Since his PhD in 1976, Peter Ward has published more than 140 scientific papers dealing with paleontological, zoological, and astronomical topics. Currently, he conducts his research within The Environment Institute at the University of Adelaide. He discussed the state of the planet including climate change, melting ice caps, asteroid impact, dying oceans and mass extinction. The western Antarctic ice sheet is known to be disintegrating, and that will add at least 10 feet of higher sea level to an already increasing amount from the retreat of the glaciers, he noted. In the coming years, "I don't think we're going to see a catastrophic change except for storms," but in 50 years time the sea level rise will have a huge effect on agriculture and geopolitics, he predicted.

Regarding the problem of storms, when a large surge comes in "saltwater is pushed way farther inland...and a huge proportion of human agriculture is in low lying areas," such as the South Chinese coast, he detailed. Because of this, Ward suggested that scientists try to genetically engineer crops like rice so that they can live with high salt content. Further, he cited that in low lying counties such as Miami Dade, many of the toxic waste repositories are at sea level and can spread to the environment during a flood.

Comets that impact Earth can have disastrous consequences-- if one the size of Hale Bopp hit the planet, for instance, it could cause a total of extinction of life, he stated. An air burst like the Tunguska incident in 1908, in which a meteorite exploded in the air, would cause massive casualties in a populated area, and might even be interpreted as a nuclear attack, he warned. Ward also delved into his interest in astrobiology, positing that life on Earth may have come from Mars, and that Saturn's moon Titan, with its methane lakes, could be the likeliest spot to find other life forms in our solar system.

UFOs & Lunar Anomalies

First hour guest, civilian intelligence analyst and psychotherapist in New York City, Robert Morningstar, talked about World UFO Day, and UFOs that buzzed the Apollo astronauts. These UFOs were referred to as "moon pigeons" and were "gigantic white craft with square bases and trapezoidal bodies," he reported. He also stated that Chinese moon mission photos revealed mysterious, unexplained structures on the far side of the lunar surface.

News segment guests: Mitch Battros, Rhettman Mullis