Blogger, Artist, Social Media, Web Designer, Photographer- I blog about nouns-people, places and things, even when it's negative I try to put a positive spin on it. @tinawinterlikfb https://tinawinterlik.blogspot.com
In the early hours of April 26, 2025, millions across Spain and Portugal were left without power. Official reports so far blame a combination of grid instability and damage to a high-voltage transmission line in southern France. But a deeper look reveals a bigger story that isn’t being widely discussed yet — the Sun itself may have played a hidden role.
April 2025 has been an intense month for solar activity. As Solar Cycle 25 nears its peak, Earth has been bombarded by powerful coronal mass ejections (CMEs) — huge bursts of solar plasma that can cause serious disruptions on our planet.
Here’s the timeline:
April 15, 2025: A rare “cannibal” CME event occurred, where two eruptions merged into one massive blast. It sparked a G4-class geomagnetic storm, one of the strongest in years. Auroras were seen as far south as France.
April 16, 2025: NOAA confirmed continued geomagnetic disturbances reaching G3 storm levels.
April 22–23, 2025: Another strong G2 storm warning was issued, signaling continued instability in Earth's magnetosphere.
Geomagnetic storms like these can induce electrical currents in power lines, destabilizing grids even when there’s no direct "damage." In other words, the system can get "shaken" into failure.
Official agencies have so far only cited technical reasons for the blackout — no one is publicly linking it to space weather yet. However, given the intense solar storm activity throughout April, it is very possible that these events weakened the electrical grid's stability and made it far more vulnerable to any disruption, like the fire in France.
This matters — because if solar storms are contributing to grid failures, and governments aren’t being transparent, the public remains unaware and unprepared.
In our Alchemy of Ivy Mae Novella, we explore how seemingly "random" events often have much deeper natural causes. Nature still rules us, whether we acknowledge it or not.
Stay tuned. Watch the Sun. And stay curious.
Sources for Solar Activity Updates:
NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center (swpc.noaa.gov)
It’s always tough to hear about the passing of someone, and Peter Wall’s death is no exception. Coming from humble beginnings in Ukraine, Wall’s rise to prominence as a developer in Vancouver might seem like a rags-to-riches story. He built towers that dramatically shaped the city skyline, contributing to the development of Vancouver’s urban landscape. On the surface, it’s easy to admire someone who rose from nothing and left a legacy of philanthropy, donating millions to causes like the University of British Columbia and community initiatives. But if we dig a little deeper, we see that the legacy he leaves behind isn’t all good.
Let’s be clear: Peter Wall’s contributions to the city's infrastructure, particularly the Wall Centre and other high-rise buildings, have undoubtedly changed Vancouver. But with that development came some very real consequences—consequences that aren’t always discussed when his legacy is celebrated. Vancouver’s housing crisis didn’t start with Wall, but his buildings have certainly contributed to the problem. The high-end, luxury developments he championed helped fuel the gentrification that has pushed out countless working-class families and made homeownership unaffordable for so many.
Yes, he was a philanthropist, but let’s not forget the other side of that coin. Many of these charitable donations, while no doubt helpful in some ways, were also huge tax write-offs. It’s hard to ignore the fact that, for some, philanthropy can serve as a nice cover for wealth hoarding. The money donated doesn’t erase the reality of how much wealth was accumulated by exploiting Vancouver’s housing market—money that came at the expense of people who were displaced and priced out of the very city Wall helped transform.
I’m not here to say we should erase his memory or dismiss the good that his donations did. I’m just here to call for a more honest conversation about what those buildings, that development, and that wealth meant for the everyday Vancouverite. It's easy to paint someone as a self-made success story, especially when they can afford to donate millions to charity. But let’s not overlook the impact of their actions on the community they leave behind.
Peter Wall is gone, but the damage of his legacy will live on in Vancouver’s skyline, in the empty spaces where families once lived, and in the growing divide between the wealthy and everyone else. So, while I’m sorry to hear of his passing, I can’t help but feel the need to speak out and tell the truth about the darker side of the legacy he leaves behind.
Pray for Fiji. Curfew has been imposed while they survey the damage of Tropical Cyclone Zena.
While the cyclone passed, there has been severe flooding.
Baron Abergeldie, 76 year old John Gordon and his wife, reportedly left their 16th century tower house when the river was at its height and burst its banks.
According to officials, the tower remains under threat as heavy rain continues to hit the region.
It is only a few kilometres from the more famous Balmoral Castle, a major residence of the British royal family in Scotland. http://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/devastating-scottish-storm-leaves-castle-teetering-on-edge-/61923/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abergeldie_Castle
Abergeldie Castle is a four-floor tower house located in Crathie and Braemar parish, SW Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
It stands at an altitude of 840 feet, on the south bank of the river
Dee, 6 miles above Ballater, and about 2 miles east of the royal
residence of Balmoral Castle. Behind it rises Craig-na-Ban, a rounded
granite hill about 1736 feet high, and across the river to its front is
the cairn-crowned Geallaig, rising to 2439 feet.
Storm Frank Abergeldie Castle nearly washed away by Storm Frank
Drone Footage taken 31st December 2015.
Drone DJI Phantom 3
Copyright Andy Kay
This video is being managed exclusively by Newsflare. To use this video for broadcast or in a commercial player go to: http://www.newsflare.com/video/59864/... or email: newsdesk@newsflare.com or call: +44 (0) 8432 895 191
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Queen's neighbour in Balmoral has had to leave his historic 450-year-old castle as it is threatened by rising flood waters.
John
Seton Howard Gordon, whose 11,687-acre Abergeldie estate is enclosed by
Balmoral on three sides, had to flee the castle as it was 'teetering on
the brink'.
It sits alongside the River Dee which was turned into a raging torrent after Storm Frank battered Scotland.
As the river burst its banks, it left the castle just feet away from the water's edge.
The historic castle, which is enclosed by Balmoral on three side, sits
alongside the River Dee which burst its banks after Storm Frank
Today at 14:00 as I sat carving, inside my soul I heard a cry, nothing
like I heard before, do the baby salmon cry, does mother earth cry, are
my ancestors crying? WHY? WHY? WHY DO
THEY DESTROY OUR FOOD BOXES, all my younger life, my father taught me
about how these salmon made our nation strong, to survive over 13,000
years.
Even though we do not want the billions and have said NO, they
are there with their laws and paid enforcement. Now there are 2 drilling
rigs there, people just turn their heads the other way, pretending it
will go away.
My father Edward would never let this happen, him + his
generation fought for so many rights, FOR WHAT? I have never cried so
hard, thinking of the times, when he told me that just one set + the
quota for salmon was full for the day. he told me about the areas and
what was needed to protect the young salmon so they could be able to
make the great journey away and back again, to start the next cycle.
If
this does not stop (drilling) there will be no more cycles of salmon,
the food box will be broken + empty. Please I ask you with my Tsimshian
heart, to help, not for me, no for any humans, but for all the sea life
and animals which also depend on Flora banks. Please copy paste + share. Edward Ed E Bryant.
The Skeena River estuary is a unique system in that it does not have a
single distinct intertidal delta typical of most estuary systems.
Instead, deposited sediments form a region of extensive mudflats and
shallow, intertidal passages around DeHorsey Island, through Inverness
Passage, and between Kitson Island and Lelu Island.
These mudflats and intertidal areas have been identified by the North
Coast Wetlands Program as important migratory/wintering waterfowl
habitat. Several rare species, including the red-listed western grebe
and the blue-listed trumpeter swan, brant, oldsquaw and great blue heron
have all been recorded in the wetlands. A Department of Fisheries and
Oceans fisheries habitat study identified Inverness Passage, Flora Bank,
and DeHorsey Passage, in that order, as critical habitats for Skeena
River juvenile salmon, as well as important eulachon habitat. Read more
The terminal and its pipeline has been viewed as a leading project in
the Christy Clark-led Liberal government’s efforts to start a new
natural gas export industry to Asia.
The $36-billion project — by Malaysian state-controlled Petronas —
has been approved by the province but is mired in a federal review that
stalled because of concerns over the project’s effects on Flora Bank.
Earlier this year, the Lax Kw’alaams rejected a $1.15-billion
benefits package from the company and B.C. government over similar
concerns.
http://skeenawatershed.com/news/lng_whats_at_stake Some facts from biologists:
In the early 1970s, two proposals were advanced for the development of
major port facilities in Prince Rupert, one of which would have
substantially impacted Flora Bank.
In their 1973 technical report, A Biological Assessment of Fish Utilization of the Skeena River Estuary with Special Reference to Port Development
biologists RJ Higgins and WJ Schouwenburg concluded that "the shallow
estuarine areas between Porpoise Channel and the mouth of the Skeena
River are of high biological significance as a fish (especially juvenile
salmon) rearing habitat.
Inverness Passage, Flora Bank [one of the most
significant eelgrass beds in the province] and De Horsey Bank, in that
order, are habitats of critical importance for the rearing of juvenile
salmon. The construction of a superport at the Kitson Island - Flora
Bank site would destroy much of this critical salmon habitat."
Forty years later, the proposed site of the Pacific NorthWest LNG
Project occupies almost the same marine and terrestrial area that was
deemed vital to fisheries in 1973. The main adjustment has been the
relocation of the jetty terminal to the north edge of Flora Bank, rather
than cutting across the centre of it. However, the proximity of the
proposed industrial operations to this habitat would irrevocably alter
site hydrology, chemistry and ecology - likely with disastrous results.
