What if Alberta Floods Were Caused by Men?
As I write this, floodwaters are moving from Calgary towards Medicine Hat through the Bow and South Saskatchewan rivers. The devastation in Calgary, Canmore, High River and other Alberta communities, including loss of life, has been shocking. As Alberta reels under the impact and concerned Canadians send gifts to help residents deal with the massive infrastructure problems that follow such an event, all of us ponder how such bizarre conditions could so suddenly overwhelm a province which, only a week before, was experiencing a normal June and preparing for regular annual events such as the Calgary Stampede, with little thought that Calgary’s world-class downtown core would soon be a disaster zone. Downstream, in Medicine Hat, volunteers are feverishly sandbagging and taking every step possible to minimize the damage when peak floodwaters hit, as they inevitably will. Our hearts go out to the displaced residents, the grieving families and the teams of men and women in business, government and service organizations who are trying to cope with a world now upside down.
We all know that disaster can strike an individual, a family, even a nation, at a moment’s notice through a confluence of unforeseen events, unfortunate timing, the laws of nature, atmospheric conditions, plagues, disease and sometimes war, terror and coldly calculated crimes against humanity. I’m always amazed how families and communities can rise from the ashes—or in this case, the mud and debris—and rebuild, regroup and begin anew to hope and dream. All that seems far away now to those hardest hit by the Alberta Floods of 2013 but it will happen. The tragic personal losses, especially of human life, will be marked and remembered by many as a poignant monument to man’s vulnerable place in a delicate and intricate ecosystem.
But what if the high-water events of June, 2013 were not merely the result of naturally-occurring storms? What if human activity were implicated in the deadly mix of weather systems that collided over Alberta and brought record-breaking rainfalls on steep snow-covered mountains? No, I’m not caving in to the man-caused global warming agenda. I’m not going to bore you with more vain speculations about “carbon footprints” and unproven theories which are being anxiously passed off as facts. There are those who would like to claim that every unfavourable weather event is yet more evidence that oilsands development leads to catastrophe. I’m not one of them. I believe the oilsands are a marvellous natural resource which can and should be developed (with care) for the benefit of all. What I’m talking about is not a gradual increase in CO2 but a deliberate discharge of chemicals and particulates into our atmosphere.
There is growing evidence that supports the theory that man is manipulating the weather. I have come to the very inconvenient conclusion that some (not all) of the extreme weather events of the past few years have been set in motion by the activities of mankind operating in a realm now being referred to as “geo-engineering”. Geo-engineering is being talked about at world conferences as something mankind might wish to explore in the future and yet strong evidence exists that experiments with the weather have already been taking place for some time. The “contrail / chemtrail” controversy has been kept far from the public eye and those who raise questions are dismissed as “conspiracy theorists”. Yet in Canadian skies, events are taking place regularly which can be seen with the naked eye if only people would “look up” and observe. There is little disagreement that jets flying at high altitudes can sometimes leave a trail of vapour, visible as condensation in the thin, icy atmosphere in which these jets fly. These are known as “contrails”. We’ve all seen them. They are not the topic of my concern.
In recent years, observant sky-watchers have noticed that not all those vapour trails dissipate and vanish, as most do, within a few minutes or even seconds. “Persistent contrails” sometimes linger for hours, spreading themselves thinner and merging with other jet trails or with existing cloud cover until the whole sky is hazy. Unusual cloud formations have been seen, unlike the natural cloud formations we have all seen as we were growing up. Frequently, these hazy skies lead to rainstorms and snowstorms. I’ve seen them myself, I’ve watched and photographed the progression and have—over the past year—gone from being a sceptic to a troubled believer in the concept of chemtrails.
In 1985, Canada passed the Weather Modification Information Act, yet few Canadians know of its existence nor of the activities now taking place in Canadian skies—activities involving the suspected discharge of aluminum particles, barium, strontium and other chemical compounds. Efforts to obtain information about current programs are met with passive resistance and denial. If the worst-case scenarios prove true, Canadians are being lied to and military-type aircraft taking off from bases on American soil are discharging undisclosed substances into Canadian airspace for reasons known only to those involved. These substances may affect our air quality, our weather and our crop production. They may lead to flooding in some areas and drought or heat waves in others.
You may scoff. You may laugh. I did. But I invite you to become an observer. Pay attention to those jet trails that linger. See how they behave. Notice what kind of weather develops. If you want to learn more, visit: http://www.holmestead.ca one of many sites exposing this little-known activity. If you have the time and the bandwidth, watch the Youtube video called What in the World are they Spraying? and its sequel, Why in the World are they Spraying?
In this little planet we call home (the one God placed on a 23 ½ degree axis, rotating at just the right distance from the sun so that we neither freeze nor burn…yes, the one with oxygen, fresh water and lots of fruit trees…yes, that one) we enjoy a marvellous variation in weather and seasons. I trust Almighty God to watch over us and give us the weather He deems to be in our best interest. He’s also given us access to His throne so that we can ask Him to provide the rain and the sun we need for crops and our well-being. What a marvellous plan! He’s also given us the time, talent and resources to build shelters, aqueducts, greenhouses and to otherwise control our “local environment” to make ourselves even more comfortable. Nowhere can I see that He wants us to take responsibility for heating or cooling the planet or for making more rain or less. We do not have His infinite wisdom or power. When He makes the thunderclouds and brings the North wind, we know that He knows when “enough is enough!” I could imagine God saying to the human race: “Don’t try this at home!”
God is all-knowing, all-powerful and able to be present everywhere. We are not. Let’s not complicate our world by trying out our technical skills on making it rain. We and our neighbours downstream will have to live with the “unintended consequences”. If this topic is new to you or has piqued your imagination, inform yourself and do your own research. Become a sky-watcher. Keep looking up. I’ll be interested to hear your observations over the summer.
Final note: none of the above is meant to detract an iota from God’s sovereignty over all creation, including the weather and climate. God can and often does overrule mankind’s puny attempts to “do things our way”. However, as we know, He also at times allows sinful man to choose his own destructive lifestyle and practices, even when it results in calamity. When a nation rejects His warnings it cannot count on His blessings. Our nation is polluted with the innocent blood of the preborn. The covenant of marriage between one man and one woman has been despised by the courts, by government decree and in many cases by the shifting will of the people. In our schools, His majestic power in creation has been explained away as the meaningless result of random forces. His name has been sullied and His voice censored. The One who rules the raging of the seas will not surrender His throne to usurpers, neither to abortionists nor those who aspire to take responsibility for the weather. Let us continue to proclaim in the storms of life, in the floods and against the swelling humanist tide that our God reigns over all and will not be mocked.