My Experiences About Pets and Reincarnation: Why They Don't Come Back Immediately in other animals

  Recently I received an email from someone who had lost their dog. She had been to other mediums and a few told her that if she adopts another dog, her deceased dog's spirit would reincarnate into that other dog. That is absolutely not my experience, and I think it's misleading. Here's why. 

People have often asked me if a pet can reincarnate as another dog or cat within this lifetime. The answer is usually "no."" - but they come back with us in our next lifetime. That is my experience with talking to pets on the other side. They usually wait for us until it's our time. 

 If another medium gets a different message from a pet, that particular pet may be in a hurry to come back while a person is still alive but it doesn't make sense to me because pets in spirit KNOW they can still be around us, give us signs to confirm that, and even use human spirits on the other side to do so.

 

My communications with thousands of pets in Spirit:  For the most part, pets do not come back in the body of another dog or cat in our lifetime. They wait for us on the other side. Further, Some even act as spirit guides for us. And, in addition, they lead us to our next pet and they help train them. 

Why immediate reincarnation doesn't make sense:  That would be like a child of humans dying of cancer and coming back as another child immediately - that doesn't happen. Our children in this lifetime are different souls. Even those who may have been miscarried. That soul is different from the soul of the child that you may have given birth to after the miscarriage.  In addition, souls stay on the other side and wait for us when it's OUR TIME to transition.

The bottom line here is that in terms of mediums, not everyone is the same. Further, no one here has all the answers. We can only convey what spirit tells us.

Why it isn't helpful to say that someone reincarnates in this lifetime: We don't know the answers. Again, not an exact science.  Further, I believe that telling people that their pet quickly reincarnates and finds their pet parent again in this life also gives people false hopes that their dog or cat has suddenly "come back to life in a different form." 

    I guess I could understand someone saying that to try and comfort someone in their grief, but I would never mislead anyone in thinking that - because it's definitely not my experience with the thousands of animals who have communicated with me. 

     I actually hoped my puppy Buzz would come back, but of course he didn't. Instead he is one of my spirit guides that enables me to communicate with animals on the other side. So, there's no right answer, but this is MY experience.

If you want to read about my experiences and the messages I've received from Pets on the other side, my books "Pets and the Afterlife" and "Pets and the Afterlife 2" are available on Amazon.com and both under $10 (to make it affordable to all).  

- Rob Gutro

 

100,000 Year Old Human Footprints Discovered!

Anthropology gives us a lot of scientific surprises. The latest discovery (according to Science News) are human footprints that are 100,000 years old! The tracks also occurred around the same time as an elephant's tracks. Here's the fascinating story>>

(Image Caption: Human footprints, including the one shown here (heel impression at bottom, toes at top), found at an ancient lake suggest that people moved through parts of the Arabian Peninsula more than 100,000 years ago, a study finds.  KLINT JANULIS)

Seven footprints may be the oldest evidence of humans on the Arabian Peninsula

 

By Bruce Bower, Science News

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 AT 4:51PM

 

Footprints discovered at what was once a rain-fed lake in Saudi Arabia’s Nefud Desert suggest that humans on the move made a pit stop there more than 100,000 years ago.

 

The seven human footprints are likely the oldest evidence of Homo sapiens on the Arabian Peninsula, a new study finds. Dating sediment from above and below the foot impressions places them around 112,000 to 121,000 years old, researchers report September 18 in Science Advances. The previous oldest evidence of humans in the region dates to at least 86,000 years ago (SN: 4/9/18).

Elsewhere in Saudi Arabia, researchers have found stone tools like those made by African H. sapiens that date to around 125,000 years ago (SN: 1/27/11), raising the likelihood that the newly discovered footprints were made by humans.

  

Ancient H. sapiens groups likely used the site, known as Alathar, as a watering hole and place to forage for food in surrounding grasslands, say biologist Mathew Stewart of the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany and colleagues. Sediment analyses suggest ancient people reached the lake during a dry stretch when the region’s rivers and lakes were shrinking.

(Image right: Preserved footprints of elephants (left) and camels (right) at a dried-up lake in Saudi Arabia date to the same time as ancient human footprints, researchers say.  M. STEWART ET AL/SCIENCE ADVANCES 2020)
 

Other finds at the site dating to the same period include 107 camel footprints and 43 elephant footprints. Those impressions were made by herds of juvenile and adult animals, the scientists say. Fossils eroding out of footprint-bearing sediment included remains of elephants and large gazelles called oryxes, but not humans.

 

Although humans might have hunted at the lake, the researchers found no stone tools or animal bones bearing butchery marks. Ancient people probably stopped briefly at Alathar, perhaps while following herds of elephants or other creatures through the region, the researchers say.

 

Earlier members of the Homo genus, possibly Homo erectus, reached a grassy Arabian Peninsula at least 300,000 years ago and again around 240,000 years ago (SN: 11/29/18).

Prehistoric Mammals: Ancient Lystrosaurus tusks may show the oldest signs of a hibernation-like state

 I love dinosaurs (if you haven't noticed by reading this blog), and I love to share the latest findings on them because for some reason, they don't tend to make news.... and they SHOULD. Here's the latest from Science News:

(Sketch right:  Tusks from ancient Lystrosaurus animals (one shown in this artist’s reconstruction) have dark bands that might signal periods when the animals wintered in a state akin to hibernation.
CRYSTAL SHIN) 

Ancient Lystrosaurus tusks may show the oldest signs of a hibernation-like state 

These oddball ancestors of mammals might have slowed down to wait out the polar darkness 

By Susan MiliusSEPTEMBER 16, 2020 AT 8:00 AM  SCIENCE NEWS

 The earliest fossil evidence of the metabolic slowdowns known as torpor may come from tusks of ancient creatures called Lystrosaurus. 

 Fossil signatures of hibernation, a form of torpor, have turned up in rodent teeth several million years old. Lystrosaurus species, however, flourished from about 252 million to 248 million years ago. 

 These ancient relatives of mammals were “totally bizarre animals,” says paleontologist Megan Whitney at Harvard University’s Museum of Comparative Zoology. With short-legged bodies like a corgi, they sported tusks plus a bony turtlelike beak instead of a mouthful of teeth. Species ranged in size from smaller, doggish animals to somewhat cowlike creatures. 

 Lystrosaurus lived in some of the most dramatic times on Earth. Unlike many creatures, it survived the massive volcanic eruptions in what’s now Siberia that upset the chemistry of Earth’s atmosphere and oceans and probably triggered the Permian mass extinction about 252 million years ago. Some 70 percent of species on land went extinct (SN: 8/28/15). 

Tusks of Lystrosaurus, like those of modern elephants, grow throughout the animals’ lives, recording a biography of sorts. Whitney examined six fossil tusks found in what is now Antarctica. In the Lystrosaurus heyday, those animals would have been far enough south to experience months of darkness in winter. 

 She found some zones of closely spaced wide dark bands in the tusks that might indicate stress and seasons of torpor. Cells that normally add light-colored dentine material may have stalled for some period of time, creating only a dark mess. Thin, light stripes between dark ones indicate when cells may have been active again, and could signal brief warm-ups like those of modern hibernators, Whitney and paleontologist Christian Sidor of the University of Washington in Seattle report August 27 in Communications Biology. 

 For comparison, Whitney examined four other tusks, from Africa’s Karoo Basin, which would not have lost sunlight during winter. These fossils didn’t show the big clusters of dark stress bands. One way to explain the difference is that the zones of wide dark bands indicate torpor, and animals with milder winters didn’t need to enter that state.

Idiot of the Week: Driver Stored Leaky Acetylene Tanks in car... it Exploded

Photo: https://twitter.com/RyanWelchPhotog/status/1295797700059959296

This week's idiot comes from Rhode Island. Not a Darwin Award winner, though. He survived. Here's the story from the Boston Globe from August 20

CAR WITH LEAKY ACETYLENE TANKS EXPLODES IN RHODE ISLAND
Boston.com Aug 20, 2020

Just before a man went to pump gas at a station in Rhode Island, he used the car’s key fob to pop the trunk. Then, the entire vehicle exploded, scattering debris of car parts far enough that they went out toward the nearby highway, according to Albion, RI Fire Chief Richard Andrews.

There were two acetylene tanks in the trunk; acetylene is typically used for welding. One was leaking, and authorities believe opening the trunk triggered the blast. The motorist didn’t actually pump gas. 

Photo: https://twitter.com/RyanWelchPhotog/status/1295797700059959296

“The field of debris was pretty large, probably about 100 feet in diameter,” Andrews said.

IMPORTANT: 7 Things People Get Wrong about "Black Lives Matter"

The best thing we can do is educate ourselves and understand each other. There's a lot of misinformation out (from extremists on both sides), so it's important to determine the facts. 

Here’s a look at the most harmful untruths surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement that need to end. 

 WRONG:  1. It’s new. The phrase “Black lives matter” wasn’t really part of the modern conversation until the killing of Trayvon Martin, when writer and activist Alicia Garza included the phrase in a Facebook post and it was amplified by others. But the idea has been fought for over the past several hundred years. “It’s really a continuation of the legacy of fighting for civil rights and social justice by people of color, particularly Black people.... It just happens to be called ‘Black Lives Matter’ now,” Cooper said. He added that the only thing that’s really changed is the access activists have to platforms, particularly online, and the speed with which people can get that information. “But we are still talking about an ethnic group of people who have had to constantly and consistently fight for social agency and human rights in a society that continues to find ways to deny them of such,” Cooper said. 

  WRONG: 2. It’s disorganized. There are three well-known founders of the Black Lives Matter organization, including Garza, but the general movement by that same name is a decentralized, grassroots effort that spans regions, demographics and mediums. For that reason, some critics say that it lacks leadership or a clear agenda. However, Cooper said this is largely a generational misunderstanding. When it comes to the fight for civil rights, older generations were accustomed to seeing it unfold a certain way: A national or regional leader would serve as the spokesperson, organizing protests, sit-ins and other methods of demonstration, and lead the charge for change. Black Lives Matter, on the other hand, exists in pockets across the country (and the globe). There’s no “right way” to get the message across, and members from hyperlocal chapters and other organizations rely on a variety of methods, including sustained protesting, social media campaigns, art and poetry. 

   For an outsider, it might seem disorganized. But like demonstrations of the past, such as the Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott in the 1950s, many strategic choices have been made that people of color don’t get enough credit for, Cooper said. “It shows a level of sophistication, actually, and an understanding of nuances and regional differences that this group has organized far better than past movements.” 

  WRONG: 3. It’s pro-violence. About 93% of the 10,600-plus racial justice protests in the U.S. this summer have been peaceful. Those that did become violent involved aggression by police or by counterprotesters from extremist groups, researchers noted. But one-off instances of violence, looting and aggressive demonstrators have been conflated to suggest the Black Lives Matter movement employs and condones violence. “It’s absurd because it’s the thing we’re protesting against,” said Michelle Saahene, co-founder of the activist group From Privilege to Progress. “People need to be able to differentiate between protesters and rioters, or protesters and opportunists.” The unfortunate truth is that there will always be outliers who look for opportunities to cause chaos or harm during tense times. Looting and riots also occur because of hurricanes, sporting events and for many other terrible reasons. That doesn’t excuse the violence surrounding Black Lives Matter protests, by any means. But it is important to understand that the actions of these individuals are not aligned with the mission of the movement. And sometimes the violence is strategic. The riots that took place in Minneapolis following the police killing of George Floyd, for example, were stoked by a white supremacist. Two people were killed and a medic was wounded by a white teenager with a semiautomatic rifle at a Black Lives Matter protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last month. “Because there’s so much anti-Blackness, and white supremacy wants to be protected at all costs, people go out of their way to make it look like this movement is a violent movement,” Saahene said. “People really need to just think a little bit deeper... about what Black Lives Matter actually stands for and what they’re fighting against. Violence just doesn’t make any sense.” 

 WRONG:  4. It’s anti-police. Law enforcement’s track record with Black Americans is troubling, to say the least. Not only are Black men and women disproportionately stopped, arrested and killed by police, many of these instances of violence occur following 911 calls for fairly routine issues. But the Black Lives Matter movement is not about retaliation or eliminating police. Rather, it’s about examining the structure of law enforcement and how it can better serve communities, especially Black and brown ones. Defunding the police is a big part of that goal. And that idea is scary to a lot of people, often because they don’t understand what it means. Defunding isn’t about abolishing law enforcement. “It’s to look at how police departments have been funded to do things that they shouldn’t necessarily have to do anyway and don’t necessarily do well, that would be better met by other groups who’ve been trained differently and provided better resources,” Cooper said. For example, domestic disturbances or mental health crises could be responded to by social workers or medical professionals rather than armed police officers. “If you come to a situation with a weapon, there is a possibility, even with a particular police officer who may be well-intentioned, for something to escalate if for no other reason than you’re coming with a gun,” Cooper said. The goal would be to deescalate these types of situations without the need for force ― and hopefully save lives in the process. 

 WRONG:  5. It’s racist. The phrase “Black lives matter” is not meant to be divisive. And yet it ruffles some (white) people’s feathers. Some even go so far as to claim that prioritizing Black lives is a form of reverse racism (which, by the way, is not a thing). “Because our lives are treated as if they don’t matter, we have to specifically say that they do,” Saahene said. “It’s just a phrase to get people to understand that because you have black skin does not mean that you should be treated any differently and certainly doesn’t mean that your life should be cut short.” “We’re not saying Black lives matter more, we’re saying they matter too,” added Melissa DePino, who co-founded From Privilege to Progress alongside Saahene. “It’s not about giving someone more and someone else less. It’s about creating a situation in which everybody has the same privileges.” 

 WRONG:  6. It’s a front for Democratic funding. Saahene said that there is a misconception that the Black Lives Matter movement arose for the purpose of gaining political control. One of the biggest contributors to this idea is likely a now-deleted Facebook post that claimed donations to Black Lives Matter were being funneled to a “Democrat Super PAC.” The claims were based on a video circulated on social media that showed that attempts to make donations on the Black Lives Matter website redirected users to a website called ActBlue. The video then showed a page on OpenSecrets.org that tracked how ActBlue spends its money, highlighting several multimillion-dollar contributions to campaigns for Democratic presidential candidates such as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and former Vice President Joe Biden. What is misunderstood in this video and the subsequent Facebook post is that ActBlue is simply a donation processing platform. Though it is popular among Democratic politicians and progressive nonprofits, it acts similarly to PayPal or other online payment systems. ActBlue doesn’t actually pocket any of the donations or decide how they’re allocated. A donation to Black Lives Matter goes to Black Lives Matter. Though members of the movement do seek to change many of the laws and policies that harm Black people, Saahene said, it’s not a political group. “They’re activists like me.” 

 WRONG:  7. It’s on Black BLM supporters to fix racism. Though it can be tempting for white people to lean on Black friends and colleagues to educate them about racism and point out where it’s happening, the truth is that it’s not their job to fix racism. There’s enough emotional labor to dealing with racism in everyday life; the last thing white allies need to do is add to that burden. “When you’re doing anti-racism work, you can’t always have the victims doing the work,” Cooper said. “It’s those who have the advantages, structurally and historically, who need to be rolling up their sleeves.” DePino agreed that racism is not a “Black problem” and it’s up to white people to learn history, acknowledge and understand their biases, and figure out how to stop causing harm, even if it’s unintentional. “That’s the work that we have to do. And we can’t just pay attention when someone gets murdered. We have to pay attention all the time and integrate it into our everyday life.”

Rob's review: Afraid of Nothing - Documentary on the Paranormal

Recently I  enjoyed the documentary called "Afraid of Nothing" by director Bob Heske. This is a documentary on the Paranormal and it covers many aspects of the paranormal, even delving deep into science! My review is below. 

MY REVIEW: There's a lot to the Paranormal!

Really  enjoyed this documentary on the paranormal. It was extremely well done.and set up to address certain topics within the field. It featured experts in different fields from an EVP specialist who had some wild personal experiences. to mediums and scientists. The quantum physics was mind-boggling to hear about, and the experiences were amazing. It's important to understand that there are a lot of facets to the paranormal. It's not just Earth-bound ghosts. This is well-worth a watch and the film-makers paranormal podcasts are wonderful.

 

ABOUT THE FILM:  100 billion souls have passed before us. Where do they go? 

This award-winning experimental documentary explores life and the afterlife with a 

quantum and paranormal lens. AFRAID OF NOTHING explores life and the afterlife 

through the lens of a shaman, psychic, healer, seeker, witch and other awakened individuals.

 

Directors       Robert M. Heske

Starring

Robert M. Heske, Jeff Belanger, Bob Berman

Genres

Horror, Documentary

Subtitles

English [CC]

Audio languages

English
WATCH THE FILM: https://www.amazon.com/Afraid-Nothing-Robert-M-Heske/dp/B0876LGY2N/ref=cm_cr_srp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

Dolly Parton Tweets about Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg (and some of RBG's accomplishments)

 Dolly Parton is such a class act. This is what she tweeted out on the weekend after learning of the

passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg. We join Dolly Parton in honoring this amazing woman who made a lifetime of fighting for equal rights for women and minorities. She is an example for all people.

   If you are unfamiliar with some of RBG's Accomplishments look below the tweet.

Tweet  

 Dolly Parton @DollyParton 

She was small in stature but even the tallest looked up to her. Her voice was soft but her message rang loud and clear and will echo forever. Thank you, RBG. Rest In Peace. 

Respectfully, Dolly Parton 

 WHO WAS JUSTICE GINSBERG?

Ginsburg has worked her entire career to eliminate gender-based stereotyping in legislation and regulations. Appointed Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court by President William Clinton in 1993, she is the second woman to sit on the bench of the United States Supreme Court in its 212 year history

SOME OF JUSTICE GINSBERG'S ACCOMPLISHMENTS 

 1) She was a fierce advocate for women's rights - "I ask no favour for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks," she said in a 2018 documentary, RBG, about her life. In 1972, Ginsburg co-founded the Women's Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and, in 1973, she became the Project's general counsel. The Women's Rights Project and related ACLU projects participated in over 300 gender discrimination cases by 1974. 

A) A Woman's right to sign a mortgage without a man

B) A woman's right to have a bank account without a male co-signer

C) A woman's right to have a job without being discriminated against

D) The right for women to work and be pregnant and have children

 2) Historic Rulings: In 2015, Ginsburg sided with the majority in two landmark Supreme Court rulings. On June 25th she was one of the six justices to uphold a critical component of the 2010 Affordable Care Act — often referred to as Obamacare — in King v. Burwell. The decision allows the federal government to continue providing subsidies to Americans who purchase health care through "exchanges," regardless of whether they are state or federally operated. 

 3) On June 26, 2015 the Supreme Court handed down its second historic decision in as many days, with a 5–4 majority ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges that made same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states. Ginsburg is considered to have been instrumental in the decision, having shown public support for the idea in past years by officiating same-sex marriages and by challenging arguments against it during the early proceedings of the case. She was joined in the majority by Justices Anthony Kennedy, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, with Roberts reading the dissenting opinion this time. 

 4) She asked tough questions and wrote tough dissents - On the Supreme Court, Bader developed a reputation as a tough questioner and emerged as part of its liberal faction with little tolerance for sexual discrimination.

Fact Check: Yes, Trump’s Proposed Permanent Tax Cut Would Gut Social Security By 2023

 If you're confused about what's happening with Social Security, you need the facts.This past

week Forbes.com spelled it all out. Remember this when you go to vote this year- it will affect many millions of people...

Yes, Trump’s Proposed Permanent Tax Cut Would Gut Social Security By 2023

Forbes.com < August 26, 2020 

At a time of extremes in society, absolute alarmist statements might seem like quenching flames with jet fuel. But, in the case of Donald Trump’s proposed permanent cuts to payroll taxes, absolute and alarmist are baseline fact.

If Trump got his way with a permanent payroll tax cut and there was no replacement source of revenue, Social Security would be out of money by the middle of 2023. That’s not some click-bait concept. It’s the projection of the Office of the Chief Actuary at the Social Security Administration.

In answer to an August 19, 2020 letter from four Democratic senators, Chief Actuary Stephen Goss laid out a scenario that made two major assumptions: Congress would authorize a permanent end to the dedicated payroll taxes that fund Social Security and no other provision would be made to replace the income stream, such as transfers of funds from the Treasury.

As a reminder, Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) payroll taxes go into the Old Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund and Self-Employment Contributions Act (SECA) payroll taxes are for the Disability Insurance (DI) Trust Fund. Money from the trust funds respectively pay for retirement and disability benefits.

Operations and benefits require a constant replenishing of funds. In calendar year 2019, Social Security took in $1,061.8 billion and spent (mostly in benefits payments) $1,059.3 billion, leaving a positive balance of $2.5 billion for the period.

A billion is a huge amount of money, unless you’re talking about retirement benefits for a country of about 330 million people. The money everyone pays is not put aside in personal retirement accounts. It’s the cash that makes the benefits to retired people possible, just as workers today will eventually depend on others in the future to pay for their retirement benefits, absent some massive restructuring of the system. This is why constant replenishment is necessary.

Cut payroll taxes starting January 1, 2021, and “DI Trust Fund asset reserves would become permanently depleted in about the middle of calendar year 2021, with no ability to pay DI [disability] benefits thereafter,” Goss wrote. The ability to pay OASI benefits—regular retirement benefits—would end by the middle of 2023.

Could the scenario happen? Certainly, if Trump were reelected and Republicans both kept control of the Senate and regained it in the House. Coordinated agreement among all three could even in theory cancel payroll taxes retroactively back to January 1, 2021 once newly elected officials take office.

Now, Trump has said that Social Security wouldn’t fail and that it is possible to fund it different ways, like out of general revenues. Such an approach would mean only shifting the spending from one pocket to another, requiring that the government revenue would have to make it up somehow. And that means taxpayers sending in that necessary money. Unless someone is thinking of running the world’s largest fund-raising bake sale

Trump hasn’t been able to deliver on his frequently promised “in two weeks” healthcare bill. And Senate Republicans have made it clear that they don’t wish to spend the amount likely necessary, given the tens of millions still out of work. There is no reason to think that circumstances would work out any better.

What is important here—beyond what would be an existential financial crisis for many millions of older Americans—is the lack of connection between politics and governance. Holders of political office have responsibilities to oversee the operations of government in the name of, and for the good of, the people. Politicize decisions and the results endanger important activities.

The effects hit those with few economic resources the most, with the elderly on the whole being among the least financially secure groups.

NASA: 2020 Arctic Sea Ice Minimum at Second Lowest on Record

 Climate change is REAL, despite what the uneducated say. As a meteorologist, I've seen the climate change over the last 30, even 5 years as we've recorded record warm global temperatures year by year. The latest evidence of climate change is in the Arctic, where sea ice was at the second lowest on record and that's a cause for concern (think sea level rise). Here's the latest research from NASA, just published this week: 

Caption: In the Arctic Ocean, sea ice reached its minimum extent of 1.44 million square miles (3.74 million square kilometers) on Sept. 15 - the second-lowest extent since modern record keeping began.

Credits: NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio

2020 Arctic Sea Ice Minimum at Second Lowest on Record

Source: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Sept. 21, 2020

This year’s Arctic sea ice cover shrank to the second-lowest extent since modern record keeping began in the late 1970s. An analysis of satellite data by NASA and the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) at the University of Colorado Boulder shows that the 2020 minimum extent, which was likely reached on Sept. 15, measured 1.44 million square miles (3.74 million square kilometers).

In winter, frozen seawater covers almost the entire Arctic Ocean and neighboring seas. This sea ice undergoes seasonal patterns of change – thinning and shrinking during late spring and summer, and thickening and expanding during fall and winter. The extent of summer sea ice in the Arctic can impact local ecosystems, regional and global weather patterns, and ocean circulation. In the last two decades, the minimum extent of Arctic sea ice in the summer has dropped markedly. The lowest extent on record was set in 2012, and last year’s extent was tied for second – until this year’s.

VIDEO: 

https://youtu.be/vtM9KTVGFVw

 A Siberian heat wave in spring 2020 began this year’s Arctic sea ice melt season early, and with Arctic temperatures being 14 to 18 degrees Fahrenheit (8 to 10 degrees Celsius) warmer than average, the ice extent kept declining. The 2020 minimum extent was 958,000 square miles (2.48 million square kilometers) below the 1981-2010 average of yearly minimum extents, and 2020 is only the second time on record that the minimum extent has fallen below 1.5 million square miles (4 million square kilometers).

“It was just really warm in the Arctic this year, and the melt seasons have been starting earlier and earlier,” said Nathan Kurtz, a sea ice scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “The earlier the melt season starts, the more ice you generally lose.”

Thin ice also melts quicker than thicker floes. Dramatic drops in sea ice extent in 2007 and 2012, along with generally declining summer extent, has led to fewer regions of thick, multi-year ice that has built up over multiple winters. In addition, a recent study showed that warmer water from the Atlantic Ocean, which is typically deep below the colder Arctic waters, is creeping up closer to the bottom of the sea ice and warming it from below.

There are cascading effects in the Arctic, said Mark Serreze, director of NSIDC. Warmer ocean temperatures eat away at the thicker multiyear ice, and also result in thinner ice to start the spring melt season. Melt early in the season results in more open water, which absorbs heat from the Sun and increases water temperatures.

“As the sea ice cover extent declines, what we’re seeing is we’re continuing to lose that multiyear ice,” Serreze said. “The ice is shrinking in the summer, but it’s also getting thinner. You’re losing extent, and you’re losing the thick ice as well. It’s a double whammy.”

The second-lowest extent of sea ice on record is just one of many signs of a warming climate in the north, he said, pointing to the Siberian heat waves, forest fires, hotter-than-average temperatures over the Central Arctic, and the thawing permafrost that led to a Russian fuel spill.

Related link: https://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/

In the News: Egypt tomb: Sarcophagi buried for 2,500 years unearthed in Saqqara

BBC News reported last week about this huge find in Egypt in Saqqara, south of the capital, Cairo. Excavation work is continuing at the site as experts attempt to establish more details on the origins of the coffins. Here's the story and pictures from BBC...

 

Egypt tomb: Sarcophagi buried for 2,500 years unearthed in Saqqara

Published

1 day ago

IMAGE COPYRIGHTEPA

image captionThirteen coffins were initially discovered earlier this month, but a further 14 have been unearthed

A total of 27 sarcophagi buried more than 2,500 years ago have been unearthed by archaeologists in an ancient Egyptian necropolis.

They were found inside a newly-discovered well at a sacred site in Saqqara, south of the capital, Cairo.

Thirteen coffins were discovered earlier this month, but a further 14 have followed, officials say.

The discovery is now said by experts to be one of the largest of its kind.

Images released show colourfully painted well-preserved wooden coffins and other smaller artefacts.

Saqqara was an active burial ground for more than 3,000 years and is a designated Unesco World Heritage Site.

IMAGE COPYRIGHTEPA

image captionOne of the well-preserved coffins from the burial complex in the necropolis at Saqqara

"Initial studies indicate that these coffins are completely closed and haven't been opened since they were buried," Egypt's antiquities ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

'More secrets'

The statement adds that Egypt's Antiquities Minister Khaled al-Anani initially delayed announcing the find until he could visit the site himself, where he thanked staff for working in difficult conditions down the 11m-deep (36ft) well.

IMAGE COPYRIGHTEPA

image captionWorkers had to access the deep well via a shaft

Excavation work is continuing at the site as experts attempt to establish more details on the origins of the coffins.

IMAGE COPYRIGHTEPA

image captionExperts said the coffins had not been opened since they were buried

The ministry said it hoped to reveal "more secrets" at a press conference in the coming days.

IMAGE COPYRIGHTEGYPTIAN MINISTRY OF TOURISM AND ANTIQUITIES

image captionSome of the coffins were decorated with colourful ornate patterns

Other artefacts discovered around the wooden coffins also appeared to be well-crafted and colourfully decorated.

You might also be interested in:

• 'One of a kind' tomb found in Saqqara
• Saqqara 'one of a kind' discovery revealed
• Egypt animal mummies showcased at Saqqara

IMAGE COPYRIGHTEGYPTIAN MINISTRY OF TOURISM AND ANTIQUITIES

image captionOne of the smaller artefacts found with the coffins in Saqqara, Egypt

In November, a large cache of mummified animals discovered in 2018 by archaeologists near the Step Pyramid of Saqqara were displayed to the public for the first time.

The discovery included mummified cats, crocodiles, cobras and birds.

media captionWatch footage of the mummified big cats on display at the exhibition

Saqqara, located around 30km (18 miles) south of Cairo, is an ancient burial ground that served as the necropolis for Memphis, the capital of ancient Egypt, for more than two millennia.

In recent years, Egypt has ramped up its promotion of its archaeological finds in a bid to revive its vital but flagging tourism industry.