-------- What is the 2012 Doomsday Prediction?
From TheCityEdition.com (last updated: 8/19/2010)
Introduction
The 2012 Doomsday Prediction is a cultural phenomenon rooted in present-day speculation about imminent cataclysmic events. Fueled by numerous books, internet sites and documentaries airing on the History Channel since 2007, the forecast draws from three primary sources:
In addition, some researchers claim ancient Mayan astronomers were aware of a rare alignment of the Earth, Sun and center of the Milky Way galaxy taking place in the years surrounding 2012. The alignment is tied to the Precession of the Equinoxes and signals a transition from one 26,000-year planetary cycle to another. As a result, Earth and its inhabitants may be undergoing a physical and/or spiritual transformation, hence the reason the Long Count calendar ends in 2012. (1)
However, the suggestion that the Mayan calendar is tied to a doomsday scenario is controversial. While experts concur that Earth's climate is entering a period of instability, most academics dispute the apocalyptic interpretation of the 12/21/2012 end date. Archaeologists versed in the study of the classical Mayan civilization insist the date simply marks a resetting of the ancient clock, which will read Baktun 13.0.0.0.0 on 12/22/2012.(2) Other skeptics argue that doomsday predictions associated with religious prophecies and astronomical events have a long track record of failure. (3)
Nonetheless, the National Academy of Sciences released a report in 2009 warning that powerful bursts of radiation from the Sun could knock power grids and satellites out of commission during the next solar maximum in 2012. Because of the interdependent nature of technological society, the potential long-term loss of electricity, communications and the ability to pump gasoline could result in grave social and economic consequences. A 2004 study commissioned by the Pentagon, "Imagining the Unthinkable", suggests even grimmer prospects for civilization if global warming continues unchecked. (3.5)
The following sections are covered below:This date represents the correlation of the standard Gregorian calendar to the end of the Mayan Long-Count calendar, which is based on astronomical observations from ancient times. Also known as the "Great Cycle", or the "Great Year", the calendar start date is 3114 B.C., corresponding to the birth of the Olmec culture, whose legacy the Mayans inherited and later expounded upon. (4) In recent years, a number of New Age commentators have claimed a global consciousness shift is in the works as the calendar transitions to a new 5,125-year cycle, or world age. Mexican artist José Argüelles is credited with introducing the 2012 phenomenon to a mass audience when he organized the Harmonic Convergence on August 16, 1987. Later, counterculture icon Terence McKenna would refer to the 2012 end date in his controversial Timewave Zero doctrine.
McKenna protégé Daniel Pinchbeck eventually encapsulated various lines of thought about a coming new age in his book 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl (2006). (5) In 2007, The History Channel began airing a series of documentaries exploring the Mayan calendar and prophecies from many other traditions.(6)
A few Mayan researchers have proposed alternative end dates to the Long Count calendar, particularly Carl Johan Calleman, who insists the correct date is October 28, 2011 .(6.5) A biologist and former investigator for the World Health Organization, Calleman is the author of The Mayan Calendar and the Transformation of Consciousness (2004). The book argues that the nine steps of Mayan pyramids correspond to accelerating periods of evolution. The lowest step starts with the birth of the universe and incorporates several billion years. By contrast, the highest and final step towards the end of the calendar lasts only 13 years, yet the same amount of evolution (technological, intellectual, etc.) ostensibly occurs in this short time frame.
On the silver screen, Roland Emmerich's 2009 film, 2012, is the latest in a series of fictional doomsday thrillers premised on the world ending in the 21st century. Emmerich also directed The Day After Tomorrow. The latter film more closely approximates actual scientific forecasts than the former.
The idea of a doomsday or apocalypse dissolving a world age dates back to antiquity. In the eighth century B.C., Hesiod explained in The Works and Days that Kronos and Zeus had by that time already obliterated at least three "generations" of men. (7) In fact, some 30 cultures around the globe share the concept of world ages (sometimes referred to as the Ages of Man).(8) Four or five ages are universally represented as Golden, Silver, Bronze/Copper and Iron. Most ancient texts also assert that each of the previous epochs ended badly.
In India, an ancient Buddhist and Hindu astronomical treatise known as the Surya Siddhanta states that a golden age will follow the demise of Kali Yuga (a.k.a. the "Degenerate Age"), which represents the present Iron Age. Kali Yuga began when Krishna died. Another Vedic text, the Vishnu Purana, elaborates:
"The four ages are the Krita, Treta, Dwápara, and Kali; comprehending together twelve thousand years of the gods. There are infinite successions of these four ages, of a similar description, the first of which is always called the Krita, and the last the Kali. In the first, the Krita, is that age which is created by Brahmá; in the last, which is the Kali age, a dissolution of the world occurs."(9)
In North America, Hopi mythology describes the first three world ages as succumbing to cataclysmic geologic forces. The Hopi's first world succumbs to heat and fire, while the second experiences a massive geographic pole shift:
"Stuknang commanded the twins, Pojanghoya and Palongawhoya, to leave their posts at the north and south ends of the world's axis, where they were stationed to keep the earth properly rotating. The twins had hardly abandoned their stations when the world, with no one to control it, teetered off balance, spun around crazily, then rolled over twice. Mountains plunged into seas with a great splash, seas and lakes sloshed over the land; and as the world spun through cold and lifeless space it froze into solid ice."(10)
In advance of each of these apocalypses, a small group of spiritually-minded members of the tribe are instructed by a Hopi god on how to escape the coming destruction. In the case of the first two worlds, the evacuees follow a cloud by day and a star by night until they reach a giant ant mound - perhaps symbolizing a mountainside - where they take refuge. The ants share the food they've stored in the mound and everyone waits out the siege of catastrophics events.
In the closing days of the Hopi's third world, the evacuees escape worldwide flooding in a vessel constructed of reeds.(11) At least 200 cultures, including the Inuit in Alaska, recount a Great Flood legend. (12) In the version found in the Old Testament, Noah is instructed by Yahweh to build an ark and seal it with pitch. Eventually a storm hits and Noah loads the vessel with an assortment of animals and his extended family. As torrential rains engulf the world, the ark sets sail and remains afloat for seven months.(13)
Regarding what exactly constitutes the length of a world age, the various traditions either provide widely different calculations or none at all. The Vedic records insist that the present Kali Yuga age will last 360,000 years. However, some independent researchers have concluded that the 5,125 period designated by the Mayans may qualify as the approximate timespan for the rise and fall of the current world age. That's because the time frame comes close to a quarter cycle of the Precession of the Equinoxes.
Curiously, the Long Count calendar begins on a date generally designated as August 13, 3114 B.C., which roughly coincides with the beginning of recorded history. The first cuneiform writing found in Mesopotamia is dated to around 3000 B.C.
According to glaciologist Lonnie Thompson, fossil evidence shows that about 5,200 years ago, a mass extinction event took place on Earth, an episode he attributes to erratic solar activity. (13.5) A steep drop in temperature was followed by a period of global warming at the same time biblical scholars believe the Great Flood occurred.
Climatologists, oceanographers and geologists have proposed competing theories to account for the Great Flood. Thompson believes global warming melted both polar ice caps, increasing the volume of the oceans. Columbia University Professors Walter Pittman and William Ryan claim rising sea levels in the Mediterranean caused an earthen dam to collapse along the Bosporus in 5600 B.C., flooding the densely populated Black Sea basin. (14)
The Holocene Impact Working Group alleges that a comet struck the Indian Ocean in 2800 B.C. The impact generated a mega-tsunami that wiped out an estimated 80 percent of the human population.(15)
Approximately 7,000 years earlier, in North America the sprawling Clovis population vanished suddenly, according to archaeological digs at numerious locations. While a definitive cause for the extinction remains undetermined, recent hypotheses point to either the Younger Dryas climate shift or an alleged comet impact above the Laurentide Ice Sheet, north of the Great Lakes. Both events are dated to around 10000 B.C. and may be inter-connected.(16) In January 2009, a group of scientists at the University of Bristol, U.K. offered a third possible explanation - that mega-wildfires triggered the mass extinction. (17) This theory identifies global warming as a contributing factor.
Larger extinction events that affect nearly all species on the planet are thought to occur periodically over the course of millions of years. Lawrence Joseph explains in his book Apocalypse 2012: A Scientific Investigation Into Civilization's End that the earth bobs up and down as it circles the center of the Milky Way galaxy, periodically jostled by gravitational and energy anomalies.
This may account for the calculation by U.C. Berkeley phycisists Richard Muller and Robert Rohde that six massive planet-wide extinctions have transpired. The last event occurred 65 million years ago when a comet struck the Gulf of Mexico, off the Yucatan peninsula. In The Shiva Hypothesis, authors M.R. Rampino and B.M. Haggerty argue that recurring galactic fluctuations generate increased comet/asteroid activity and other interstellar interference. (17.5) (Note: The name Shiva is taken from the Hindu god of creation and destruction.) Other studies suggest mass global extinctions occur whenever the earth is level with the Milky Way plane. Fortunately, our solar system is several light years above the plane at the moment, and climbing higher. (18)
The History Channel in its coverage of the 2012 Doomsday Prediction cites a number of prophecies that relate to the present day.(18.5) The Hopi Prophecy, for instance, warns that a third world war, geologic upheaval, hotter temperatures, drought and famine would all contribute to the collapse of civilization. Among the omens that presage the final days are a "spider web crisscrossing the earth" and the appearance of a "blue star":
"And this is the Ninth and Last Sign: You will hear of a dwelling-place in the heavens, above the earth, that shall fall with a great crash. It will appear as a blue star. Very soon after this, the ceremonies of my people will cease. These are the Signs that great destruction is coming. The world shall rock to and fro. The white man will battle against other people in other lands -- with those who possessed the first light of wisdom. There will be many columns of smoke and fire such as White Feather has seen the white man make in the deserts not far from here. Only those which come will cause disease and a great dying. Many of my people, understanding the prophecies, shall be safe. Those who stay and live in the places of my people also shall be safe. Then there will be much to rebuild. And soon -- very soon afterward -- Pahana will return. He shall bring with him the dawn of the Fifth World. He shall plant the seeds of his wisdom in their hearts. Even now the seeds are being planted. These shall smooth the way to the Emergence into the Fifth World."(19)
During his lifetime, Isaac Newton predicted the exact year of that the biblical apocalypse would transpire, based on an exhaustive analysis of the Book of Revelation and Book of Daniel. In a packet of writings withheld from the public until the late 1980's, Newton calculated the "end of days" would take place in 2060. It would follow the rebuilding of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem. (19.5)
In South America, a small community of Q'ero Indians has also predicted the end of the fourth world. These reclusive descendents of the Inca were discovered by anthropologist Alberto Villoldoin in Cuzco, Peru in 1949. (The Incas themselves descended from an older culture known as the Viracochas, thought responsible for the mysterious Nazca Lines, the machined granite blocks of Puma Punku, and the famed city of Tiahuanaco, next to Lake Titicaca.) The Q'ero believe the world is approaching the time of a universal mastay, or gathering. As in the case of the Hopi prophecy, geologic disturbances will precede the reintegration of the different races and cultures presently dispersed around "the four directions".(20)
Two Medieval prophets dramatized in the History Channel program 2012: End of Days also warned of an apocalyse in modern times. While the authorship of material composed by Mother Shipton (a.k.a. Ursula Southeil) and Merlin (a.k.a. Myrddin Wyllt) is disputed by scholars, in the texts that have been recovered, accurate descriptions of the modern age were found. Myrddin predicts a geographical pole shift, while Shipton appears to validate the Shiva Hypothesis (see previous section). Writing in the 16th century, she explains:
"A fiery dragon will cross the sky. Six times before this earth shall die. Mankind will tremble and frightened be, for the sixth heralds in this prophecy. For seven days and seven nights, man will watch this awesome sight. The tides will rise beyond their ken, to bite away these shores and then the mountains will begin to roar, and earthquakes split the plain to shore. And flooding waters rushing in will flood the lands, with such a din that mankind cowers in muddy fen, and snarls about his fellow men." (20.5)
The Ancient Egyptians may have also prophesied a doomsday in the year 2012.(21) In The Orion Prophecy (2001), Patrick Geryl and Gino Ratinckx allege that descendents of the utopian civilization Atlantis settled along the Nile following the last worldwide mass extinction. These Atlanteans survived a catastrophic flood that submerged (or relocated) their own continent and later encoded a warning about a 2012 apocalypse in hieroglyphs. According to Geryl and Ratinckx, the prophecy can be found inside the Sphinx, the pyramids at Giza and Dendera Temple complex. The authors cite as sources a rare translation of the Egyptian Book of the Dead by the French mathematician Albert Slosman, as well as Slosman’s book Le Grand Cataclysme (1976).
However, Plato dated the destruction of Atlantis to around 9000 B.C., nearly 6,000 years before the the official date archaeologists ascribe to dynastic Egypt.(22) Geryl and Ratinckx, along with a growing number of other researchers, believe the Egyptian monuments are thousands of years older than 2500 B.C. and may have been built shortly after an apocalypse, with the goal of helping mankind to survive the next. Towards that end, the Egyptians received assistance from either an advanced culture (like Atlantis) or aliens from another planet.
In Fingerprints of the Gods, Graham Hancock cites the ancient Greek historian Diodorus, who was told in the first century B.C. by Egyptian priests that "at first gods and heroes ruled Egypt for a little less than 18,000 years, the last of the gods to rule being Horus, the son of Isis… Mortals have been kings of their country, they say, for a little less than 5,000 years."(23)
Both Hancock and Robert Temple in his 1976 book The Sirius Mystery present evidence of extraterrestial intervention following an epoch of human extinction. In other words, the "gods" referred to by the Egyptians, Incas and other cultures may have been people from another planet who masterminded a sort of Marshall Plan to put human civilization back on track following the near-extinction event. Temple cites an anthropological study of the Dogon people in Africa conducted in the 1930's which suggests that the aliens came from a cluster of stars in the Sirius constellation. Swiss investigator Erich van Daniken had previously alluded to the idea of an alien presence on Earth in his 1968 bestseller Chariots of the Gods. (24)
Other prophecies contributing to the doomsday speculation include:
Among the world's leading experts on global warming, NASA atmospheric scientist James Hansen argues that the earth is approaching an irreversible "tipping point". A warming trend will likely set into motion catastrophic flooding, the release of deadly methane gas from arctic permafrost, increasingly severe weather and droughts, all contributing to reduced crop yields.(24.5)
Hansen believes the anticipated sea level rise for the 21st century may be 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. 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. The peak is anticipated in the years 2011 and 2012 and could generate solar flares with the capacity to disable power grids and orbiting satellites (including military surveillance equipment). Although the Space Environment Center operates a global warning system to mitigate potential damage, stronger ejections appear to travel towards the earth at a much higher velocity than the usual rate of 1-2 days. Power must be shut down prior to the strike to avoid surges that can overload transformers and integrated circuits.(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. Outlining his concerns 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)
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 gasline reserve runs out, since the fuel could no longer be pumped; Law enforcement, infrastructure maintenance and other government operations would all be crippled; An estimated 130 million households and businesses could lose power for months or years. (29.5) While not belaboring the point, the report notes that military surveillance satellites might become disabled in space. This introduces the prospect of a pre-emptive strike by a nuclear-armed country at its enemies. (30).
Speculation about the possible eruption of a supervolcano in the United States has also intensifed since 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 January quakes were recorded at depths ranging from 1 to 10 kilometers below the earth. On New Years Day, 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 17, 2010 and February 2nd, 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 have been issued, but geologists continue to monitor seismograph stations, as well as the sulphur content and temperature of the geysers. The U.S. Geological Suvey says the activity appears to be unrelated to the caldera and involves slippage along faultlines. (32.1)
Other potential threats closely watched by doomsday trackers: (32.5)
On the more theoretical side, author Zecharia Sitchin's premise that a mysterious planet called Nibiru crosses paths with Earth every 3,600 years, wreaking gravitational havoc, figures prominently in Roland Emmerich's film 2012. However, Sitchin doesn't see any correlation between Nibiru and the Mayan calendar, insisting his planetary disaster scenario will play out in 2087.(36.5)
In our solar system, gravity causes the Sun and planets to share the same plane of orbit, and from our perspective on Earth, this plane is known as the ecliptic. 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., the phenomenon was dubbed 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 makes one full circuit around the ecliptic.
This changing perspective accounts for a rarely occurring intersection of the Earth, Sun and the heart of the Milky Way galaxy known as a "galactic alignment". The next alignment happens to coincide with the end of the Long Count calendar on the December solstice in 2012. The alignment takes place over a 36-year period, corresponding to the diameter of the sun, with the most precise convergence occurring without incident back in 1998.
In the 1990's, Mayan researcher John Major Jenkins introduced the premise that the classical Mayans anticipated this conjunction and celebrated it as the harbinger of a profound spiritual transition for mankind.
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) may be tied to the precession of the equinoxes. 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 world 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. (Ophiuchus, located between Scorpio and Sagittarius, also crosses the ecliptic.) In addition, the computation of 9 X 13 = 108 represents a key equation in the precession sequence that crops up in the texts of many ancient cultures.(39) However, Jenkins rejects the idea that the Mayans attached any apocalyptic significance to the completion of the Long Count calendar.
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) Moreover, 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 a galactic alignment.(41)
However, at least one archaeological source suggests the Long Calendar end date may be associated with cataclysmic events, if only allegorically. Hieroglyphics inscribed at the Tortuguero site (known as Monument 6) in Mexico 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 Maud Makemson, link the name to a set of nine cosmic deities. (42.5)
Despite its vagueness, the inscription has also been linked to a Mayan document known as The Chilam Balam of Tizimin, since both refer to the same date. Professor Makemson, former chair of the astronomy department at Vassar College, provided the first authorative translation of the book into English in 1951. Referring to Bolon Yokte' K'uh, a passage on pages 15 and 16 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 thirteen 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)
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1. Benjamin Anastas "The Final Days". New York Times Magazine 7/1/07.
2. Ibid; G. Jeffrey MacDonald "Does Maya calendar predict 2012 apocalypse?" USA Today 3/27/07.
3. Kyle, Richard (1998). The Last Days are Here Again. ISBN 9780801058097.
3.5. Workshop report. "Severe Space Weather Events--Understanding Societal and Economic Impacts." Space Studies Board, National Academy of Sciences. 1/2009; Schwartz, Peter and Randall, Doug (2004). "Imagining the Unthinkable." (PDF). Study commissioned by the Pentagon.
4. For a brief explanation of the Long Count calendar, see Calendars Through the Ages.
5. For a complete list of books and other sources, see The City Edition 2012 compilation.
6. History Channel programs exploring the doomsday predictions: 2012 - End of Days (2007), Maya Doomsday (2007), Seven Signs of the Apocalypse (2008), 2012: The Sun (2008), 2012: Ancient Egyptians (2008) and Nostradamus 2012 (2008) .
6.5 Why the Creation Cycles do not end December 21, 2012, but October 28, 2011. By Carl Johan Calleman. Global Oneness website.
8. De Santillana , Giorgio and von Dechend, Gertha (1969). Hamlet's Mill. David R. Godine Publisher, ISBN0879232153 . Text is available online.
9. Vishnu Purana, Book VI, Chapter 1. Text is available online.
10. Excerpted from Waters, Frank (1963). Book of the Hopi. Ballantine Books. ISBN 0140045279. Part I, Chapters 1-4.
12. See Mark Isaac's compilation of Great Flood legends.
13.5. "Major Climate Change Occurred 5,200 Years Ago." Ohio State University news release 12/15/04; Joseph, Lawrence E. (2007). Apocalypse 2012: A Scientific Investigation Into Civilization's End. Morgan Road Books. ISBN 0767924479. Chapter 6.
14. Ryan, William; Walter Pitman (1997). Noah's Flood: The New Scientific Discoveries About The Event That Changed History. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0684859200; John Noble Wilford, "Geologists Link Black Sea Deluge to Farming's Rise," New York Times, 12/17/96, pp. B5 and B13. However, a more recent study may contradict the theory. See "Noah's Flood" Not Rooted in Reality, After All?" National Geographic News 2/6/09.
15. Kelletat, Dietter and Scheffers, Anja (2003), "Chevron-shaped Accumulations Along the Coastlines of Australia as Potential Tsunami Evidences?", Science of Tsunami Hazards, Vol. 21, #3, p 174; News article "Meteor 'misfits' find proof in sea." New York Times News Service 11/14/06.
16. Perkins, Sid (5/30/07). "Ice Age Ends Smashingly: Did a comet blow up over eastern Canada?" Science News. Note: Requires paid subscription.
17. Press release. "Comet impact theory disproved." University of Bristol January 2009.
17.5. Joseph (2007) Chapter 10.
18. Rampino MR, Haggerty BM, Pagano TC "A unified theory of impact crises and mass extinctions: quantitative tests." Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1997 May 30; 822:403-31.
18.5. 2012: End of Days (2007). The History Channel.
19. Waters (1963). Part IV, Chapter 2.
19.5. Castillejo, David (1981). The Expanding Force in Newton's Cosmos. Page 55; "The Nostradamus Effect – Isaac Newton 2060" (2009) The History Channel.
20. See Wilcox, Joan Parisi, (1999). Keepers of the Ancient Knowledge: The Mystical World of the Q'Ero Indians of Peru. Element Books, ISBN 1862044929.
20.5. Joseph (2007) Chapter 10.
21. 2012: The Ancient Egyptians (2008). The History Channel.
22. Timaeus 25c–d. Bury translation.
23. Hancock, Graham (1996). Fingerprints of the Gods. William Heinnemann Ltd. Chapter 43.
24. The History Channel program Alien Astronauts (2009) takes an in-depth look at this theory.
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.
34. News article. "Planet Earth May Have Tilted To Keep Its Balance, Say Scientists." Science Daily 8/25/06.
34.5 Hancock (1996). Chapters 1 and 2.
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. For an in-depth 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.
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Compilation of 2012 Articles, Books and Resources
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