area is getting warmer, and much more quickly than before. Other Native American elders across the north also confirmed these celestial changes when interviewed. [2]
The idea of having a bridge (or tunnel) across the Bering Strait, all of a sudden, makes sense. The construction and maintenance efforts would be quite feasible, given the extra hours of sunlight and extra degrees of warmth in winter that this area will receive due to the changes in the pole.
In anticipation of warmer days ahead, the President of the Russian Railways company Vladimir Yakunin wants to build an expanse that would be worthy of the most die-hard of road enthusiasts. [3]
His proposal consists of a bold plan to build a driveable road across the Bering Strait, following along the route of the old Moscow-to-Vladivostok passage and ultimately across 55 miles of Bering Sea. This sea-crossing passage would, of course, be linked to another yet-to-be-constructed roadway which would have to forge through certain remote regions of Alaska.
Now, to be fair, this idea is not a new one. A railway and tunnel had been proposed as early as 1905 by Tsar Nicholas II, but there were many setbacks, not the least of which were wars, both bloody and cold.
It would also be very costly.
The price tag on the bridge alone is roughly along the lines of 25 to 50 billion dollars. Add in the connecting roads which need to span across Europe, Russia, and Alaska and the number grows to 1.5 trillion, roughly what the US spent on the Iraqi war, which gained us tax payers absolutely nothing but the tragic deaths of 4,491 military troops, not to mention many more wounded soldiers. [4]
Obviously, for this to happen, the world would have to be a much more peaceful place. That peace could possibly begin with a literal bridge that would connect the two super powers in a tangible fashion, facilitating the flow of goods, information, and people back and forth to either side. Should this bridge ever become a reality, I will be packing my gear and making that long drive to the other side.
[2] Inuit Claims Earth Shifted
[3] Russia Rail & Tunnel Bridge Bering Strait
[4] Super Highway Across Bering Strait
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