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Subscribe to RSSAs if the Maya apocalypse wasn't enough to worry about, talk of a potential California superstorm or a catastrophic supernova have given a further boost to 2012 paranoia. Heck, even Hollywood is making a cameo in the 2012 saga.
Doomsayers have predicted that a global catastrophe, or at least some kind of global change-over, could occur in 2012, but they're likely to end up as wrong as those who predicted a Y2K meltdown or a Second Coming in 1844. (Jesus' failure to appear during that year left thousands of Millerite Christians in the lurch and led to what is now known as the Great Disappointment.)
Just in case you need to build up your resistance to 2012 hype, here's the first in a series of roundups relating to the doomsday buzz:
Superstorm:
When scientists and emergency response experts developed their "ARkStorm" meteorological model for the California coast, the point was to figure out a worst-case scenario for weather disaster planning, which would parallel the planning for a seismic "Big One" in the Golden State. They came up with a doozy, proposing that Pacific weather patterns could produce "atmospheric rivers" that dump rain onto the West Coast for 40 days and 40 nights. ("ARk" stands for "Atmospheric River 1000.")
Experts say such a hurricane-style storm occurred over a 45-day period in 1861-1862, causing severe flooding and turning the Sacramento Valley into an inland sea. Today, that kind of storm could cause $300 billion to $400 billion in damage. The video above paints an apocalyptic picture, made worse because "the public at large does not comprehend the extreme danger the storm poses."
Well, they comprehend it now. All this talk of a superstorm scared the bejeebers out of a lot of people, and it's now become woven into the fabric of 2012 fears. Just do a search for "2012 California superstorm" and you'll see what I mean. There's already a backlash as well: Over at the "Watts Up With That?" blog, Anthony Watts takes the U.S. Geological Survey to task for getting into the "weather porn" business. "I don't dispute the historical evidence of the 1861-62 flooding, but scaring the crap out of the public won't really help them plan effectively."
We don't really have to wait until 2012 for a wakeup call on the threats posed by severe storms: All you have to do is look at what's been happening in Australia and Brazil this month.
USGS
A color-coded map shows rainfall levels that could be caused by a hypothetical "ARkStorm" hitting the California coast. The shades of purple indicate accumulations of more than 50 inches.
Supernovas:
Will the star Betelgeuse blow up by 2012, creating a supernova so bright it'll look as if there are two suns in the sky? We addressed this seven months ago: Sure, the red supergiant could potentially explode sometime in the next 10,000 years, or maybe 100,000 years, based on observations of its mass-shedding activity. But no one can really predict precisely when it'll go supernova, and when it does, it's shouldn't have a dramatic effect on Earth.
So why is Betelgeuse back on the 2012 scene? The reason is that it's just so darn tempting to bring up that date anytime a cosmic blow-up is being discussed. That aspect is amply addressed today by Bad Astronomy's Phil Plait as well as Discovery News' Ian O'Neill. Heck, some folks are still trying to talk up the idea that Betelgeuse is going bonkers because it's part of the Maya prophecy for 2012. This won't be the last time we here from "Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!"
Superstars:
What do you get when you cross celebrity buzz with 2012 buzz? You get some widely re-quoted quotes from "Green Hornet" star Seth Rogen, who recounts a movie meeting during which "Star Wars" creator George Lucas "seriously proceeds to talk for around 25 minutes about how he thinks the world is gonna end in the year 2012, like, for real."
Despite Rogen's protestations, it's not clear whether Lucas was joking, or Rogen was joking, or whether it's just one of those weird Hollywood things. The most interesting spin on the anecdote comes from the New York Daily News, which details how various celebrities (from Ashton Kutcher and Woody Harrelson to Lil Wayne) feel about the impending apocalypse.
You can bet that we'll have more installments of "2012 Watch" over the next couple of years, and I think I'll make a habit of ending every installment with my favorite piece of advice from Douglas Adams' "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy": DON'T PANIC!
More on 2012:
- The end is not near
- Alien invaders vs. the truth squad
- Solar cycle sparks doomsday buzz
- French village flooded by doomsday survivalists
- 'End of the world' delayed ... by Mayan calendar
If you're looking for an additional antidote to 2012 hysteria, check out 2012hoax.org. Join the Cosmic Log community by hitting the "like" button on the blog's Facebook page or following b0yle on Twitter. You'll even find a reference to 2012 hype in a chapter of my book, "The Case for Pluto."
Leave a Comment:
42
I thought the answer was 6.
Are you sure? Hang on, let me get my point of view gun
No, 42 is the answer.
42? Fair enough. I guess I was 7 times smarter then than now.
doesn't matter question or answer, the important part is DO YOU HAVE YOUR TOWEL??!?
mob ... i don't get it. i must be out of this "answer" loop. what does 42 mean? and 6?
Peace6, "42" comes from "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy", where it is the Ultimate Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe, and Everything:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aboZctrHfK8
DON'T PANIC
What I find funny is just how religious the Astronomers and other Scientist are getting in their defiance and denial of the so-called 2012 thing.
The way they are acting, you would think something is up. (in other words I think the Astronomers and Scientist are paying too much attention to this 2012 thing and that in itsself is suspicious and very interesting. Doing one story on 2012, in my opinion, is more than enough. And now how many stories have been done by Astronomers Etc on 2012??? See what I mean?)
I fully expect to enjoy and watch the Democratic victory celebration on January 20 2013.
And thats my opinion.
Magnum, 2012 is something that I am asked about constantly; I did 71 outreach events last year, and was on the radio dozens of times, and at every public session folks ask if there is any truth in the 2012 story.
I don't ever bring it up on my own. I wish it would go away.
Regardless, there are a lot of people out there who are very concerned about whether or not the world is going to end in 2012.
(BTW - it's not. My answer is is the Brian Eno song - "It's Just Another Day".)
It's very very strange to be in front of a classroom of 3rd graders, and dealing with their questions - laced with their fears about 2012.
I'd rather NOT talk about 2012. There is an entire UNIVERSE out there that is full of the most wonderful things imaginable. We don't need to make crap up; I'd much prefer to talk about astronomy than about fairy tales.
I predict that the NEXT "End of the World" (it needs an acronym - how about EOTW?) will be Apophis. It will join the list of EOTW "events" that I've seen members of the public freak about about: 1985 planetary alignment ("WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!"), Comet Kohoutek ("WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!"), Comet Hale-Bopp ("WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!"), the New Millennium ("WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!"), and 2012. Oh, and Mars as big as the Full Moon.
Cheers! ~Michael (AFM*Radio / Astronomy.FM)
Hiya Michael,
It was always kind of amusing to me to listen to folks talk about the 2012 thing. But how you describe talking to 3rd graders is awful. That's no way to grow up.
I've seen more than my fair share of the internet videos and whatnottery that has to do with the 2012 thing. And it's not very convincing. I'm surprised it has so many people on the hook.
I was more amazed by the last lunar eclipse, as it happened on the winter equinox. It was amazing. It was cloudy all day so I feared I wouldn't get to see it but then right at 11pm (pst) it cleared up and it was just spectacular to see. Just beautiful.
Nothing like that will happen on the winter solstice of 2012. No alignments, no comets, maybe a few shooting stars and some pretty sky but is there any majestic astronomical event that we have marked on that day of the calendar? I don't know of one.
If nothing else it is interesting to look at the history of how cultures keep track of time itself. That is what really caught my attention about the mayan calendar. And once I looked into it I started looking into the history of all societies time keeping trends. It's some very interesting stuff.
Michael, you have my deepest sympathies. Unfortunately it is rapidly coming to the fore front of everyone's mind(and I think we can give a special thanks to Roland Emmerich for that). I dunno, maybe I will mess around with some of the more dull witted(and annoying) people I know with it, and then the even of the supposed EOTW, I will sit outside in a pair swimming trunks, sunglasses and have a bottle of SPF 70 with me, just to mess with them further. And then go in to take care of my frostbite.
And with the Democratic victory comes the end of the US as we know it. So 2012 would happen after all. LMAO
So Michael, you believe it`s all crap? What about those who believe 2012 isn`t about :We`re gonna die!", but about the spiritual growth of human race, and that the great destruction that`s talked about, is not about the earth, but of the human perception of reality?
I see the 2012 thing is now up and running in the MSM. This article, and I see another about the two suns around the time of 2012. Nothing like getting the 2012 fear train up and running before then. Yeah, nothing like a good dose of fear porn to keep the masses on edge.
Thanks for answering my post.
@Only in America, "the spiritual growth of human race, and that the great destruction that`s talked about, is not about the earth, but of the human perception of reality?"
Have you seen the human race lately?
It's all so silly.. There have been, so many times in human history these, as Michael has coined, EOTW events, that never came to pass, you'd think we learn, but nope, there will always be people who want to believe in them..
What we are facing in 2012 and the years to come after, without doubt, can be attributed DIRECTLY to human kind, not God or anything 'supernatural'.. Our climate is changing rapidly because of what we humans have done and are continuing to do to damage it! We are so greedy, so unwilling to make the drastic changes needed to the way we live today, that I seriously wonder if it's too late to stop or at least significantly slow it down.. We really don't deserve to be here, we treat this planet like a litter box that is now overflowing with our s--t and we seem even less inclined then ever to clean it out!
We are such thoughtless creatures and so set in our ways that to change them, even to save ourselves from extinction, may be impossible.. The first major change we would have to make is to instigate birth control on a global level and considering the fact that we breed like lemmings, that first, great hurdle is the one we probably won't be able to overcome, and that pretty much signs our death warrant! The fact is plain, this planet cannot sustain a population of 6 billion indefinitely and, considering it's still growing wildly, it will probably be our doom..
If, by some freaky chance, nature does end up sending a EOTW event next year, like an asteroid or something, then good for her.. The planet Earth will very likely survive, evolve and go on floating around out here on the edge of the galaxy, whereas, it damn well might not survive at all if we humans, the dominate species, keep treating it like a toilet!
breakingglass27, Have I seen the human race lately? Yes I have. And if your asking me if I only see the bad side of it alone, then the answer is no. Do you even understand what I meant by the destruction of our perception of this reality, and not Earth?
Halp, halp! The world's going to end in 5...4...3...2...1.........uh.....nevermind.
Only God knows when the apocalypse will happen.
Yes, Only In America, I know exactly what you mean, which is why I commented in the first place. I think a good amount of the human race will be too busy following the Jersey Shore to think twice about any sort of enlightenment. If Jesus came down with His flaming sword to take his followers with Him on December 21, 2012, they would say, "Hold on, Snookie's tanning."
what is this 2012 stuff..... didnt the world already end from WHY TWO KAY?
I could have swore Katrina was the end of days! I mean a city purposely built below sea level right at the SEA! flooded by the sea? WOW!
The Mayans left no written scriptures so kind of funny how they are telling us about the end of days simply because a priest found something better to do than work on page 2013 of the calendar
Actually there is quite a bit to work from, The thing about the mayans though is that they carved most things in stone and the spanish burned almost all their "books". Mayan calendar research is very interesting and I'd suggest looking into it. For example the calendar is made up of multiple calendars and works kind of like cogs in clockwork. I'm no expert on it but it sure is interesting.
bspurloc-- as you may already know (I am assuming your being sarcastic, but just in case you're not) the Mayan calendar is a stone wheel, a record of a cycle, that accurately records (interestingly) more time than the Mayans were a viable culture in the region. The cycle ends in 2012, but then- presumably, being a cycle- starts over. This is why most modern day descendants of Mayans are all like, "what's the big deal?" One cycle ends, the next begins, just like our year ends on dec. 31 and the new year begins jan. 1. The only difference is the amount of time being discussed... that and the mentioning of cataclysms occurring at the end of each cycle-- but then, the Mayans weren't around for the end of the last cycle, so what do they know? Lol.
WMG-21 - you got it exactly. Sadly our country has fallen into a dark age of superstition.
Wouldn't this storm if it happed, resupply the ground water ?. Though life may be lost, but in the long run wouldn't it be a good thing to have the underground natural water aquifers resupplied ? I'm no geologist and i'm not claiming to know what i am talking about here, i'm just speculating.
1. NASA has reported a ribbon of ionized gas at the edge of our solar system which they don’t understand
(ref. )
2. A Boeing Whistleblower was so scared of the information that he overheard in NASA that he quit his job and moved to Texas & bought a farm and went off the grid so to speak. (ref. )
3. The magnetic north pole is moving towards Russia at a rate of 40 Km per year (or faster, it could have sped up by now) Previous speed of pole movement was in the range of 10 Km per year ( ref. ) 12.29.03
also see
4. We are approaching the 2012 solar max in which the suns magnetic field will flip. This is apparently a regular phenomena and nothing in and of it self to be concerned about.
5. The solar system is moving above the galactic plane (ref. )
6. The Q94-109A Document authored by Dr. Dan Burisch (I.E. the Ganesh Particle) has been acknowledged by Caltech This is significant because the Ganesh particle can be used to cause or induce genetic mutations in various life forms.
7. The heliosheath of the solar system is squished H The significance of this will become apparent as our solar system moves above the galactic plane it may cause other magnetic phenomena to occur which may include Earth.
a few observations on my part:
4. Contrary to what some have predicted the Earth WILL NOT stop or reverse rotation! This is an important item. Such an occurrence would violate the conservation of momentum. The rotation of the planet and core produce the magnetic field rather than the field producing the rotation. So it is NOT like reversing the poles of a DC motor and running in the opposite direction. Again if were to happen, it would have been discovered in the rock records from the last reversal, so don’t worry about that.
This actually happened in Quebec on March 13, 1989, power was out for nine hours.
So if a CME is associated with the pole reversal or causes it we may also have major outages.
have a nice day
check out the CARRINGTON event year 1859 i beleive
they screwed up my text sizes
Because of a magnetic shift. Try a different typeface.
I really know only two things about December 21, 2012. First it would have been my moher's 100th birthday (she died in 1995). Second, a Maya shaman was recently interviewed (around 2008) about 2012. His comments included that he was sick and tired about charlatans' touting THE END OF THE WORLD ON 21/21/2012, when he expected nothing of the sort to happen. He expected that both the long and short calendar cycles would end and then begin again. Nothing more, and nothing less. That from a Maya shaman.
I apologize (spelling?) for any typos in my posts; my fingers can get clumsy at times.
This reminds me of Y2K. Here in South Dakota, somebody wanted to build a town 30 miles from nowhere, out by the state capital. This was supposed to be a refuge for rich paranoids to ride out the "Y2K disaster".
The county commision turned them down, not wanting to provide services to such a remote location.
we live in exiting times,,to say the least ,,,somethings gotta give before the 12-21-2012
"Exiting" times? As in "Exiting the planet"? ROFL
*Searches frantically for tinfoil hat*
I believe it is the date that alien life from another system will make themselves known to the entire human race all around the world and life as we know it will change dramatically and forever.
We can hope...
If they come back and see what has become of us, they will destroy this civilization and let a new one begin, as they have before. They keep hoping we'll get it right, but we don't.
We're already here! BWAH-HA-HA-HAAAAAAAA!!!
i wish they had have allowed them to build the site, we could have all used it for the end of the world as we know it, and you know I am feeling fine.
Tell me, is there no way out of this. hmmm guess I will have to wait for the next comet and the space ship behind the comet, so that i can be saved.
Wear clean sneakers.
and as my Douglas Adams wrote in his books, i will also take a clean towel.
Tic Toc Tic Toc.... time keeps on slipping. I am going to do what I did on New Years Eve 1999 which was find a couple of "open minded" ladies, smoke some herb, drink red wine and we shall enjoy ourselves till the morning. If the world ends, I went out with 2 ladies if it doesn't then I had another of the greated nights of my life. Its a win win.
i guess U use the word "ladies" loosely.
smile, Ur on candid camera, is the herbs your smoking Kent?
enjoy
here is a PGA comment (parental guidance always)
U can also embezzle a few banks as well (after all why stop doing what you did from 1999) and use a few nurses to do some dirty work. and ask auntie to read you some good books.
isnt LIFE grand.
I'm going camping.
ooops I regret saying what i just did, but then again, as the virgo star sign says regret is a useless emotion, i will just have to forget the regret.
camping, now there is an Xperience
First I would like to say, "I love science fiction movies"! I just got done reading about another weather anomally. This time is was about the excelerated rate of melting in Greenland. Then I read all the arguments for and against global warming. I dont spend a whole lot of time on the internet doing research on the subject because I am to busy.
It is my understanding that all the panets will line up in the year 2012. Is this correct? Wouldnt that be like a giant gravitation lens so to speak. Does not gravity bend sun light? Could that be what is the main cause of our weather. The amount of sunight being defracted as the lens gets closer to center?
The fact of the matter is something is changing the weather. I have only a GED but that doesnt mean I dont have common sense. If the poles are flipping I understand it will take several hundred years to complete the process. Also I am curious to know how much metal or magnitized material that will effect. It is my common sense understanding that it will affect a whole lot since the core of the earth is magnetic.
Can anyone enlighten me on these questions of mine. Also I read on the internet that Nasa has discovered a giant hole in this magnetic sheild of ours some where out there in the great Atlantic and as a matter of fact the Hubble telescope that is orbiting our planet must be shut down when it passes through it. Dont blame me because I read al this on the internet.
The fact of the matter is I dont think there are major changes coming. I am almost certain of it.
There are a series of books written by Mary Summer Rain back in the 1980s.
She writes of a blind American Indian woman called "No Eyes" who foresees the earth shifting on its axis.
Thus flooding most of America (Florida gets very wet) and changing the entire face of the earth as we know it. Maybe why many people are heading to Colorado and higher elevations. Also many believe there are strong spiritual forces there and places like Sedona.
Interesting stuff. Not very scientific, but science hasn't solved everything yet.
There is always a blind Indian woman in evey story, why is it that the Indians who came from Russia are so much smarter than the ones they left behind. That should be the story worth looking into. how about the Irish looking for the pot of gold, about the same.
YesNoBe-- there is no planetary alignment during 2012, that's been debunked by numerous astronomers. From Universe Today:
As for the magnetic flip, I admit I know less about that. I'm to understand that it has occurred in the past and apparently geologists can see it in striations of certain stones- but one thing to remember- during all of the shifts that have occurred (as geologists are able to determine) there has never been an extinction event that coincided with it, so all the rumors about it causing massive disturbances of the earth's continents, solar radiation blasts, etc. are not supported by the available evidence. If it happens, it's more or less benign to life on earth (but will wreak havoc with our compasses).
all i can say is Obeonekanobe may the force be with us
anyway have a nice day
Capt. Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise will save the day!
Kodai and the crew of the Yamato...
If we are looking at a star with a telescope that is 2000 light years away are not we looking at light that won't be visible to the naked eye for quiet sometime?
If the telescope is 2000 light years away then you will be seeing the same light as with you naked eye.
The only reason for this story is money. And more money, it worked for Y2K.
why havent they sent out a report about the megathrust and supervolcano? both are possible ways the world could end.
People are moving to Colorado because of the laxed lifestyle and also because of the legalized marijuana.