The Sun Rose 2 Days Early in Greenland

DATELINE ZERO - Already the year 2011 has seen controversial news that the Earth has tilted on it’s axis enough to warrant an astrological re-structure that includes the addition of a 13th zodiac sign, and news that the magnetic poles are drifting so much that airports are adjusting their equipment and closing runways to re-number everything.

While these stories are not without their controversies, one thing is for sure: things are a little different than they used to be. But change is to always be expected, right?

What makes this year so strange is that, while everyone agrees something has changed, there is general disagreement as to what precisely that ‘something’ is. The mass animal deaths are a great example of this. Another, latest example is in Greenland.

Greenland says: “Morning, already?”

News that the sun had peeked over the horizon on Jan. 11 traveled very quickly. Articles appeared online in British and German-language publications, and the reports appear to trace back to a story by the Greenland broadcasting company KNR that quotes residents who noticed the change.

According to Live Science, “residents of a town on the western coast of Greenland may have seen the sun peek over the horizon 48 hours earlier than its usual arrival on Jan. 13, sparking speculation, and disagreements, over possible causes.”

Not a global phenomenon

While they disagreed on the cause of the town’s early sunrise, experts did reach one consensus: Don’t panic. This was an isolated event. (Feel better?)

“In a nutshell, there can’t be a change in the true sunrise, because that would require the Earth-Sun orbital parameters to change,” said John Walsh, a professor of atmospheric science at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Fairbanks is located about 1 degree of latitude south of the Arctic Circle, far enough south that it does not completely lose its sun in winter, and this year the sun has followed its typical pattern in Alaska, he said.

“No changes here,” he said. “We would have heard about it.”

Walsh and other scientists agreed there is absolutely no evidence of a shift in the tilt of the Earth’s axis or any other change that might alter the arrival of the seasons around the globe.

Whatever “consensus” the experts have reached, scientists are nonetheless still puzzled as hell by this phenomenon.

Already, theories are circulating like wildfire. According to The Huffington Post, some speculations have already been squashed – the 2012 leap year and changes in constellations are both considered unlikely explanations.

Read more, from the full article at DATELINE ZERO.