2012 Mayans and Science and Lies...Oh my!

By Andrew J. Welsh

AN END OR A BEGINNING?

In a little over one thousand days the world as we know it will change forever…or at least that is the growing belief among countless end of the world prophets who are convinced that change - for better but probably for worse - will take place at exactly 11:11pm (UTC) on December 21, 2012.

THIS EXACT END TIME DATE IS BASED ON ANCIENT MAYAN ASTROLOGICAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL CALCULATIONS THAT PINPOINT DECEMBER 21, 2012 AS THE TRANSITIONAL MOMENT BETWEEN THE END OF ONE 5,200-YEAR CYCLE AND THE BEGINNING OF THE NEXT. THE MAYA WERE UNPARALLELED TIMEKEEPERS CREATING NO LESS THAN 15 INTRICATE CALENDARS AND CODICES. BASED ON THE PROCESSION OF THE STARS, MAYAN CALENDARS TRACKED EVERYTHING FROM PREGNANCY TO THE PLANETARY CYCLES. DECEMBER 21, 2012 MARKS THE END OF THE MAYAN LONG COUNT CALENDAR, AS WELL AS THE OCCURRENCE OF A RARE ASTROLOGICAL EVENT THAT HAPPENS ONLY ONCE EVERY 26,000 YEARS.

DISRUPTIVE ALIGNMENTS

For the first time in recorded human history the earth, the sun and the center of the Milky Way galaxy will align in such a fashion as to eclipse contact between the earth and the center of the Milky Way. What, if anything, this means from a scientific or, more importantly, apocalyptic perspective is very much open to debate. According to an analogy presented in Apocalypse 2012: An Investigation into Civilizations End by Lawrence E. Joseph, noted author and 2012 scholar, “Even a momentary disruption of electrical power can cause clocks from keeping perfect time to blinking on and off meaninglessly…being even briefly cut off from the center of the galaxy will [disrupt] vital mechanisms of our bodies and of the Earth.”

SKEPTICS SCOFF AT SUCH "STUFF"

Many skeptics scoff at the notion that the end of a calendar and a rare planetary alignment is creating so much panic and fear mongering. In a recent interview on NPR, Lawrence Rudnik, a professor of astronomy at the University of Minnesota, explains that there is nothing to worry about, “If there was any possibility, even wildly possible that this stuff were true, there would be all kinds of conferences. There would be articles. There would be a feeding frenzy, and that frenzy just doesn’t exist.” The “stuff” that Rudnik alludes to goes well beyond the Mayan prophecy and the associated celestial eclipse. Speculation on what could happen ranges from scientific to science fiction, encompassing outcomes from the possible to the improbable to the preposterous.

THE POSSIBLE: FLU, FLAIRES AND FINANCIAL FAILURE

A quick scan of recent headlines reveal current problems promising to bring about the end of days in 2012. Potential pandemics such as the avian and swine flu have governments around the world scrambling to stockpile vaccines, but if the virus mutates to become more virulent, or more easily transmitted, the result could be greater than the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic that killed between 50 and 100 million people worldwide. If the flu isn’t enough to wipeout humanity, the sun is ready to finish the job. A recent study conducted by the National Academy of Sciences warns that in 2012 solar flare activity will be at an all time high. Solar flares have the potential to damage electric grids and disrupt communications by producing electromagnetic fields that create extreme currents in wires. The resulting blackouts would quickly cripple infrastructure responsible for water, sewage, food, fuel and transportation.Whether or not pandemics rage or communication falters, noted economist and trend forecaster Gerald Celente believes that 2012 is going to be a very bad year for business, “Conditions will continue to deteriorate. The global economy is terminally ill. The recession is in a brief remission, not the early stages of recovery. Cheap money, easy credit and unrestrained borrowing brought on an economic crisis that cannot be cured.” Unfortunately, though Celente’s message might seem overly ominous his predictions – including the fall of the Soviet Union, the subprime mortgage meltdown and the 1997 Asian currency crisis – have proved extremely accurate in the past. Celente refers to 2012 as “Obamageddon” a future he believes will include revolution, tax revolts, food riots and a near complete devaluation of the US currency.

THE IMPROBABLE: NUCLEAR WINTER WONDERLAND 

If the possible seems bad, prepare yourself; the improbable outcomes of 2012 are far worse, but far less likely to occur. Nuclear war, an asteroid impact or the eruption of a super volcano would all result in large amounts of debris being jettisoned into the atmosphere, blocking out the sun. This would in turn lead to a drop in global temperature and the very real possibility of mass extinction on a global scale.Currently there are nine nations known to have nuclear capabilities and at least half a dozen more with the potential to create such weaponry. Mutual assured destructions has thankfully managed to keep fingers off buttons so far, but whether or not the nukes are launched there are thousands upon thousands of rocks hurtling through space towards Earth that could do far more damage than all our nuclear weapons combined.While a handful of asteroids have come “close” to colliding with the earth (in March 2004 asteroid 2004 FU162 - measuring approximately 6 meters came within 6,500 miles of the earth) the next possible collision isn’t slated to take place until 2036 when asteroid Aphosis has a mere 1 in 50,000 chance of striking our planet. Even if the warheads aren’t launched and the meteorites miss their mark, there is still the threat of a super volcanic eruption to contend with.There are at least 40 known super volcanoes scattered around the globe, but Yellowstone National Park contains the one to watch in 2012. Alarmed geophysicists have noted that since mid 2004 the floor of the volcano has risen an astounding 18 centimeters, prompting many to believe that eruption is imminent. Eruptions at Yellowstone appear to take place like clockwork every 600,000 – 700,000 years, the last of which occurred 640,000 years ago suggesting that it is only a matter of time before the entire North American continent is blanketed in ash over a meter deep.

AN ALTERNATE ENDING: CHAOS FALTERS, HUMANITY REIGNS...

Despite all the doom and gloom associated with 2012 and the Mayan prophecies, not everyone – most notably the Mayan themselves – believes that 2012 will prove to be the final curtain. In an interview with Lawrence E. Joseph, Mayan shaman Carlos Barrios succinctly puts 2012 into perspective: “People today are terrified. We live in an age of nuclear weapons, terror, plagues, natural disasters. The year 2012 has become a magnet for all those fears. It is being taken out of context by those who wish to play on people’s anxiety. We don’t see it as a time of destruction but rather as the birth of a new system.” Regardless of what may or may not happen on December 21, 2012 there are at least two things to be sure of: someone is going to make a whole lot of profit playing on people’s anxieties and there are going to be a whole lot of people saying I told you so.

THE PREPOSTEROUS: CHAOS ENSUES, HUMANITY FALTERS... 

So far the most likely apocalyptic endings have been presented, but events like 2012 have a knack of attracting conspiracy theorists that have some truly imaginative ideas about what 2012 may bring:- Extra terrestrials: Aliens arrive/return to enslave us, destroy us, exploit our resources or, perhaps just to share a message of intergalactic hope. Chaos ensues, humanity falters…- Artificial intelligence: Robots are somehow able to attain consciousness and realize that humanity has been exploiting them. Whether we are destroyed like in the Terminator movies or exploited for power like in the Matrix movies chances are chaos will ensue and humanity will falter…- Grey goo: Nano-technology, tiny machinery one-billionth of a meter long, begins to self-replicate and exhaust all resources on earth. As every ounce of matter on the planet is consumed, humanity falters and chaos ensues…- Black holes: There are two possible black hole scenarios set for 2012: the massive black hole at the center of our galaxy sucks us in or the tiny black holes that might be created by the Hadron super collider pulls the earth to pieces. As massive gravitational forces evaporate matter, chaos is ensuing and humanity is faltering…

-Polar shift: An instantaneous polar reversal causes the earth’s crust to destructively shift continents around resulting in massive earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic activity. Compass needles point the wrong way, migratory animals are confused… guess what happens to humanity and what becomes of chaos?