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Due to the shifting crust, most surviving Canadians will also find themselves in a warmer climate too. Canada will be positioned above the equator in a temperate zone after the pole shift, in a warmer strata than at present. Where Canada is an ally of the US government, it is not all that comfortable with the giant to the south, and will rebel against any attempts to control Canadian lands after the pole shift.
However, within Canada there are many factions that will battle with each other for resources. Where the Canadian people are resourceful and used to living in a harsh land deeply frozen during the long winters, in the cities as in all industrialized countries, the populace is soft and will be unprepared for Aftertime living when food stuffs are not imported.
Religious factions, racial unease, and
class differences will create tensions in tight times beyond what is
already experienced, and should be anticipated.
When the Earth stops rotation, water slung toward the equator will drift toward the poles, creating some inland flooding in land near the poles. After the shift, when the poles rapidly melt under the equatorial sun, melted water will move toward the point of least resistance, which may often be inland if blockages occur.
In any case, if one examines the sea
level of land in eastern or northern Canada, one can see that the
land will not be above water when the poles have completely melted.
If situated in an area due to be inundated, survivors will have to
repeatedly move ahead of the encroaching water, and take care they
are not trapped on an island in the process!
Thus, only the land within 500 miles of the coast, in the Canadian Rockies, will experience subduction with consequent hot earth and the rock and roll of mountain building. Those living from 500 miles to 1,000 miles from the coast should anticipate adjustments, as subduction can release pressure by pushing flakes of land that separate from lower stratas forward.
Push a wooden block against some flaky pastry, and watch the top flakes simply fly forward, separating from the pastry. This thrust can be sudden and projectile. Thus, crashing downward on those further inland, or creating crumpling land where such activity is not expected. Stay inland, and return to the coast when the trauma is done.
This world map (in red) is overlaid with an antipodal map (in yellow)
showing the antipodes
of each point on the Earth's surface.
As the western United States is pushed and crumpled, the lands it is attached to will be stretched. This tends to alleviate any crumpling that occurs due to the subducting Pacific plate, a trade-off. Nevertheless, this makes for a rugged ride, as these adjustments are never smooth, here crumpling, there stretching, so being on solid rock to lessen the impact is wise. Solid rock is less likely to crumple or shift, the pressure shifting to soil or broken rocks nearby.
In addition, the southern portion of British Columbia is close the Mt. St. Helen volcano, which will surly erupt during the shift, at times violently. Firestorms are created due to air turbulence over volcanoes, the super-heated air creating petrochemicals drifting in the tail of the 12th Planet, which is lashing the Earth’s atmosphere as the 12th Planet passes between the Earth and the Sun.
Thus, where these walls of fire can fall
anywhere, they are more likely in the vicinity of volcanoes. Winds
will move in all directions, in chaos, during the hour of the shift.
Those living near volcanoes or in forested areas that can be set
afire should seek shelter in the earth, in bermed structures or
those with metal or sod roofs, until the hour of the shift has
passed.
Thus, sudden breaks in the rock, rock
stratas jerking suddenly upwards and no longer level where they were
before, can be expected. Water mains, housing, roads and bridges,
and even the direction that rivers flow will be disrupted. After the
shift, British Columbia will be well situated, with a warm climate
near the ocean, and high ground that will be above the water line
when the poles have melted.
Vancouver will be a delightful place to live following the pole shift, with a far warmer climate, spared ice and snow in the winter, and close to the coastline as it is at present. Rising water following the polar melt will spare much of the mountains surrounding Vancouver, making the step out of the rising water fairly easy for survivors to deal with. For Vancouver, the issue is not being positioned after the shift, but surviving the shift itself.
The West Coast in general will suffer from rapid subduction that will melt the rock in low lying places, due to heat from friction, and many local Indian tribes have tales and myths of such times. Tidal waves will assault the area, and volcanoes up and down the coast, dormant and active alike, will explode. Those who would survive might consider moving inland for the shift itself, and then returning.
Be advised that bridges and roads will
not be passable, so the return trip should be anticipated to be
essentially on foot.
Because activity is compression, with the Juan de Fuca plate and the North American plates riding over plates sliding under, legends relay hot earth and boiling rivers. This will be less of a problem during this shift than in the past, as protecting layers of rock have already been pushed under the island.
Nevertheless, two activities the coast will not have to deal with will be presented on the island:
After the shift and the polar melt, the
island will find itself with more area above the 675 foot area,
having gained 100 or more feet of sea level during the compression.
Kelowna, in British Columbia is situated in a broad valley between mountain ranges west of the Continental Divide. Thus, is it subject to having its natural draining from mountain ranges change, without warning or predictability, during the hour of the shift.
Compression occurs during the subduction of plates driving under the land to the west of the Continental Divide, and in a valley where drainage is already essentially blocked due to skirting ranges, this has the potential of creating a large inland lake, already forming at Kelowna.
All that it would take to create this situation is a rise in foothills where drainage currently occurs, or a closure of a pass such that river water finds it can no longer do more than seep through. The jolting and heaving that occur during mountain building can affect the current drainage along a long river at many points, even distant, causing a backup of water to the lowest level, already situated at Kelowna, on the shores of the lake that carries drainage from the skirting mountain ranges.
Thus, those in the township of Kelowna
should at least plan on not having their housing intact, but moving
into houseboats to take advantage of a larger inland lake, should
this occur.
Prince George rides high along the continental divide, in an area of Canada that will be both pushed upward by the shortening of the Pacific and stretched before the Atlantic Rift widens during the shift itself. This will result in snapping and jerking, during the days before the shift and the hour of the shift itself. Thus, residents should plan on being out of doors, to avoid sudden quake damage to buildings.
The rivers in the area provide good drainage, as the slopes are steep so the outlets for water ample. However, due to the possibility of a river being blocked, changing course, when rock strata snaps and juts upward, those along river banks should also plan on being well above the banks during this week and a few days after the shift.
Other than some volcanic ash drifting
down from the Alaskan volcanoes in the prevailing westerlies that
will change direction after the shift, this area should do well in
the Aftertime, with a substantially warmer climate.
Composed of high land that will be stretched as the edges of the North American plate are pulled toward the North Pole and Russia during the shift, while the West Coast is pushed in another direction by the pressure of subducting Pacific plates, the Yukon will not experience crumpling and compression, but the effect of tearing in the rock layers deep in the ground.
This is less of a rough ride, but can result in the lay of the land changing unexpectedly, and buildings can suddenly settle and collapse due to this. As with Alaska, the chaos can set the wildlife to roaming, seeking a climate less warm, more akin to what they are used to, and thus unexpected encounters between man and hungry beasts will occur.
Anticipate that the wildlife will be as
disturbed and angry about the changes as the human population, and
plan accordingly.
And since it is scarcely populated, there will not be the problem of masses of starving humans to contend with, which can create destructive riots. In selecting locations in Alaska, one should consider the possibility of tidal waves along the coast, but the key consideration should be the volcanoes, which are already active, and which will increase their activity to the point of exploding during the pole shift.
The Alaskan Pipeline will inevitably be
fractures along its course during the pole shift and will thus drain
dry. What oil does not soak into the ground will be lit and burned
during the lightning storms that occur during the pole shift, a
burning that might start at only one place but will spark burning
along the entire course. Oil that does not drain out of the pipeline
will burn at the ends, creating a torch that may burn for months.
During the week of rotation stoppage, the water normally pooled at the equator due to the effect of rotation will drift toward the poles, equalizing. Thus, the tides will be higher. At the shift, the volcanoes to the west will explode spewing ash over the nearby vicinity, which will become upwind to Anchorage to some degree due to the prevailing westerlies which will still pull the ash toward Anchorage.
Sloshing water, already higher than
normal along the coast, will rise to the tops of the buildings in
the city. After the shift, however, the ocean fishing, and the
familiarity of the people with this activity, should prove a good
lifestyle. Survivors will need to become accustomed to a very warmer
climate, as the new Anchorage will be close to the new equator.
Fairbanks is positioned inland far enough that tidal waves will dissipate their force before reaching the city. However, it lies low enough that melting poles will cover the city shortly. The river basin that Fairbanks sits upon will suffer during the shift from several sources. First, being at a relatively low altitude, the land may be inundated during the rotation stoppage due to water draining from the equator and pooling at the poles.
This will only affect land close to the poles, such as Alaska. Second, during the shift itself, when the North American continent is pushed north and under any water in its path, this water will be pushed into the river basin from the ocean, at the start. High mountain ranges on all sides will afford the residents safety from the rising water, and the mild climate will encourage vegetation on the former tundra to grow.
However, other than moss and lichens,
there is little in the natural vegetation to eat, since the climate
was harsh formerly and the native seed stock does not include
variety. Survivors should have seed stock at hand, and be familiar
with gardening practices.
Polar bears deal well with snow and ice and water, and will be less inclined to attack man than strictly land-based bears as the food supply diminishes. The key point in locating safely in Alaska is to have solid granite or rock underfoot, as all else will be awash and unpredictable when the permafrost melts.
Volcanic dust will sweep from West to
East when the prevailing westerlies are reestablished, pulling the
dust out to sea rather than over the former Fairbanks.
The Northwest Territory will experience a stretch, not a compression, during the shift, with the spitting of the St. Lawrence Seaway relieving the tension, allowing the land to pull toward the North Pole and Russia as the land in what is now the southern portions of North America are pulled toward Europe and pushed there by the subducting of the Pacific plates along the West Coast.
The most significant impact of the shift, for this relatively unindustrialized and lightly settled province, will be the sudden change in climate, which will go from cold to hot, almost overnight. What is now the eastern portion of the Northwest Territory will undergo steady inundation during the two years following the shift, and for those survivors who have not been privy to warnings about the shift and the impact on their lands, the steady flooding will be confusing.
Likely to head in the wrong direction, which seeking higher ground, survivors may find themselves stranded and drowning. Thus, a survival technique is boats, and heading toward the higher land in what is not the western or southern portion of Canada.
This steady melt will affect wildlife as
well, forcing predators to crowd along with man, and deprived of
their normal food source, intense battles may occur where the issue
of whether man will eat beast, or vice versa, will be determined.
Canada in general will fare well during and after the coming pole shift due to its low population density, hardy folk used to scratching out a living in a relatively inhospitable near-polar climate, general proximity toward the center of a large crustal plate.
As a result of the pole shift, Canadians will find themselves in a warmer climate, and for western Canada, a climate with an almost imperceptible winter - brief and mild. Where subducting plates can cause the mountains along the west-ern coast to be the source of hot earth during the hour of the shift, those west of the continental divide will find this not a problem.
Calgary, Alberta will therefore be a
city that need not worry about hot earth or inundation due to rising
water from the melted poles, although earthquakes and high winds are
experienced world wide and firestorms should always be guarded
against.
For those residents of Edmonton, Canada, unaware of the coming shift and what the meaning of the stopped rotation is, the pole shift will be a sudden lurch with crockery everywhere on the floor and church bells ringing, followed by a milder climate and very gloomy weather.
Far from coastlines or mountain building
or volcanoes, and not riding any fault lines, they will not
experience the shift other than quakes that will shatter brick
buildings and break bridges and roadways and high winds that will
rip roofs and topple trees. Fire storms will be unlikely.
Saskatoon and Regina in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada, are in the broad grain belt of Canada that may experience flooding during the torrential rain that follows the shift. These rains will reduce to a drizzle, but flood waters that back up from rivers bloated beyond their capacity can take a long time to drain.
Those that would survive are advised to be ready to take to boats, not roof tops, or go to higher ground until some weeks after the shift. Grasslands do well in the gloomy Aftertime weather that lasts for at least two decades, and with a milder climate these cities may find becoming herdsmen will alleviate the hunger from lack of imported food stuffs and poor grain crops.
Native grasses should be encouraged.
Winnipeg, Canada, enjoys lake Winnipeg, but during the torrential rains that accompany a pole shift they will find this a horror. The lake will swell, having no natural drainage, engulfing bordering land.
Houseboat living, in the milder climate,
is an answer, as is fishing which should increase along with the
waterways.
Ontario overall benefits from the pole shift in that it will arrive at a warmer climate, will have ocean access from the Hudson Bay and what will become the St. Lawrence Bay, and will be a land bridge supporting travel between the lands to what is now the west and east. Ontario has land to the north that is of a low enough elevation to be swallowed by the melting poles.
This will consume a good half of Ontario, but will bring the Hudson Bay closer to survivors huddled in the highlands. Fishing will be good in the oceans after the shift, as the high level of carbon dioxide will make the oceans lush with vegetation, and sea food will follow in becoming abundant.
As a land bridge, Ontario might find
itself with barter and communication opportunities, also.
Sudbury, in Ontario, is far enough inland north of Lake Huron to be free of sloshing in that great lake, and close enough to the high land north of Lake Huron to escape to the hills during the shift in any case. Inland cities with access to the Great Lakes will find they can fish far more than just their nearby lake, as during the shift the locks up and down the complex will shatter, allowing a free flowing waterway with access all the way to the Atlantic and inland.
Thus, lake travel will become the mode of choice, and fishing the primary food gathering mode. After the shift, this part of the globe will find itself in a warmer climate, and out of the direct path of volcanic dust, though as elsewhere around the globe, the days will be consistently gloomy and rainy drizzle a constant presence.
At a distance from intensely populated
areas, Sudbury will not find itself inundated going into or after
the shift.
North Bay, Ontario is an example of an inland lake region that will change as a result of the shift. Due to the widening of the St. Lawrence Seaway, with release of tension along the banks of the seaway, this land will pop up and rise in elevation in relation to the surrounding land.
North Bay currently drains into the Great Lakes, and will continue to do so, but will find more water coming from the direction of land along the seaway than from its current drainage configuration from the mountains inland. Thus, a larger lake, with more tributaries, as a result of the Shift.
Fishing in this inland lake should be
good, and the climate warmer than today.
Toronto, Canada is situated on the edge of high drama that will occur during the Pole Shift. Those of faint heart are advised to move inland for the duration of the drama. The St. Lawrence Seaway is due to further its split during the shift, widening the Seaway to what will become an ocean bay.
During the split the bordering land will not sink. The release of tension of connectedness to plates in the Atlantic will be stretched and drawn downward as the Atlantic widens, and then when the rip occurs the lands bordering the Seaway will bob up somewhat. However, the action will be heart stopping.
In general, this section of Canada as
all of Canada will have a good climate in the Aftertime, a temperate
climate.
Much of Quebec is high land, which can afford ample escape from the coastlines during the hour of the shift for residents. The majority of Quebec Province will remain above water after the existing poles have melted. The climate will be more moderate than today, especially after the ice of Greenland melts and the near proximity from that great meltoff no longer creates cold tides on the shore of Quebec.
The greatest concern that Quebec will have after the shift will be migrating survivor from the population centers of eastern half of the US. Crowded up into the Appalachian Mountains and into the limited land mass that the New England area provides, they will be as likely to push into Quebec as toward what were the western states of the US, seeking land that would have been high enough to remain dry land.
As an essentially rural province, Quebec will not be prepared for the aggressive insistence that those along the eastern seaboard of the US have as their normal stance in life. Residents of New York and Washington DC in particular, are used to getting their way by being loud mouthed and insistent.
Some forethought into how to handle such
migrants when the time comes should be part of the Quebec survival
plan.
Because the tearing of the St. Lawrence seaway will begin as soon as the stretching of the Atlantic occurs, land along this seaway will not submerge nor will any noticeable influx of ocean water occur, as the influx will be filling the new river bed area, now to become more of a lake.
The tear will occur principally where the St. Lawrence seaway now runs, as this is a low point only be-cause of the existing tear. Weak spots are deep within the rock strata under the river bed, and the tearing is less of a deep rift than a pulling apart in many places, so the surface seems relatively smooth. Beneath this tear are many feathery fingers of rock, reaching toward each other, soon filled with hardened magma to solidify.
Thus, even though Montreal is surrounded
by water, it will simply find itself more of an island than another
Atlantis.
Quebec City will find its greatest problem after the shift to be isolation, as where it rides out the pole shift above the waves, protected from water influx by the widening of the St. Lawrence sea-way, survivors will migrate toward the new south, toward what they recall to be the Canadian grain belt, leaving those unable to travel behind.
Those who have relied upon imported food
stuffs, living on hardscrable rock in-hospitable to gardening, will
find themselves increasingly dealing with hunger also. Those who
understand how to harvest to sea will be the saviors among the
survivors.
Where the entire area from New England to Quebec will find an overall rise in sea level due to the tearing of the St. Lawrence Seaway during the shift, New Brunswick, as the tip of the peninsula past which water will rush, will deal with special issues.
Those along the inner seaway will find the ride rocky but relatively safe, as the tearing process will provide a broader bowl for water to slosh about in, for rivers to empty into, and thus flooding along the inner seaway will be less of a worry than along other rivers or lake coastlines. The tearing seaway, with an overall drop in sea level within the seaway, will, however, cause water in the Atlantic to pour into the seaway, seeking its level, and this rush will be past and thus to some extent into the New Brunswick peninsula.
Those in this province are advised to
stay well inland and in high ground, anticipating water not only
rushing past the tip of the peninsula at the lip of the seaway, but
overland when water pressure into the seaway does not relieve the
press from the Atlantic.
Rocky Nova Scotia, jutting out into the Atlantic, will be subject to multiple factors during the shift. First, the stretching of the Atlantic during the week of rotation stoppage will cause it to sink some 50 feet below sea level, so that the ocean seems to rise along its coastline. This will drive the residents away from the coastline, which is all to the good for their safety. The is affected, also, by the tendency of the oceans to flow toward the poles during the rotation stoppage, away from the equator.
During the shift itself, the St. Lawrence Seaway will rip, creating a large inland bay rather than a river, relieving the effect of the Atlantic stretch. As with the New England states, Nova Scotia will benefit from this, so that suddenly the waters will move away from the coastline.
However, due to sloshing of the oceans, residents should stay away from the coasts for a few days after the shift. Due to the existing poles melting within two years of the shift, the extra 150 feet of bounce up that Nova Scotia receives from the ripping of the seaway will only mean that more of its land surface remains above water.
The rugged residents, used to fishing
and living off a harsh landscape, will be well suited to live in the
Aftertime, especially as ocean fishing will be productive.
Newfoundland residents today face the cold Atlantic with many inlets along the rocky shore, with ocean fishing and travel by boat being a familiar activity. Being hardy folk, used to relying on themselves and each other without assistance from the outside world, they have the mindset that survivors of the shift will need.
Newfoundland will find itself, thus, well positioned to take advantage of the situation they find themselves in, after the shift, in that boat travel will be the best means of transportation as the existing poles melt and settlements at lower elevation disappear under water, and ocean fishing will prove to be one source of food available during the couple decades of gloom affecting agriculture after the shift.
Those survivors wishing to assist
others, less fortunate, should consider going afloat along the
coastline to what was formerly inland, to team their skills to other
survivors.
Greenland will become a more temperate land after the pole shift, being moved into a position equivalent to the border between Canada and the US today.
The glaciers and the massive amount of ice still remaining on Greenland from its days as a former pole will melt, steadily, but will take some decades to completely melt. Meanwhile, the force of rushing water will make habitation there tenuous, but coastal settlements such as fishing villages, high above the rushing rivers and with access to the sea, will fare well.
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