2012 : is the world ending? and what happens after that?

[Filipe]

This is incorrect. The Mayans never claimed the world would end on the last day of their calendar. Here's an excerpt from a great Universe Today article that explains this in greater detail. The full article is here.

Yes they never claimed that, you are right, that's what I thought by the videos I have watched & the fact their calendar will end on that day. so the phenomenon they said will happen will bring something good for the planet and not bad?

Thanks for the article, this is interesting!

 

[The_Ida]

I think it's absolutely hilarious that people still believe in prophecies and the end of the world. The 21st century apparently hasn't kicked in yet Really...there are solar storms all the time. So what if we're out of power for 20 mins?

 

[Filipe]

^what? there are solar storms all the time?

 

[seanutbutter]

^ Yes, they're actually quite frequent! There was actually a period of over 140 solar storms back in October-November 2003 that were predicted to be more dangerous than the 1989 storm; there was even talk of the storm harming satellites and causing power outages. In the end, the solar storms ended up being less intense than originally thought, and only minor incidents occurred. This just shows that you can never fully predict solar storms. Here's an excerpt from a Space.com article that talks about it:

A major solar flare unleashed Tuesday began to punish Earth's protective magnetic field early Wednesday. The storm, perhaps the third most powerful on record, could have more effect than one in 1989 that knocked out power to an entire Canadian province.

...

The storm is also potentially a serious threat to satellites and other communication systems, including power grids on Earth. Kunches said satellite operators and power grid managers are likely to take stringent measures to protect their assets.

 

[Filipe]

^ Yes, they're actually quite frequent! There was actually a period of over 140 solar storms back in October-November 2003 that were predicted to be more dangerous than the 1989 storm; there was even talk of the storm harming satellites and causing power outages. In the end, the solar storms ended up being less intense than originally thought, and only minor incidents occurred. This just shows that you can never fully predict solar storms. Here's an excerpt from a Space.com article that talks about it:

Thanks for the article...yes it's impossible to predict space storms but they happen in cicles so they can know moreless when they will happen, but I don't know, maybe judging by how the world is right now & will be even worst when that time comes, they predict the storm will be more intentive than the previous ones. but yes there's no way they can predict it's intensity & when exaclty will happen. scientists might have some reasons why they say this next storm will be catastrophic.

 

[The_Ida]

^You can always find some scientists who say this or that is catastrophic, and you can find some scientists who don't. Even science doesn't give absolute answers.

 

[tigerrouge]

We've been studying the activity of the sun for such a short time, in comparison to its overall lifespan, that everything a helioseismologist or somesuch expert says, is reasoned conjecture at best, and based on a limited history of results. We can say there are '11 year cycles' but we have no way of scientifically confirming behaviour that takes a lot longer to manifest.

In 2006/7, there were stories about the sun potentially entering a 'cooling period' with greatly reduced solar activity, which would bring about reduced temperatures on Earth. But the experts could not agree, because they just don't have the data to work with.

 

[Jenna-maria]

oh why did I read that article?
I allways worry these kind of stuff.
I do not wanna be alive when something like that happens, I do not wanna be alive when world end and I do not wanna be alive when there is coming new ice age.
Last year I had a month when I could not sleep because I was thinking that world gonna end in 2012. Then I told about that to my mom and she laughed and said ´´how do you not know it does not happen next year? There is no need to worry those kind of stuff, it happens if it happens and it happens when it happens´´
After that I have tried to avoid reading anything related to that.
*hahha*
oh god, now I cannot sleep tonight

 

[Spiral1532]

The whole December 2012 thing has nothing to do with "the end of the world" or anything of that nature. But, what COULD happen on the Winter Solstice of 2012 (or a couple of days afterwards) is a Polar Shift. What would trigger the Polar Shift is the galactic alignment that will take place on that date. Our solar system will be aligned with the so-called "Galactic Plane" in the center of our galaxy (which is something that only happens once every 26,000 years). The Polar Shift could end up causing natural disasters (earthquakes, tsunamis, etc) on a global scale here on earth.

 

[Filipe]

^I just read in the other day that that Pole Shift is impossible to predict, there's no way.

if that Pole Shift happens would cause all the catastrophes they say that would, that wouldn't be the end of the world but would be the end of humanity!

 

[tigerrouge]

If our entire solar system will be in alignment with the Galactic Centre in 2012, then we should already be seeing a polar shift. If it happens "once every 26,000 years", then being three years away from it means we're effectively there already.

Earth comes into some sort of alignment with the Galactic Centre every year around 19-21 December, and nothing happens to prevent people shopping for Christmas presents and generally going about their life.

The Galactic Centre is an interesting concept astrologically, and Philip Sedgwick does regular updates on his site about such things, combining astronomy, astrology, science and myth:

http://www.philipsedgwick.com/

In general, stories about 'the end of the world' are another way for humans to indulge their self-destructive streak - there is something strangely thrilling in thinking that everything's going to fall apart, and looking for the abstract evidence to support it.

 

[Filipe]

Some 2012 theories suggest that the Earth's geomagnetic reversal is connected to the natural 11-year solar cycle. Again, there is absolutely no scientific evidence to support this claim. No data has ever been produced suggesting a Sun-Earth magnetic polarity change connection.
So, already this doomsday theory falters in that geomagnetic reversal does not occur with "clockwork regularity," and it has no connection with solar dynamics. We are not due a magnetic flip as we cannot predict when the next one is going to occur, magnetic reversals occur at seemingly random points in history.

source

 

[writergal28]

We all know that the Chinese calendar is a cycle of 12 animals. But there is also a 60 year cycle combining the animals with one of five elements (earth, wood, fire, water and metal) plus yin or yang. This means that every sixty years, there's a combination of the same animal, element and yin or yang. Someone's 60th birthday is a big deal in Chinese culture. It means that you've completed one whole cycle.

 

[Echoes]

The Ida, when a significant solar event strikes, it won't be 20 minutes. It could be 20 months.

Satellites could be destroyed beyond repair and it would take months to rebuild and relaunch them That means no long distance phone calls, no television, no internet, etc.

Electrical substations that are damaged required special transformers and other componants that are not stored as spares. There are only a few companies in the world that make them and delivery time can be several weeks or months for a single unit. In a severe solar storm, if dozens of units are damaged, it could be several months for them all to be replaced.

As noted above, these storms are relatively common, but are generally small enough to do little damage. However activity is increasing and a major storm has been expected for quite a while.

The Katrina comparison is silly. Katrina didn't cause a tenth the damage a major solar event could cause. Aside from the major systems above, home and business computers, vehicle onboard computers, basically anything with electronics could be destroyed by a major electro-magnetic pulse (EMP).

The actual measureable damage could be in the hundreds of billions of dollars.

The loss of business due to communications and transportation disruptions would be incalculable.

End of the world? No, but it could send us back to the late 1900's for quite a while.

 

[Model Whisperer]

You guys now Im not gonna sleep

 

[Mchunu]

^You could atleast sleep regularly until Dec. 31, 2011..

 

[Filipe]

^

The Ida, when a significant solar event strikes, it won't be 20 minutes. It could be 20 months.

Satellites could be destroyed beyond repair and it would take months to rebuild and relaunch them That means no long distance phone calls, no television, no internet, etc.

Electrical substations that are damaged required special transformers and other componants that are not stored as spares. There are only a few companies in the world that make them and delivery time can be several weeks or months for a single unit. In a severe solar storm, if dozens of units are damaged, it could be several months for them all to be replaced.

As noted above, these storms are relatively common, but are generally small enough to do little damage. However activity is increasing and a major storm has been expected for quite a while.

The Katrina comparison is silly. Katrina didn't cause a tenth the damage a major solar event could cause. Aside from the major systems above, home and business computers, vehicle onboard computers, basically anything with electronics could be destroyed by a major electro-magnetic pulse (EMP).

The actual measureable damage could be in the hundreds of billions of dollars.

The loss of business due to communications and transportation disruptions would be incalculable.

End of the world? No, but it could send us back to the late 1900's for quite a while.

20 months? no need to exagerate! it can be on 2 days max.

you can't possible know how powerful the storm can be, because is a space storm, you don't know it's intensity, when it will come, how much time it will be on...you only know because it happens in cycles...nothing more.

 

[sedirea]

I never thought conspiracy would invade my thefashionspot.

Nostradamus predicted a lot of things.. and he got a lot of them wrong, funny how people only focus on what he got right. The Mayan were great Astronomy and Scientist, but even they got things wrong as well (Google it).

See how ABC called it a "Katrina-like space storm"? They are doing this solely to cause panic and to get more people to watch their news on tv. Please, read that news article closely they never put any actual fact into the one in 2012 being as bad as they are making it out to be, they refer to 'maximum' active period, but if it happens every 11 years, what makes this the 'maximum' active period? I wish they would of clarified.

I'll wait for a news article straight from nasa.gov about this. Not ABC, MSN or FOX news (especially that crap network).

 

[model_mom]

OK.... if you are taking this seriously....you have two choices

A. You can hide under the covers,loose slept and worry yourself sick over this or...

B. Make every day count,do something productive,leave you mark on the world,make other people happy,hug a stranger,feed a stray,find someone to love or let the person you're with know how much you love them.

 

[Mchunu]

ill take B!

I never thought conspiracy would invade my thefashionspot.

uhh..what's that supposed to mean? we aren't free to talk about other things besides fashion or who's on the cover of Vogue Italia?