Notes
Cont. from Page 1
24.5 See, for instance: Walter, Katey and Chanton, Jeffrey (June 2008) "Siberian Permafrost Decomposition and Climate Change"; News article. "Ocean Dead Zones Growing - May Be Linked to Warming" 5/1/08 National Geographic; News article "Giant comet strike' on America caused extinction of ancient civilization." The Times, U.K. 1/2/09.
25. Hansen, James et al (2007). "Climate Change and Trace Gases." (PDF) Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society - A. Vol 365, pp 1925-1954. doi: 10.1098/rsta.2007.2052.
27. News article. "Space Storm Causes Power Outage as Unprecedented Series Winds Down." Space.com 10/31/03.
28. News article. "Sun's String of Fury Continues as 7th Major Flare Erupts." Space.com 9/5/05.
29. Solanki, Sami K. et al. (10/28/04). "Unusual activity of the Sun during recent decades compared to the previous 11,000 years." (PDF) Nature 431: 1084-1087, doi:10.1038/nature02995.
29.5 See Note 3.5 (above) for citation.
30.5. News article. "Multiple earthquakes rattle Yellowstone." Denver Post 1/3/09.
32. News article. "A Spurt of Quake Activity Raises Fears in Yellowstone". Time Magazine Online 1/1/09.
32.1 News article: "Hundreds of Quakes Are Rattling Yellowstone." New York Times 1/31/10; Press Release. "Yellowstone Earthquake Swarm Summary as of 2 February 2010," U.S. Geologic Survey.
32.5. For a longer discussion of the possibilities, please see "Apocalypse 2012? Guide to the Science, History and Prophecies".
33. News article. "Leaks Found in Earth's Protective Magnetic Field." Space.com 12/16/08.
33.5. News article. "Planet Earth May Have Tilted To Keep Its Balance, Say Scientists." Science Daily 8/25/06.
34. Hancock (1996). Chapters 1 and 2.
34.5. For a discussion of Hoagland's theory, see the 2009 documentary "2012: Startling New Secrets", produced by the SyFy Channel. Also known as hyperdimensional physics, the premise is explained in detail in Hoagland's 2007 book, Dark Mission: The Secret History of NASA.
35. Joseph (2007) Chapter 8. News article. "Sun's protective 'bubble' is shrinking." The Telegraph, U.K. 10/19/08.
35.5 News article. "Voyager Discovers Magnetized Fluff." Discovery News; M. Opher, et al. "A Strong highly-tilted Interstellar Magnetic Field near the Solar System". Nature 12/14/09.
36. News article. "Why Gaia is wreaking revenge on our abuse of the environment." The Independent, U.K. 1/16/06.
36.5. News article. "Ready or not, here comes '2012'" Contra Costa Times. 11/5/09.
37. Jenkins, John Major. "What is Galactic Alignment?", on his personal website; See also (2002) Galactic Alignment: The Transformation of Consciousness According to Mayan, Egyptian, and Vedic Traditions. ISBN 1879181843 and (1998) Maya Cosmogenesis 2012: The True Meaning of the Maya Calendar End-Date. ISBN 1879181487. Bear and Company. Meeus, Jean (1997). "Ecliptic and galactic equator". Mathematical Astronomy Morsels. Richmod, Va: Willmann-Bell. pp. 301-303. ISBN 9780943396514. OCLC 36126686.
38. For an in-depth look at the Mayan calendar, see Freidel, Schele and Parker (1995) Maya Cosmos: Three Thousand Years on the Shaman's Path. Oxford House Books; Milbrath, Susan (2000). Star Gods of the Maya. University of Texas Press. ISBN 0292752261; and Coe, Michael D. (1992). Breaking the Maya Code. Thames & Hudson ISBN 0500050619.
39 De Santillana, Giorgio and von Dechend, Hertha (1969). Hamlet's Mill. David R. Grodine, publisher. ISBN 0879232153. Page 7.
40. Milbrath (2000); "Does Maya calendar predict 2012 apocalypse?" USA Today.
41. Anastes. "The Final Days".
42. Sitler, Robert K. (2009) "2012 and the Maya World". The Mystery of 2012. Sounds True, Inc. Pages 101-102. ISBN 9781591796749
42.5. Makemson, Maud. The Book of the Jaguar Priest: a translation of the Book of Chilam Balam of Tizimin, with commentary by Maud Worcester Makemson. Henry Schuman, New York, 1951. 15-16.
43, Ibid. For an interesting discussion of this prophecy among several independent researcherss, see http://www.diagnosis2012.co.uk/sit.htm. See also "The Doomsday Prophecies", History Channel Ancient Aliens series, Season 4 Episode 2.For a closer look at the Mayan Long Count calendar and prophecies, see our article in the Apocalypse 2012? guide.
44. Lizama Quijano, Jeses J. "Las senales del fin del mundo: Una aproximacion a la tradicion profetica de los cruzo'ob." (2005). Translated by Robert Sitler and cited in They Mystery of 2012 (2009). Page 104.
45. News article: "Mexico adds yet another brick to the 2012 Maya legend." Mark Stevenson. Associated Press 11/25/11.
2012 Doomsday Prediction
Cont. from Page 1
Scientific Forecasts
Among the world's leading experts on global warming, NASA atmospheric scientist James Hansen has argued that our planet is approaching an irreversible "tipping point". The current warming trend will likely set into motion catastrophic flooding, the release of deadly methane gas (from arctic permafrost and the ocean floor), severe inland droughts, and more powerful weather systems. Together, these disasters may drastically reduce global crop yields.(24.5)
A massive tsunami engulfs a residential area following a 9.0 earthquake in Japan 3/11/11. Photo: REUTERS/KYODO
Hansen also believes the anticipated sea level rise for the 21st century has been grossly underestimated. In a 2007 paper, he and several co-authors criticized a report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that forecast a rise of no more than 59 centimeters. The actual figure could go as high as 25 meters, Hansen argues. This rate represents the amount of sea rise for a similar period of warming that transpired three million years ago. The paper continues:
"Civilization developed during a period of unusual climate stability, the Holocene, now almost 12,000 years in duration. That period is about to end."(25)
On another front, space scientists predict the upcoming peak in the sunspot cycle will produce larger than normal coronal mass ejections (CME's). The peak is anticipated between 2012 and 2013 and could generate solar flares capable of disabling power grids and orbiting satellites. Although the Space Environment Center operates a global warning system to mitigate the potential for damage on the ground, stronger ejections could arrive much more quickly than the usual interval of 1-2 days for most CME's. Power to nationwide grids and power plant transformers must be shut down prior to the intense charge to Earth's magnetic field. Otherwise, power surges would overload transformers, integrated circuits and other electronics.(26)
In October 2003, a series of powerful X-flares struck northern Europe, generating auroras, knocking out satellites, and forcing radio stations off the air.(27) A second flurry of spikes followed Hurricane Katrina in September 2005, one of them arriving in just eight minutes.(28) The most serious incident to date, however, took place in 1989, when a solar flare over Canada temporarily knocked out power to nine million customers. Underscoring his concern about the upcoming peak, solar physicist Sami Solanki states in a research paper:
"Except possibly for a few brief peaks, the Sun is more active currently than at any time in the past 11,000 years." (29)
This artist's depiction shows the Sun inside a protective bubble called the heliosphere. The two Voyager space probes are currently moving towards the edge of it, past the planets, and are passing through a region called the heliosheath. Some astrophysicists theorize that the movement of the Milky Way Galaxy through space creates a "bow shock" of radioactive energy, and that our bobbing solar system periodically gets too far above or below the Milky Way disc, and thus in the path of those waves. Both probes have recorded high levels of radiation, but the verdict is still out about what's going on. For more the subject cosmically-induced Earth mass extinctions, check out the article, Life in the Milky Way: Do Galactic Cycles Influence Earth's Biological History?
In January 2009, the National Academy of Sciences published its NASA-funded report assessing the social and economic consequences of a technological collapse triggered by solar flares or other space weather. Among the findings: emergency operations would be hampered by downed communications; generators would fail once their gasoline reserves run out, while gas station fuel pumps would fail to function without electricity; law enforcement, infrastructure maintenance and other essential activities of government would grind to a hault. Under this scenario, the report estimated that 130 million households and businesses could lose power for months or years. (29.5) While not dwelling on the point, the report also noted that military surveillance satellites might become disabled in space. This introduces the prospect of a pre-emptive strike by a nuclear-armed country, one that's perhaps concerned that its enemies might take advantage of the situation. (30)
Speculation among geologists about the possible eruption of a supervolcano in the United States has also intensifed in recent years. In particular, a swarm of earthquakes shook the massive Yellowstone Caldera from December 27, 2008, through mid-January, 2009.(30.5) Geologists like Robert B. Smith of the University of Utah and Bill McGuire, author of A Guide to the End of the World (2002) have raised the prospect of either the Yellowstone or Long Valley, California calderas undergoing their periodic 600,000 to 700,000-year upheaval sometime in the near future. (31) According to the University of Utah Seismograph Station, the 2009 quakes were recorded at depths ranging from 1 to 10 kilometers below the earth. Following this even, Time Magazine posted an article outlining the threat:
"The Yellowstone Caldera - formed by the massive upheaval 642,000 years ago that spread airborne debris all the way to the Gulf of Mexico - is nowhere close to being extinct. Areas of the park's topography inflate like a bellows because of magma infusing into volcanic chambers about 6 miles below the surface. About 1,000 to 2,000 tremors a year (mostly small) have been recorded since 2004, when interpretation of satellite imagery with GPS readings indicated the caldera had been rising as much as 3 inches a year. The past week's number of tremors - about 400 - is considered unusual."(32)
Between January 17th and February 2, 2010, Yellowstone experienced an even larger swarm of earthquakes. Nearly 1,600 tremors included two measuring 3.7 and 3.8 on the Richter scale. No evacuation orders or volcano warnings were issued, but geologists continue to monitor their seismograph stations, as well as the sulphur content and temperature of the geysers. The U.S. Geological Suvey said the 2010 activity was unrelated to the caldera and instead was caused by routine slippage along faultlines in the region. (32.1)
Other potential threats closely watched by doomsday trackers: (32.5)
- Declining strength in the earth's magnetic field. A north/south magnetic reversal may already be underway.(33)
- Shifting of the earth's north/south geographic poles. According to one theory, the loss of ice at the poles and higher volume of water along the equator is generating extreme movement among the tectonic plates. Charles Hapgood first advanced the idea of a sudden and drastic shifting of continents in the 1958 book, The Earth's Shifting Crust, with a foreward written by Albert Einstein. In 2006, Princeton University scientists appeared to bolster Hapgood's thesis with a study that showed Alaska residing near the equator just a few million years ago.(33.5) Graham Hancock has suggested that the fabled continent of Atlantis may have been a casualty of a pole shift around 10000 B.C., becoming Antartica after shifting south from its original location. He cites the 1513 Piri Reis map as evidence, since the map shows the continent without its current two-mile-thick ice sheet.(34)
- Axis shift via torsion field physics. Former NASA consultant and CBS reporter Richard Hoagland cites the physics research by James Maxwell in the last century, plus an alleged set of ruins on Mars as evidence that an internal imbalance at the Earth's core may soon trigger a catastrophic movement within the crust. (34.5)
- Interstellar radiation. Astrophysicists like Alexey Dmitriev believe our solar system may be entering a cosmic dust cloud. Some studies show that waves of radiation have already penetrated the outer heliosphere due to a reduction of solar wind.(35) In addition, the two Voyager probes recently began reporting on an interstellar cloud found at the edge of the heliosphere. (35.5)
On the more theoretical side, the late author Zecharia Sitchin argued that a mysterious planet Nibiru crosses paths with Earth every 3,600 years, wreaking gravitational havoc. However, Sitchin said in an interview with the New York Times in 2010 that he doesn't see any correlation between Nibiru and the Mayan calendar, since his planetary disaster scenario is not due to play out until 2087.(36.5)
Precession-Alignment Theory
In our solar system, gravity causes the Sun and planets to share the same plane of orbit. From our perspective on Earth, this plane is known as the ecliptic, located at 30 degrees above the horizon in every direction. The twelve Zodiac constellations move along or near the ecliptic, and over time, recede counterclockwise about one degree every 72 years. This movement is attributed to a slight wobble in the Earth's axis as it spins, altering the angle in which we see the sky. First measured by Hipparchus in the first century A.D., this phenomenon is called the Precession of the Equinoxes.
As a result, approximately every 2,160 years, the constellation rising just before the Sun on the spring equinox changes. This signals the end of one astrological age (currently the Age of Pisces) and the beginning of another (Age of Aquarius). Over the course of 26,000 years, the Precession of the Equinoxes completes one full backwards circuit around the ecliptic.
This changing perspective accounts for a rarely occurring conjunction of the Earth, Sun and center of the Milky Way galaxy, dubbed the "galactic alignment". It appears to coincide with the end of the Mayan Long Count calendar on the December solstice in 2012. Based on the diameter of the Sun, the current alignment is taking place over a 36-year period, from around 1980 to 2016.
In the 1990's, Mayan researcher John Major Jenkins introduced the galactic alignment premise and claimed the Mayans celebrated it as the harbinger of a profound spiritual transition on Earth. During the heyday of Mayan culture around 500 A.D., a ritual ball game was played in which two teams battled to kick the ancient equivalent of a soccer ball through a stone ring mounted on a wall. Scoring a goal symbolized man's returning to the womb of the "Cosmic Mother", who resides in the "dark rift" at the center of the galaxy.(37) By some coincidence, in 2002, astronomers identified a super-massive black hole in approximately the same area of the sky as the Mayan dark rift.
Like many non-western cultures, the Mayans view time as a cycle rather than a random linear progression. Galactic alignments occur on a solstice or equinox once every quarter-precession cycle (approximately 6,500 years), which suggests the universally held notion of the "four seasons of man" (i.e. golden, silver, bronze, iron). According to Jenkins' theory, just as astrology uses the positions of stars and planets to predict the future, the Mayans plotted their calendars with the objective of preparing for significant planetary events.(38)
In addition, just as the date December 21, 2012 represents Baktun 13.0.0.0.0, the number of zodiac constellations formally numbered 13, an important number to the Mayans. (The 13th, forgotten zodiac sign is Ophiuchus, located between Scorpio and Sagittarius on the ecliptic.) In addition, the computation of 9 X 13 = 108 represents a key equation in the precession sequence. Moreover, it crops up in the texts of many ancient cultures.(39) Jenkins claims, however, that the Mayans never attached any apocalyptic or mass extinction type of significance to the completion of the Long Count calendar.
Monument Six and the Mayan Prophecy
University of Florida astronomer Susan Milbrath, author of Star Gods of the Maya, is among those who have accused 2012 doomsday proponents of exploiting Mayan culture to advance their own political or personal agendas. She and colleagues like Anthony Aveni insist there's no evidence to support a Mayan doomsday prediction for 2012. (40) And even though the last page of the Dresden Codex (considered the bible of Mayan astronomy) depicts planetary destruction, no specific date was assigned to the apocalypse. Moreover, Milbrath points out that since the nucleus of the Milky Way cannot be identified without high-powered telescopes, the Mayans could not have been aware of its location in order to plot the so-called galactic alignment.(41)
On the other side of the debate, history detectives contend there's at least one archaeological source suggests the Long Count calendar end date may be associated with cataclysmic events. A partially damaged inscription of hieroglyphics at the Tortuguero site in Mexico (known as Monument 6) state that "the thirteenth pik will be finished Four Ahaw, the third of K'ank'in. [An undeciphered event] will occur... the descent of Bolon yokte K'u to [undeciphered place]." The Four Ahaw date is a reference to December 21, 2012. Bolon yokte K'u is a god in Mayan mythology sometimes connected to warfare and creation. (42) Other researchers, including the late Maud Makemson, believe Bolon yokte K'u refers to a set of nine Mayan deities, or support gods. (42.5) (The Ancient Egyptians also referred to a set of nine gods known as the Ennead, consisting of Atum, Shu, Tefnut, Geb, Nut, Osiris, Isis, Set, and Nephthys.)
Despite its vagueness, the inscription at Tortuguero has been linked to a Mayan text , The Chilam Balam of Tizimin, which also appears to predict what will happen at the end of the current Long Count calendar. Makemson, who chaired the astronomy department at Vassar College, provided the first English translation of the book in 1951. A passage on pages 15 and 16 of Chilam Balam states:
“The Nine shall arise in sorrow, alas… And when over the dark sea I shall be lifted up in a chalice of fire, to that generation there will come the day of withered fruit. There will be rain. The face of the sun shall be extinguished because of the great tempest. Then finally the ornaments shall descend in heaps. There will be good gifts for one and all, as well as lands, from the Great Spirit, wherever they shall settle down. Presently Baktun 13 shall come sailing, figuratively speaking, bringing the ornaments of which I have spoken from your ancestors. Then the god will come to visit his little ones. Perhaps ‘After Death’ will be the subject of his discourse.
“…in the final days of misfortune, in the final days of tying up the bundle of the 13 katuns on 4 Ahau, then the end of the world shall come and the katun of our fathers will ascend on high.… These valleys of the earth shall come to an end. For those katuns there shall be no priests, and no one who believes in his government without having doubts…. I recount to you the words of the true gods, when they shall come.” (43)
Over the last century, a few Mayan religious figures have also warned of an approaching doomsday. The son of a prayermaker in the Cruzo'ob village of Xcacal Guardia said in 1989:
"The end of the world is going to arrive in the year 2000 and a bit more, but no one knows how much a bit is. It might be thirty years or a century... The legend used to say that in Chan Santa Cruz there would arrive a time in which four white ropes would cross; these ropes are the highways to Merida, Vallodolid, Cancun and Vigia Chico. These ropes are a sign that time is going to change; or perhaps that time has already changed. When times change, a new war is also near."(44)
On November 24, 2011, Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History announced it had discovered a second reference to the Long Count calendar end date. Mayan hieroglyphs found on the inside of a brick at a templ in Comalcalco. Alongside the date, the third glyph on the brick seems to read "he/she/it arrives". (45)
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For more insight on all the subjects discussed in this article, see our feature series Apocalypse 2012.
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