Sinkholes: The Groundbreaking Truth
A fellow geologist sent me this video, and I was torn between laughing and shaking my head in dismay.
Many of the sinkholes in the video are from before 2010, which the video indicates is sort of a magic breaking point: "Before 2010, sinkholes were a relatively uncommon event", citing a graph from Sott.net for evidence. Sott.net says it is "The World for People Who Think", and when one looks at "About" on their website, it describes itself this way.
SOTT.net is a leading news site with a view towards revealing the global trends that the mainstream media won't touch. Launched on March 26, 2002, SOTT.net is a research project of the non-profit Quantum Future Group (QFG). The project includes collecting, arranging, and analyzing news items that seem to best reflect the dominant 'energies' on the planet. This research further includes noting whether or not human beings, individually and/or collectively, can actually remember from one day to the next the state of the planet, and whether they are able to accurately read that information and make intelligent decisions about their future based on that knowledge. In short, SOTT.net is an experiment.
Sott.net appears to be a wiki-type site, because "SOTT is comprised of an international body of 155 volunteer editors". Clicking on the link to the list of 155 volunteer editors, one is greeted by a page of thumbnails with no identification of which author is responsible for what discipline. Some thumbnail images are actual photos; some are various images and icons, including what looks like a Norse warrior, a skull and crossed bones, Dumbledore (v. 2), and so forth. The assortment didn't exactly evoke a sense of scientific expertise. I didn't bother clicking on each thumbnail
Apparently, the mechanism behind sinkhole formation is "plasma cosmology". It was founded in 1896. The various web sources provide additional fodder for scepticism.
In contrast to the preceeding, the following are the facts. Sinkholes or dolines are a common occurrence throughout the world, both as natural features of karst terrane and other geomorphic forces and as induced features generated by various human activities and infrastructure. The Multidisciplinary Conference on Sinkholes and the Engineering and Environmental Impacts of Karst, colloquially known as the Sinkhole Conference, has been held on a regular basis since 1984. The literature on the natural processes within karst terrane (including sinkholes) dates back to the mid 1880s. Induced sinkhole formation and hazards were first discussed by Foose (1953).
There is no indication on the YouTube site of who is responsible for the content of this video. For more information, the reader is directed to the book, Earth Changes and the Human Cosmic Connection: The Secret History of the World - Book 3. Amazon.com says this about the author of the book: Pierre Lescaudron (M.Sc., MBA) was born in Toulouse, France, in 1972. He pursued a career in executive management, consulting and post-graduate teaching in high-tech fields. He then became a writer for Sott.net, fulfilling his dream of researching science, technology and history. He particularly enjoys 'connecting the dots' and bringing together usually separated scientific fields. And there is the connection to Sott.net...
If Mr. Lescaudron is responsible for the contents of the video, he clearly did not do his research well and in a scientifically accurate manner. For me, that is a comment on the lack of concern for strong geoscience education for every world citizen. In fact, it is an indictment of education in general.
I think this is THE advertising piece for a campaign on "Why Geoscience Education"?
