All language subtitles for S01E01 - Cycles of Time.en

[THEME MUSIC]

New discoveries have
overturned 150 years

of scientific thinking when
it comes to us, to and me,

and the way we think about
ourselves, about one another,

about the world, from
undeniable evidence of advanced

civilizations.

They're now dating back
into the last Ice Age

and even before to
the way we think

about other people and their
cultures, their religions,

their beliefs, and
even the way we

view disease and immortality.

There is a new story
that's emerging.

My name's Gregg Braden.

And I'd like to welcome you to
this very special presentation

of "Missing Links: The Deep
Truth of Our Origin, History,

Destiny, and Fate."

So here's my question to you.

How can we be resilient
in a world that's growing

more volatile by the day?

How can we thrive in
the new normal that's

already with us,
it's already here,

unless we're honest with
ourselves about that story

and what it's showing us?

"Missing Links: is all
about the new discoveries.

Discoveries that
you're just not seeing

in traditional mainstream media,
textbooks, and classrooms.

What those discoveries
are telling us

and what they mean
in our lives, what's

causing these
extremes in our world?

Why are they
happening right now?

Well, it's all about
cycles, cycles of time.

Scientists now recognize that we
are living the rare convergence

of three massive cycles of
change-- cycles of, climate

economic cycles, and
cycles of human conflict.

And I want you to know
these are natural cycles

and they follow natural
rhythms that we can know,

we can predict, and
we can calculate.

And they appear on
a regular basis.

And that's what makes
today so different.

All three of these cycles are
appearing at the same time.

They're colliding right now.

And it's happening
in our lifetime.

The primary source
of information

about the history of our
planet comes from the sea floor

sediments in the core
samples that scientists

pull up out of the oceans.

It comes from the
ancient tree ring data.

The problem is the
tree rings only go back

a couple of thousand years.

And it comes from
the ice cores that we

find in the ice sheets of
Antarctica and Greenland.

So I'd like to zero in on
those ice cores a little bit.

From the ice cores, tremendous
amounts of information

can be detailed
by scientists who

know how to read these
ice cores like we

read the pages of a book.

Each year, when that new
layer of ice is deposited,

that layer captures
the information

of whatever was happening
in the atmosphere.

If there was a
volcanic eruption,

we've got volcanic
dust particles.

If the wind has blown pollen
grains into Antarctica

from Europe, then we know that.

In the ice cores we can tell how
strong the magnetic fields have

been the past, how
strong the sun is,

tremendous amount
of information,

how high the sea levels were.

Here's the key.

We can tell what the
temperatures were, as well.

What we're seeing now
is the information

going back over 420,000 years
into the history of the Earth.

1999, scientists,
international scientists,

recognized that global warming
was actually melting the ice

and destroying this
library, this record that we

have in Antarctica.

And they said even though we
don't know why the warming is

happening, let's drill through
the thickest part of the ice

and we'll capture as
much data as we can.

Then we can go back and figure
out what's causing the warming.

Well even the scientists
were absolutely

amazed because when they
pulled that ice core up,

from an area that is called
Vostok Lake in the very

famous Vostok ice
core, they pulled up

over 420,000 layers of ice.

Each layer represents one
year of the earth's history.

So all of a sudden, we've
got 420,000 years of our past

to compare to today to
see if something's wrong,

to see if Earth is broken, to
see if there's something truly

anomalous happening right now.

You're seeing two
different ice cores.

In blue is the EPICA ice
core from another location

in Antarctica. $ And the
green is the Vostok ice core.

And what I'd like to call
your attention to-- just right

off even if you know
nothing about how

to read this information--
you can see the cycles.

You can see the rhythms.

And it's not your imagination.

There are nested cycles,
cycles within cycles.

There are 100,000 year cycles.

There are 41,000 year cycles.

There are 26,000 year cycles.

There are even 5,000
year long cycles.

So the way that we
can read this graph,

the 420,000 years begins on the
right hand side of this screen.

We're present day on
the left at year zero.

And if you look at either the
blue or the green ice cores,

what you can see is they tend
to agree with one another.

There are times when the
temperatures of the earth

have ebbed and flowed,
when it's been warmer

and when it's been cooler, and
when it happens in one place,

it happens in another
place as well.

The red that you're seeing
at the bottom of the graph

is the thickness of the
ice as it correlates

to those temperatures.

So what is obvious when we look
at this graph is that if you

look at year zero, today,
we are a little bit

above the average
temperature for what

you would expect Earth to be.

I would expect to see some
global warming right now.

I'd be concerned if we
didn't, because that is

what has happened in the past.

The question is how
much warming is normal?

How much warming should
we really be seeing?

Well the next graph that
I'd like for you to see

is a graph that also comes from
the ice core data and the sea

floor sediment data.

However, it does not
contain the tree ring data.

And it's telling us something
really, really interesting.

This graph begins
at year zero-- we

would say-- at the
time of Jesus--

just for point of reference--
and goes for 2,000 years

into the year 2000.

The green line
that you're seeing

in the middle of this chart
is the average temperature

for the Earth over
these 2,000 years.

And the chart, the
graph, is showing us

above and below that
average where we have seen

the temperatures in the past.

So it's obvious.

Sometimes the temperatures
are above normal.

Sometimes they're below normal.

Here's why this
is so interesting.

If you look closely, where we
are today, are we above normal?

Absolutely.

We're above the average
normal for where

Earth has been in the past.

Are we warmer now than
we have ever been?

Absolutely not.

Look at this.

If you go back into the
years 1200-1300 in what

is called Common
Era, CE, they're

using this notation now
instead of AD and BC

to remove any
religious implications.

So when I say CE, it means
Common Era from the year zero

to now.

1200-1300 Common
Era, the temperatures

were almost twice as warm
as they are right now,

twice the anomaly that
we're seeing right now.

And if you go back into the
years 820-1040 Common Era,

look at this.

Three times above where
the anomaly is right now.

And scientists know
this because they

have a name they give to
this period it's called MWP.

It means the Medieval
Warming Period.

So the point of me
sharing this with you

is to show that the
warming does happen.

And I would expect that we
would be in a warming cycle now.

And that the warming is not
the warmest it's ever been.

And if you look closely, the
warming, when it happens,

it's brief, it's intense.

And it's what comes right
after the warming that

sometimes can be the problem.

It's the cooling that follows.

This is a very,
very powerful graph.

And I'm going to walk
through it slowly

so you can see exactly what
Mother Earth is telling us.

And that is the value of
looking at the information

from the Earth herself.

We're not seeing
this interpreted

through the eyes
of a corporation

or of a political
or religious agenda.

This is the Earth
telling us her story.

And this story is fascinating.

In this particular
graph, the year

zero-- to the right hand
side of the screen-- that's

us, that's where we are today.

I'm going to go back
to the 420,000 years

from where the ice cores
were in the previous graphs.

And if you'll notice,
you're looking

at two colors, red and blue.

The red are the
temperatures of the earth,

the average temperatures.

And the blue are the levels of
greenhouse gases, particularly

carbon dioxide.

And I'm showing
this because we're

being told that it is the carbon
dioxide in the greenhouse gases

that is causing the temperatures
of the earth to rise

and causing the concern.

The data in this graph
doesn't support that theory.

And I want you to see
precisely how this works.

So follow with me.

If we're moving
from that 400,000

years toward the
present, so we're

moving from the left to the
right hand side of the graph.

What you see is that the red
lines rise before the blue.

That means the temperature is
rising before the greenhouse

gases.

And this is what's recorded
in the ice cores in Antarctica

and in Greenland.

The temperatures
rise first and then

the greenhouse gases, the
carbon dioxide, follow.

And there is a lag time.

And it's not our imagination.

This is from peer
reviewed science.

This is peer
reviewed science that

was published in the very
prestigious journal "Nature"

volume 329 in the year 1987.

Scientists knew this
as far back as 1987.

So I'm going to zero in on
what it is that they said.

And this is their language.

They said "when we
are going from what's

called an interglacial
condition--"

and that's where
we are right now.

We're not in the glaciers,
we're in between the time

when the glaciers appear.

So "when we're going
from interglacial

into a glacial condition--" into
a time when the earth cools--

"the change in the
carbon dioxide actually

lags the change in
the air temperature."

It lags.

And that lag time is usually
400, to 500, 600, 700, maybe

800 years.

So there is that lag time.

So this is from peer
reviewed science

in the journal "Nature."

[VIDEO PLAYBACK]

- Here's an example of
a core that goes back

some 100,000 to 200,000 years.

And the sediments within
this show clear differences,

visually, which have been caused
by different seasons climate.

And you can see here a whiter
carbonate ooze and here

a red brown clay.

These carbonate oozes
meant is laid down

during interglacial
periods, warmer periods.

And these red clays
have been laid down

during the glacial
period, cooler periods.

[END PLAYBACK]

Now I want to go back and
take a closer look at this

chart because it's telling us
even something more profound.

If you look closely, when
the carbon dioxide levels

do increase when they go up,
the temperatures actually drop.

The stronger the
carbon dioxide levels,

the cooler the temperatures
on the Earth become.

Now why is that important?

Because it is a
fact we have thrown

tremendous amounts of carbon
dioxide into the atmosphere.

We have now created more
of a carbon dioxide burden

in the Earth's
atmosphere than we

have in the 420,000 years
that we have the history for.

We've never seen this much
CO2 in the atmosphere.

So if in the past,
higher levels of CO2

have created a cooling
effect with the levels

that were there
then, it makes sense

that we can expect a greater
degree of cooling because

of the higher degrees of CO2.

Why is that important?

Well a lot of that cooling
happens north of the equator.

The bulk of the earth's landmass
is north of the equator.

The bulk of the
world's population

is north of the equator.

And most of our food is
grown north of the equator.

So when we see a
change in climate,

when we see a cooling--
and that doesn't

mean that we're moving
into another Ice Age--

but even a little cooling
changes the conditions

that allow us to grow the food
and support the industries

that we depend upon.

So this is important.

And I think it is
important for us

to be honest, truthful,
and factual with ourselves.

I asked earlier in
the program how can we

be resilient to the extreme if
we're not honest with ourselves

about the extreme?

And this is a perfect example
of exactly what I mean here.

So the question that
obviously comes up

is if the carbon dioxide
is not causing the changes

in the climate, as
we have been led

to believe-- as many scientists
believe right now-- then what

is?

So this is the key
climate change is a fact,

it's happening.

But it may not be
happening for the reasons

that we have suspected.

So what we're now beginning
to understand parallels,

in many cases, what our
most ancient and indigenous

traditions have always told us.

If you go to the Inuit
elders in the Arctic regions

and you ask them what it is
that's causing this change,

they will tell you.

They will tell you
that the Earth has

changed her location in space.

They'll say that
their sky has changed.

This is the term they use.

Their sky has changed.

Well there was an
Australian astronomer.

His name is Milutin Milankovic
who agrees with this.

Before he died in 1958,
Milutin Milankovic

had created a theory that
was discounted at first,

but it is becoming
more popular now

because it is telling
us the story that

matches the data of what
we're actually saying.

Milutin Milankovic
recognized three big cycles,

shifts in the location,
of Earth in space.

Earth, it doesn't stay
stationary as Earth moves

around the sun, our
planet does a dance.

There's a tilt, an
angle, and a wobble.

And they have technical terms.

And let me just identify
those very quickly.

One of those is called the
precession of the equinoxes.

We all heard about precession
during the 2012 phenomenon

in the Mayan calendar.

Precessions are about
26,000 years long.

And our ancestors knew that.

So that is one of the cycles.

A second cycle is what
is called eccentricity.

And what that means is that
as earth moves around the sun,

it's not a circular orbit,
it is an elliptical orbit.

Sometimes in the ellipse,
we're closer to the sun.

Sometimes we're further away.

That means the cycle
varies when we're close,

about 41,000 years,
and we're further

apart about 100,000 years.

That's the second cycle.

And the third is called
the tilt, or the obliquity.

OK?

So these three cycles that
Earth is going through

as it moves around the sun,
now you know what they are.

Let's take a look at them as
they are plotted on a graph.

You're going to see something
absolutely astounding.

So what you're seeing in the
graph on your screen right now,

the red is the precession
of the equinoxes.

The green is the obliquity.

And the blue is
the eccentricity.

Now, if you look closely
as they ebb and flow,

if either eccentricity or
obliquity or precession,

if any two of these
rise at the same time,

look at what happens.

At the bottom of
the screen, you're

seeing warming and
cooling of the Earth.

And you can see that when
eccentricity, for example,

and obliquity, when
those coincide,

we have a warming
period on the Earth.

I'm showing you this on
the screen right now.

And you say, well,
maybe that's an anomaly.

Maybe it's just that one time.

But look at this.

If we go back and
look at each of these.

Here we're seeing
eccentricity as a peak

and we're also seeing
obliquity as a peak

in the blue and the green.

and right below that.

Every place where that happened,
we saw warming in our planet.

And it happens all the time.

So the reason this is important
is because we are here

at the far left of the screen.

Where that red
line is, that's us.

And we're having a little
bump in eccentricity.

We're seeing that coincide
with the obliquity.

So we're seeing this
dance the Earth is

doing in a very precise
way that has created

warming in the past, and it's
doing the same thing right now.

I would expect to
see some warming.

And we are seeing a
relatively small warming

compared to what we
have seen in the past.

So this is one of
the cycles, climate.

And I mentioned there are three
cycles that are converging.

I spent a little bit
more time on this portion

because we're hearing
so much about climate.

And I think it's
important to really

understand throughout
this series,

throughout "Missing
Links" I'm going

to refer back to the
extremes that are

being caused by these cycles.

The second cycle that
I'd like to talk to you

about is the cycle of economies.

And when I talk
about economies, it

doesn't have to be about money.

It can be.

The economies are about
people, about the way

we work together and share
the vital resources that we

need-- food, water, medicine.

Well there was an economist
early in the 20th century.

His name was Nikolai
Kondratiev, Nikolai Kondratiev.

And he was the first to
recognize the rhythm of cycles

as it plays out in global
and local economies.

Whether we're talking the
small scale of a family,

or a large scale the
community, or a planet,

it seems to be the same thing.

And what he did is he identified
a 66-year economic cycle.

And he broke this
cycle into seasons.

And I find this fascinating.

Our 66-year cycle, that we're
in right now began in 1949.

That was what he called the
Spring of this economic cycle.

And it lasted from 1949
until the year 1966.

This was a time of inflation.

It was a beginning of
an inflationary cycle.

And in inflation,
as we all know,

there are certain stocks,
certain commodities,

certain bonds, that that
tend to do better or worse

depending on where
we are in this cycle.

In the inflationary
cycle, what we see is

there are certain assets that
tend to do better in the Spring

than they do in other times.

But the Spring only
lasted until 1966.

From 1966 until
the year 1980, we

were in the Summer of
this economic cycle.

And I remember this personally.

I was in school and I was
working in the 1960s, 1970s.

I remember when I could
deposit my paycheck in the bank

and I could get 16, 17,
18% interest on my money

because we were in an economic
cycle of this inflation.

It was called runaway inflation.

It was good for me.

It helped me to
save for college.

so that's something we may
not see again for a while.

So from 1980, we went into a
new economic cycle, the Autumn,

that lasts until the year 2000.

And in this cycle,
as the others,

there are certain investments.

There are certain
tangible assets

that seem to do
better in this cycle

than they do in
others until we enter

into the next
phase of the cycle.

In the year 2000, we went into
the Winter of the 66-year cycle

that we're in right now.

A period that is
less popularly known.

It's called dis-inflation
or deflation,

when the things that used to
have value begin to lose value.

Property loses value.

Precious metals
lose their value.

It's a very, very different
way of thinking about money

and about economies.

And that lasted
until the year 2015.

In 2015, according
to Kondratiev,

we now have entered into
a new economic cycle.

And we are beginning the
inflationary cycle once again.

And I think we're seeing this
as the Federal Reserve is

beginning to raise the interest
rates to create the inflation.

And we're seeing this
happen in the world.

[VIDEO PLAYBACK]

- Listen, I know it's
not news to you guys,

but it is to Wall
Street, apparently.

The economy grinding to a
halt. Today's GDP report

was up only 1.5%.

- In just 29 minutes today,
China's stock market plunged 7%

and then was shut down
altogether for the day.

[END PLAYBACK]

So this isn't right,
wrong, good, or bad.

It is a period of time where
things change and the way

we think about things changes.

If you don't know that and
you see the economy making

wild swings, you think
something is wrong

and something's broken,
when actually we're

in a very volatile time
with this particular cycle.

Now, I mentioned
three cycles and I'm

going to talk about the
third one right now.

This cycle is a cycle that is
a little mysterious to people

because it is the cycle
of human conflict.

People say to me, what do
you mean a cycle of conflict?

Doesn't it just happen
whenever it happens?

Well the answer is no.

There is a rhythm.

There are cycles of conditions
that make us more vulnerable

and make us more
susceptible to conflict.

[VIDEO PLAYBACK]

- There is a real
problem in this country

that we've got to address.

And it's not going
to change overnight.

But you've got to
understand that anger.

[END PLAYBACK]

It doesn't mean that the
cycles drive war and conflict.

It means that when we find
ourselves in those cycles

that we are vulnerable
and susceptible.

And it's an opportunity
for us to walk very softly,

to extend that olive
branch of peace,

or go the extra mile
to create an agreement,

or find cooperation whether it's
with our families, our friends,

our communities or
between nations.

I recently had the opportunity
to speak at the United Nations

with a dear friend and colleague
of mine, Dr. Bruce Lipton.

And we were invited
to share with the UN

our perspective of cycles
of time, what we as a world

can expect so that
we can prepare,

know where to put our resources,
know where to put our energy.

And I'm sharing with
you precisely what

I shared with them.

The fact that we are living
this rare convergence

of these cycles.

And the economic cycles,
and the climate cycles,

many of those people
were not familiar with.

So the value of
knowing this that we

are in this cycle
of human conflict

when it's so easy
to be misunderstood

and to trigger an incident
that can wreak havoc

on entire nations.

The value of that is it
arms us with the wisdom

and the knowledge to
be very, very conscious

about our agreements,
about our communications.

You're actually
seeing the rhythm

of some of these conflict
cycles-- the beginning

and the end of the Korean
War, the beginning and the end

of World War I, World War II.

All of these pegged right
at the top and the bottom

of those cycles of conflict.

Well, what's interesting
is where are we

in these cycles right now?

In the year 2014,
we began an uptick

toward greater human conflict.

And that uptick peaks
in the year 2020.

So I would expect
between 2014 and 2020,

we would see a lot of
tension in the world.

It doesn't mean
we must have war,

it means we are vulnerable
and susceptible.

And it also means there's a
greater opportunity for deeper

communication to create peace in
the time of that vulnerability.

That's the good news.

So when I talk to people
about these conflict cycles,

they say what is it
that could possibly

be driving these cycles?

Well this is where it
goes back to Mother Earth.

I want to share something
quickly, I won't dwell on this,

but I want you to
see, so that you

can see how deeply connected
we are to our planet.

A lot of research
has been done now

relating human conflict
and social change

to the sun and solar cycles.

As far back as the 1700s,
1750 to the year 1920,

scientists had the
data where they

saw the ebb and the
flow of solar cycles

for the first time, they
could actually plot those out.

Some very far
reaching scientists

looked at human achievements
and human disasters

at the same time.

They said what are people doing
while these solar cycles are

ebbing and while
they're flowing?

And this isn't all
about bad things.

It's about innovation and
creativity, new inventions,

the automobile, and
the way that we're

using electronics today,
and all of these things.

The ideas of physics, Einstein,
Niels Bohr, Max Planck,

all of these ideas, Edison.

This is all happening
linked to the ebb

and flow of these cycles.

So what you're seeing on your
screen is a very rare image.

It is the image showing the
solar cycles ebbing and flowing

from 1750 to 1920.

And the blue line above
that is the human activity

all combined--
innovations and war.

Big stuff happens when the
solar cycles increase and we

seem to quiet down when
the solar cycles decrease.

Well that leads to the
question, this ends in 1920.

Where are we right now?

That was my question
as I was seeing this.

So I put this together.

So you can see precisely
what it is that's happening.

Now what you see is
that Solar Cycle 22,

right in the middle
of that cycle,

the peak, that was when we
had the Iraq Kuwaiti War,

a huge example of conflict.

Solar Cycle 23 was 9/11,
right in the middle.

And Solar Cycle
24, the first week

that the sun spots, that the
magnetic storms on the sun

began to increase,
that was when we

had what was called the Arab
Spring in places like Egypt

and Tunisia and
Libya, all of these

linked to the solar cycles.

So once again,
scientists are not

saying that the sun is
causing these effects.

What we're seeing
is that there are

natural conditions that create
the environment that we respond

to.

And that environment,
in that environment,

we are sometimes more
aggressive and sometimes

more willing to cooperate.

And that's going to be
important later in this series.

I'm wanting you to see it right
now so that we can refer back

to this.

So we are now in
the Solar Cycle 24.

What does all this
mean to us right now?

Well if we understand how
these cycles come together,

what we know is that nature--
nature-- uses the extremes

that we're seeing as a
trigger for new ideas

and new solutions.

I mentioned that we are
living in a time of extremes.

And I wanted to
share with you what

it is that's causing
extremes, the convergence

of these cycles.

So I think it's fair
to say to you now

the best minds of our time are
saying we are, in fact, living

a time of extremes.

It doesn't mean bad things are
happening, or even good things,

but big things, big, big,
changes in the world.

Our world is changing
in ways that we simply

have not been prepared for.

And I think it's fair
to say, for most of us,

that those changes
are happening faster

than we have come to expect.

And what that
means is that we've

got to think and
live differently,

perhaps more so now than
we ever have in the past.

So I began this episode
saying that we're

living a time of extremes.

And now we've backed up that
statement with the specifics.

You now understand the extremes
and what's causing them

and what they mean in your life.

In our next episode,
we'll discover

how our time of
extremes has already

led to new thinking and
beautiful new solutions

when it comes to solving the
big, big problems in the world.

So I want to thank you for
joining me for this program

today and be sure to
tune in for our next

all new episode of
"Missing Links: The Deep

Truth of Our Origin,
History, Destiny, and Faith."