2012! Is it happening?

[wonderboy]

This is just a crazy post with a hint of seriousness. With all the recent massive earthquakes that have been happening, is this a sign of a pole shift? I know it takes a lot more for a pole shift and that it can take absolutely bloody ages, but in my opinion somethings going wrong somewhere. It happened in Haiti, off the coust of indonesia, in Italy and more that Ive seen or heard of on the news. what do you all think? I'm thinkin theres some bad Joo Joo on the up.

[Amir]

apart from nature, many other things are going crazy too!

[RJN]

The Bad Astronomer's (Phil Plait's) job is to discredit junk like this. Please see: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badas ... ll-happen/ . Here is a quote:

I’ve mentioned all the woowoo garbage going on about 2012 (specifically Gia’s take down of it and a movie that will no doubt not help much). I do plan on a thorough and complete destruction of this nonsense in the same manner as I’ve done on the Moon Hoax, Hoagland, and Planet X.

I can't find his "complete destruction" blog post though. If some can, please post it to this thread.

- RJN

[wonderboy]

I suppose your right RJN. If it wasn't for the Mayans and the 2012 movie then the quakes would be treated as (i)just another(i) bunch of earthquakes. However, maybe it takes something like this to open your eyes and realise that something is happening. Then again, maybe its all mumbo jumbo. I take a positive spin on it. if the world is gonna end, surely you'd wanna be around to see the biggest spectacle of all?

[Parsec]

Just a couple of quick comments.
I would not be too concerned by earthquakes or 2012.

Most of the 2012 hype is perpetrated by media and people trying to exploit it for their own benefit.

Without a lot of completed and boring 'stuff' the Mayan calendar simply runs it's count in 2012.

The best analogy is, like an odometer on a car. It counts off the distance over time. Since it is not running an infinite liniar series of numbers, at some point in time it will have to come back to zero or 'reset'.
This is in essence exactly what the Mayan short count is doing. Nothing more, nothing less.

However, if some people can put a lot of hype into it, then they can make movies write books and make money.

As for earthquakes.
Seismic events depend on the physics of plate tectonics. There have been several ≥ 7.0m events in the last several weeks.
However, prior to this the activity was very low for almost a year.(actually for a year and a half)
Because of plate movement there will be at times much activity and times of very little activity.

I very much doubt the world is going to end (at least in the next long while) and if it does, it will be because of us and not plate tectonics, magnetic shifts or Mayan calendars.

[wonderboy]

i suppose following times of unactivity, there will be periods of increased activity as the plates are ALWAYS moving. I'm not worried, I just thought it was wierd that there were a lot of really bad earthquakes recently.

[BMAONE23]

Just a couple of quick comments.
I would not be too concerned by earthquakes or 2012.

Most of the 2012 hype is perpetrated by media and people trying to exploit it for their own benefit.

Without a lot of completed and boring 'stuff' the Mayan calendar simply runs it's count in 2012.

The best analogy is, like an odometer on a car. It counts off the distance over time. Since it is not running an infinite liniar series of numbers, at some point in time it will have to come back to zero or 'reset'.
This is in essence exactly what the Mayan short count is doing. Nothing more, nothing less.

However, if some people can put a lot of hype into it, then they can make movies write books and make money.

As for earthquakes.
Seismic events depend on the physics of plate tectonics. There have been several ≥ 7.0m events in the last several weeks.
However, prior to this the activity was very low for almost a year.(actually for a year and a half)
Because of plate movement there will be at times much activity and times of very little activity.Agreed

I very much doubt the world is going to end (at least in the next long while) and if it does, it will be because of us and not plate tectonics, magnetic shifts or Mayan calendars.

disagree
Barring Nuclear war or extreme toxification, I don't think we have the capacity to destroy this world. We might make it uninhabitable to our own species but it does have the capacity to self correct over time as is evident through many past mass extinction events and the fact that Life still prevails. We create more CO2 in the atmosphere and the planet responds through more robust tree growth. As Carbon increases, carbon sink activity also increases. Again, we might toxify ourselves to oblivion but the earth will still go on and life will continue.
The only true World Ender scenereos will come from things that we have no control over. Cometary bombardment, Asteroid impact, Solar activity increase coupled with magnetic field decrease, etc.

[bystander]

See Mayan Calendar - Era 2012 - Galactic Alignment

[Orca]

Wonderboy, I think that hyper-active media coverage of every natural disaster around the globe creates a sense that the Earth is somehow more turbulent than "normal."

[wonderboy]

This may also be true! But you have to admit that the recent earthquakes have been rippers, and theyve been quite far apart. Its interesting, and an eye should be kept on it.

[Chris Peterson]

This is just a crazy post with a hint of seriousness. With all the recent massive earthquakes that have been happening, is this a sign of a pole shift?

Poles don't shift. The magnetic poles reverse every few hundred thousand years, which has no known geological impact. The rotational pole precesses, and is subject to small perturbations. But that just changes the orientation of the pole with respect to the stars- again, no geological implications. The position of the rotational pole with respect to the Earth's surface is extremely stable. It hasn't moved in the past, and it isn't going to move in the future.

[Parsec]

Just a couple of quick comments.
I would not be too concerned by earthquakes or 2012.

Most of the 2012 hype is perpetrated by media and people trying to exploit it for their own benefit.

Without a lot of completed and boring 'stuff' the Mayan calendar simply runs it's count in 2012.

The best analogy is, like an odometer on a car. It counts off the distance over time. Since it is not running an infinite liniar series of numbers, at some point in time it will have to come back to zero or 'reset'.
This is in essence exactly what the Mayan short count is doing. Nothing more, nothing less.

However, if some people can put a lot of hype into it, then they can make movies write books and make money.

As for earthquakes.
Seismic events depend on the physics of plate tectonics. There have been several ≥ 7.0m events in the last several weeks.
However, prior to this the activity was very low for almost a year.(actually for a year and a half)
Because of plate movement there will be at times much activity and times of very little activity.Agreed

I very much doubt the world is going to end (at least in the next long while) and if it does, it will be because of us and not plate tectonics, magnetic shifts or Mayan calendars.

disagree
Barring Nuclear war or extreme toxification, I don't think we have the capacity to destroy this world. We might make it uninhabitable to our own species but it does have the capacity to self correct over time as is evident through many past mass extinction events and the fact that Life still prevails. We create more CO2 in the atmosphere and the planet responds through more robust tree growth. As Carbon increases, carbon sink activity also increases. Again, we might toxify ourselves to oblivion but the earth will still go on and life will continue.
The only true World Ender scenereos will come from things that we have no control over. Cometary bombardment, Asteroid impact, Solar activity increase coupled with magnetic field decrease, etc.

I see what you mean. I'll stand corrected.
I was loosely referring to H.sapiens.
I agree with you looking at 'total' species. I don't know that at 'this point in time' we have the ability to render the globe absolutely void of life.
I have no doubt in a future time we may well have it within our capacity for total destruction.
However, I also think there is a bright spot here. If we survive that long, I'm sure we will have advanced enough that we will keep the world safe.

[BMAONE23]

i 2 i

[The Code]

Yellow stone park. How many years over due? That is what i would think our biggest danger is. Unless the Mayan new something we don't. However, the Iceland volcano seems to be a worry. 200 years ago. A lot of folks died in England from poison gas, from its previous eruption. I think the world will do just as it pleases, We do not, got a choice.

Mark

[wonderboy]

It is worrying that Yellow Stone hasn't blown its top in a long while. We don't really want it to blow though do we? Nuclear winter and all that jazz? I suppose thats why it is the biggest danger, and I agree with that. I was just thinking today (because I seen in the paper about an eruption) that theres a spate of them on. I.E the one I seen today, and the one in Iceland. Could this be down to instability in the earths crust meaning lava can make its way to the surface? I dunno. Its just my mind working overtime I think.

[CyclingNut]

According to some science show I saw on some channel on cable--I'll watch anything in HD except Teletubbies--a shift like the one your describing would happen very quickly. And by very quickly I do not mean 1,000 years or 100 years, but almost instantaneously (a day, five hours perhaps).

So no, earthquakes happening where White people live is not a sign of the Apocolypse, but rather a reminder that the Earth is stronger than you are and there's nothing you can do about it; you could fire every nuclear weapon on the planet and it wouldn't come close to the power the Earth has to just all of the sudden flip on its side without any warning whatsoever.

I lived in the natural disaster capital of the world--Japan--for seven years, and managed not to scream 'The END IS HERE!!!" every time the Earth burped--which happens a lot there.

Your basically asking how long does it take the Earth to rip its pants or fart, and the answer is only about as long as it takes you to do the same.

The shift--totally different kind of shift--that separated Pangea into the various continents we enjoy today happened very quickly as well.

[CyclingNut]

It is worrying that Yellow Stone hasn't blown its top in a long while. We don't really want it to blow though do we? Nuclear winter and all that jazz? I suppose thats why it is the biggest danger, and I agree with that. I was just thinking today (because I seen in the paper about an eruption) that theres a spate of them on. I.E the one I seen today, and the one in Iceland. Could this be down to instability in the earths crust meaning lava can make its way to the surface? I dunno. Its just my mind working overtime I think.

Logically, the longer the period of time the supervolcano that is Yellowstone hasn't blown, the closer we are to it happening. I'd just move to China if I were you.

[CyclingNut]

This is just a crazy post with a hint of seriousness. With all the recent massive earthquakes that have been happening, is this a sign of a pole shift?

Poles don't shift. The magnetic poles reverse every few hundred thousand years, which has no known geological impact. The rotational pole precesses, and is subject to small perturbations. But that just changes the orientation of the pole with respect to the stars- again, no geological implications. The position of the rotational pole with respect to the Earth's surface is extremely stable. It hasn't moved in the past, and it isn't going to move in the future.

Of course it moved! Not all of the sudden, but it has moved.

[Chris Peterson]

According to some science show I saw on some channel on cable--I'll watch anything in HD except Teletubbies--a shift like the one your describing would happen very quickly. And by very quickly I do not mean 1,000 years or 100 years, but almost instantaneously (a day, five hours perhaps).

Nope. The Earth's poles don't shift. They wander at a rate of millionths of a degree per year. It is possible that in the past there was somewhat faster wander for brief periods, but still nothing that could be called rapid shift. Nothing has happened in hours or days, and nothing will.

The shift--totally different kind of shift--that separated Pangea into the various continents we enjoy today happened very quickly as well.

Still, it happened over millions or tens of millions of years. Relatively quickly in geological terms, but a speed that would be virtually unnoticed if happening today (except through careful measurements).

[Chris Peterson]

Logically, the longer the period of time the supervolcano that is Yellowstone hasn't blown, the closer we are to it happening.

Logically, we are always closer to it happening. It doesn't matter how long it's been since the last eruption. <g>

[CyclingNut]

According to some science show I saw on some channel on cable--I'll watch anything in HD except Teletubbies--a shift like the one your describing would happen very quickly. And by very quickly I do not mean 1,000 years or 100 years, but almost instantaneously (a day, five hours perhaps).

Nope. The Earth's poles don't shift. They wander at a rate of millionths of a degree per year. It is possible that in the past there was somewhat faster wander for brief periods, but still nothing that could be called rapid shift. Nothing has happened in hours or days, and nothing will.

The shift--totally different kind of shift--that separated Pangea into the various continents we enjoy today happened very quickly as well.

Still, it happened over millions or tens of millions of years. Relatively quickly in geological terms, but a speed that would be virtually unnoticed if happening today (except through careful measurements).

Chris, the axial tilt has shifted, and a lot faster and more than you think it has.

Pangea ripping apart was very sudden and catastrophic.

Your knowledge is outdated by about ten years. Time to buy a new set of books.

[Chris Peterson]

Chris, the axial tilt has shifted, and a lot faster and more than you think it has.
Pangea ripping apart was very sudden and catastrophic.

I don't think so. The breakup of Pangaea happened in several phases over millions of years. And it was a tectonic process that had nothing to do with the position of the Earth's rotational axis. There is almost no evidence that the Earth's rotational axis has ever shifted a large amount or rapidly.

I'd say you're reading the wrong books!