Low-flying Helicopter Hovering over Birch Island on Sand Lake near Elgin, Ontario @PaulHBeckwith

Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

Low-flying Helicopter Hovering over Birch Island on Sand Lake near Elgin, Ontario

I was out in the boat with my four-year old Golden Doodle Newton, and as we rounded the island there was a helicopter hovering just above the treetops.

Electricity was out on the island from a windstorm on Friday May 29th, and presumably the helicopter was looking for downed branches and a break in the power lines.

I circled back in the boat and got this great video of the hovering helicopter.

Very interesting to see the skillful low-level flying!!

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$Nanoplastic in the Oceans and inside the Human Brain Nanoplastic Concentrations Measured across the North Atlantic Ocean, and inside Every Human Brain A new study discusses recent observational measurements on nanoplastics (size less than 1 micron, or one millionth of a meter size) in the north Atlantic Ocean. Data was collected at 9 different points, ranging from a southern gyre to the far northern European coastline, at depths near the surface, down to 1000 m, and to the ocean floor. These nanoplastics are everywhere (ubiquitous) and are in much higher levels than anybody thought, with the cumulative mass in the north Atlantic of 27 million tonnes (27 MT), which exceeds that of much larger plastic chunks (macroplastics and microplastics). Because nanoplastics are so small, they easily pass through biological cell walls, and can penetrate everywhere including the entire human body. I chat about how there are copious amounts of plastic in the human brain, with total plastic mass in the brain approaching that of a common plastic fork. Food for thought... It is only recently that technology has improved enough to accurately characterize and measure nanoplastic sizes and concentrations. What happens in the ocean happens in the human brain. Paul Beckwith Please donate to http://PaulBeckwith.net to support my research and videos connecting the dots on abrupt climate system mayhem. Links referenced in video: Bluesky social media post on nanoplastics from a couple days ago: https://bsky.app/profile/fheritale.bsky.social/post/3luhida2cac27 New peer-reviewed scientific paper (open source, thus free): Title: Nanoplastic concentrations across the North Atlantic Abstract Plastic pollution of the marine realm is widespread, with most scientific attention given to macroplastics and microplastics. By contrast, ocean nanoplastics (size less than 1 μm) remain largely un-quantifed, leaving gaps in our understanding of the mass budget of this plastic size class. Here we measure nanoplastic concentrations on an ocean basin scale along a transect crossing the North Atlantic from the subtropical gyre to the northern European shelf. We find approximately 1.5–32.0 mg m−3 of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polystyrene (PS) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) nanoplastics throughout the entire water column. On average, we observe a 1.4-fold higher concentration of nanoplastics in the mixed layer when compared with intermediate water depth, with highest mixed-layer nanoplastic concentrations near the European continent. Nanoplastic concentrations at intermediate water depth are 1.8-fold higher in the subtropical gyre compared with the open North Atlantic outside the gyre. The lowest nanoplastic concentrations, with about 5.5 mg m−3 on average and predominantly composed of PET, are present in bottom waters. For the mixed layer of the temperate to subtropical North Atlantic, we estimate that the mass of nanoplastic may amount to 27 million tonnes (Mt). This is in the same range or exceeding previous budget estimates of macroplastics/microplastics for the entire Atlantic or the global ocean. Our findings suggest that nanoplastics comprise the dominant fraction of marine plastic pollution. Link: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09218-1 Perplexity.ai links to questions: Tell me about nanoplastics in the ocean. Tell me about nanoplastics in the human brain. https://www.perplexity.ai/search/tell-me-about-nanoplastics-in-clwe_g87Sxikt3MKh2ZDgw Please donate to http://PaulBeckwith.net to support my research and videos connecting the dots on abrupt climate system mayhem. What happens in the ocean happens in the human brain. Paul Beckwith$

Subpolar Gyre Branch of AMOC Ocean Circulation System may be on the Verge of Collapse

$Recent Polar Vortex Splitting, Displacement, and Elongation is Driving Our Bizarre Weather Recent Polar Vortex Splitting, Displacement, and Elongation is Driving Our Bizarre Weather From early November this year, to present, we have seen some highly unusual changes to the polar vortex. The normally circular shape centered near the North Pole has been displaced, elongated to an oval, and split into a counterclockwise component and a clockwise component, meshing like gears. This behavior has been pushed along by a sudden stratospheric warming. Ultimately, the huge temperature amplification of the Arctic is resulting in more frequent fracturing of the symmetrical polar vortex and more extreme weather outbreaks, like what we are experiencing now. I put on my Sherlock Holmes cap, and introduce myself in a James Bond like fashion, and delve deeply into what is happening to the polar vortex... From my friend Heidi: Hello! I wanted to share something important with you. Paul Beckwith is doing incredible work to educate people about climate change and extreme weather, but he needs our support to continue this vital mission. Every donation, no matter the size, can make a difference in helping him reach more communities. Please consider clicking the link below to donate or share it with others who care about our planet. Thank you! Year end GoFundMe link; please consider a donation: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-paul-continue-his-climate-emergency-research References: Earth Nullschool atmospheric winds in the stratosphere, 10 hPa (mBar) pressure: https://earth.nullschool.net/#2025/11/06/2100Z/wind/isobaric/10hPa/orthographic 95.23,87.06,425 Earth Nullschool jet streams at tropopause (top of troposphere, bottom of stratosphere) with altitude 17 km at equator and 7 km at poles: https://earth.nullschool.net/#2025/11/06/2100Z/wind/isobaric/250hPa/orthographic 95.23,87.06,425 Image: The Science Behind to Polar Vortex, illustrating a normal strong polar vortex and a disrupted polar vortex increasing the waviness of the jet stream, and thus increasing the frequency, severity, and duration of extreme weather events, and making them occur in regions they would not actually occur in: https://mkweather.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/IMG_1130.webp Queries: Tell me about the most recent polar vortex collapse in November/December 2025. https://www.perplexity.ai/search/tell-me-about-the-most-recent-GkWWf9nrQCWGtR34X5A3kg https://www.perplexity.ai/search/tell-me-about-the-most-recent-GkWWf9nrQCWGtR34X5A3kg?sm=i https://www.perplexity.ai/search/tell-me-about-the-most-recent-GkWWf9nrQCWGtR34X5A3kg?sm=r Severe Weather Europe blog: An intense Nor’Easter storm starts the Meteorological Winter, follows by the coldest air mass since February https://www.severe-weather.eu/global-weather/winter-storm-snow-noreaster-bomb-cyclone-northeast-us-canada-newfoundland-mk/ NBC News article: 72 million at risk as strong winds and snow showers impact holiday weekend travel Wind gusts of 90 to 100 mph are targeting the High Plains region, where high fire danger was a concern through Friday night. https://www.nbcnews.com/weather/winter-weather/strong-winds-snow-showers-impact-holiday-weekend-travel-rcna250211 Live Real-Time Power Outages in the USA: https://poweroutage.us/ Live Real-Time Aircraft Delays and Cancellations for the USA: https://www.flightaware.com/live/cancelled/ Atmospheric River Soaking Northern California https://weather.com/forecast/regional/video/west-atmospheric-river-flood-rain-snow CTV news on shutting down NCAR (National Center for Atmospheric Research) in Colorado: Trump’s shutdown of climate research centre could push scientists up north, experts say Great information on the NCAR site, founded 65 years ago: a jewel in US Science: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Center_for_Atmospheric_Research From my friend Heidi: Hello! I wanted to share something important with you. Paul Beckwith is doing incredible work to educate people about climate change and extreme weather, but he needs our support to continue this vital mission. Every donation, no matter the size, can make a difference in helping him reach more communities. Please consider clicking the link below to donate or share it with others who care about our planet. Thank you! Year end GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-paul-continue-his-climate-emergency-research Please donate to http://PaulBeckwith.net to support my research and videos connecting the dots on abrupt climate system mayhem. Please subscribe to my YouTube channel. As well as my website, and YouTube, you can find me on Patreon, Facebook, Twitter/X, LinkedIn, Instagram, Reddit (multiple climate channels within), Quora, TikTok, Discord, Mastodon, Twitch, Vimeo, Bluesky, TruthSocial, Threads, Substack, Tumblr, Pinterest, etc...$

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$Possible Origins of an Extremely Rare Black Iceberg Spotted off Labrador Possible Origins of an Extremely Rare Black Iceberg Spotted off Labrador An extremely experienced sailor, with 5 decades of ocean experience in numerous ice fields off Greenland and Labrador recently spotted and took a picture of a very rare black iceberg. What are the origins of this iceberg. We know it was from Greenland, and likely calved off at some moment between one and three years ago. Why is it black. Is it covered in plain dirt, or is it covered in something more exotic like volcanic ash, dust from a meteorite strike in northwest Greenland, or something even weirder? We just dont know. I chat about the possible origins of this very strange and unusual black iceberg. Please donate to http://PaulBeckwith.net to support my research and videos connecting the dots on abrupt climate system mayhem. Sincerely, Paul and Newton CBC News Article: Rare black iceberg spotted off Labrador coast has social media buzzing - Berg may contain ice colored by millennia of dirt — or even a meteorite strike https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/black-iceberg-labrador-coast-1.7551078 Google Earth Location of Black Iceberg Sighting: https://earth.google.com/web/search/Nain,+NL/@59.4437618,-61.56626607,-994.29170099a,6334045.17488122d,35y,-0.00006221h,0.27932769t,-0r/data=CncaSRJDCiUweDRjNjk3ZThmN2JhYTE5NDk6MHhhODEwYjZmYWJhMWNiNDJjGbwrcdNVRUxAIRt7m6Mz2U7AKghOYWluLCBOTBgCIAEiJgokCdbba8mUO0hAESsw7kfH8kdAGWBfSlExhU3AIa1ot50RP07AQgIIAToDCgEwQgIIAEoNCP wEQAA Popular Mechanics News Article: A Sailor Found a Pitch-Black Iceberg That May Hold Secrets From 100,000 Years Ago The coloration may be caused by volcanic ash or simply dirt that hasn’t seen the light of day in millenia. https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/environment/a65088708/black-iceberg-canada/ National Post News Article: Black iceberg spotted off Labrador could be result of an asteroid strike Hallur Antoniussen took the picture from a fishing trawler in May. It has since generated many theories for its unusual color https://nationalpost.com/news/space/black-iceberg-spotted-off-labrador-could-be-result-of-an-asteroid-strike EOS article: Enormous Impact Crater Spotted in Greenland Under Glacial Ice Ice-penetrating radar revealed a 31-kilometer impact crater—one of the world’s largest—in northwestern Greenland that might have been formed fewer than 20,000 years ago. https://eos.org/articles/enormous-impact-crater-spotted-in-greenland-under-glacial-ice#:~:text=Ice%2Dpenetrating%20radar%20revealed%20a,fewer%20than%2020%2C000%20years%20ago. Wikipedia Earth Impact Database: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Impact_Database Wikipedia List of Impact Structures on Earth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_impact_structures_on_Earth Peer-reviewed scientific paper on huge meteor crater in NW Greenland under the Hiawatha Glacier Title: A large impact crater beneath Hiawatha Glacier innorthwest Greenland Abstract We report the discovery of a large impact crater beneath Hiawatha Glacier in northwest Greenland. From airborne radar surveys, we identify a 31-kilometer-wide, circular bedrock depression beneath up to a kilometer of ice. This depression has an elevated rim that cross-cuts tributary subglacial channels and a subdued central uplift that appears to be actively eroding. From ground investigations of the deglaciated foreland, we identify overprinted structures within Precambrian bedrock along the ice margin that strike tangent to the subglacial rim. Glaciofluvial sediment from the largest river draining the crater contains shocked quartz and other impact-related grains. Geochemical analysis of this sediment indicates that the impactor was a fractionated iron asteroid, which must have been more than a kilometer wide to produce the identified crater. Radiostratigraphy of the ice in the crater shows that the Holocene ice is continuous and conformable, but all deeper and older ice appears to be debris rich or heavily disturbed. The age of this impact crater is presently unknown, but from our geological and geophysical evidence, we conclude that it is unlikely to predate the Pleistocene inception of the Greenland Ice Sheet. Link to Open-Source (Free) Greenland Asteroid paper: https://www.science.org/doi/epdf/10.1126/sciadv.aar8173 Please donate to http://PaulBeckwith.net to support my research and videos connecting the dots on abrupt climate system mayhem. Sincerely, Paul and Newton$