In the USA (and other countries) lots of young people have become scared because they have been told that the world will end on Dec 21, 2012. One of those young people sent an email to me recently and asked several questions. Most of my answers below are based on what scientists have written, and what they have said in recent videos. The videos can be seen here: Scientists Respond to 2012 End-of-World Hype. Further details about the wild claims of the doomsayers were compiled during research that has spanned many years.
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The overall message is that you can relax! There is absolutely no scientific evidence that any worldwide disasters will happen in December 2012. Those websites, books, and videos can say anything they like. Ask them for some evidence to backup their wild claims!! They won't be able to supply it. I could make a wild claim that the Sun is going to explode on May 30 in the year 2013 when the ancient Martian calendar ends one cycle and starts another.
But you know that I'm only making it up, don't you?!
"The '2012 doomsday' is a hoax, a fraud, and a con job. It is a cruel and disgusting lie being promoted by scam artists after money. First they scare people to death that something terrible is going to happen, then [they] publish books and videos on 'how to survive the apocalypse'. Get the scam?!"
http://www.2012hoax.org/start
Q: People say that a meteor might hit us in 2012. Is there any fact behind this?
No. There are countless astronomers around the world looking for the tracks of any possible 'Near Earth Objects' against the background of stars. (NEOs are asteroids and comets with orbits that come within 28 million miles (about 45 million kilometers) of Earth's path around the sun.) NASA maintains a database and website dedicated to recording them and their potential risk. Go here for more info :- http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/
The database doesn't show anything that we need to be concerned about for the year 2012, or any year for the foreseeable future.
So far, the database shows 6,708 near Earth asteroids. http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/stats/
This table shows the risk evaluation: http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/risk/
Note that the Torino Scale is a ten point scale. http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/risk/#legend
"According to this ten-point scale, a rating of zero indicates the event has 'no likely consequences'. A Torino Scale rating of 1 indicates an event that 'merits careful monitoring.' Even higher ratings indicate that progressively more concern is warranted. The Torino Scale is defined only for potential impacts less than 100 years in the future."
"NASA has granted funding for the WISE infrared telescope to finish an extra full sky scan, giving scientists an additional opportunity to comb the inner solar system for hard-to-see asteroids that could threaten Earth." http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n1012/19wise/
Q: Would we survive if a meteor hit?
This question and answer is largely based on theory and predictions. As above, there aren't any objects we need to be concerned about in the foreseeable future. Near Earth Objects come in all shapes and sizes. (Meteors and meteorites are small objects that have entered the earth's atmosphere.) The vast majority of meteors burn up in the upper atmosphere. They are known as 'shooting stars'. If (a big if ! ) a larger object, such as an asteroid, hit the Earth, the danger would depend on its size and where it hit the Earth (including the bottom of the seas and oceans). Note that oceans cover 71 percent of the Earth’s surface. So chance indicates that an object would likely hit oceans, or other unpopulated areas such as deserts and Arctic areas."Given several years warning time, existing technology could be used to deflect the threatening object away from Earth.""No one should be overly concerned about an Earth impact of an asteroid or comet. The threat to any one person from auto accidents, disease, other natural disasters and a variety of other problems is much higher than the threat from NEOs." http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/neo/target.html
Q: Does 2012 deserve all the hype it has?
No. Definitely not! Like I wrote in the introduction above, there is absolutely no scientific evidence that any worldwide disasters will happen in December 2012. It is all an Internet hoax, with no basis in fact.
Q: What is the mentality behind the Mayan's long calendar ending in 2012?
The Mayans had a number of calendars, used for specific purposes, that each covered a number of our days. If a calendar reached it's maximum number of days it would start again at day 'one'. That is much like our calendar covers 12 months, or about 365 days, and ends on December 31st. A new calendar starts on January 1st.
"Contrary to popular understanding, the ancient Meso-Americans, be they Aztec or Maya or any other group, left no oral or written “prophecy” record about what would or could happen on or about the year 2012 -- other than a great age of 5125 years would end and another commence."http://www.2012hoax.org/mayan-prediction
http://foresight-of-hindsight.blogspot.com/2010/10/how-maya-calendar-works.html
Q: What are the Anunnaki, and what is their relevance to 2012?
The Anunnaki aliens were mentioned by a writer called Zecharia Sitchin. He proposed that they lived on a planet called Nibiru. The idea is apparently based in ancient Babylonian myth. Some people have suggested that Nibiru (or Planet X) could return in 2012. There is absolutely no evidence of this. (If it existed astronomers would know all about it!)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetary_objects_proposed_in_religion,_astrology_and_ufology#Planets_proposed_by_Zecharia_Sitchin
If somebody suggests that a large object is approaching the Earth, or will approach the Earth in a certain year, ask them to supply the right ascension and declination of the object. If nobody can supply that information the object doesn't exist, period!
http://nibiruchallenge.blogspot.com/
A new video by David Morrison :- The Truth About Nibiru (October 21, 2011)
Q: Is a super-tsunami possible? What would the affects be?
By "super-tsunami" I assume you mean a tidal wave bigger than one caused by under-sea volcanic eruptions and movement of the sea floor. A super-tsunami could be caused by an asteroid hitting an ocean. However, as shown above, there aren't any objects we need to be concerned about in the foreseeable future.
Some people might mention an asteroid called Apophis. It is supposed to come fairly close to Earth in 2029 and 2036, but it is being closely monitored, and NASA has recently shown that any slight risk has been greatly reduced. "The asteroid is expected to make a record-setting -- but harmless -- close approach to Earth on Friday, April 13, 2029, when it comes no closer than 29,450 kilometers (18,300 miles) above Earth's surface."
http://foresight-of-hindsight.blogspot.com/2009/10/asteroid-apophis-reduced-risk-in-2036.html
As already mentioned, no one should be overly concerned about an Earth impact of an asteroid or comet.
Please advise if I have calmed your fears. Also, like the quote at the start of my blog, "Don't give up your education, or your hopes and ambitions, to follow a rainbow." I really hope that you can return to living a happy life, with absolutely no fears for the future.
I really hate what these Internet hoaxes are doing to the young people in USA and other countries.
Remember: "Extraordinary claims demand extraordinary evidence..." The 'people' making these claims cannot supply scientific evidence to backup their claims. They are shamelessly trying to make money from the books, videos, and other things.
After December 21, 2012, I would like to see the Internet flooded with apologies written by doomsayers whose claims didn’t have a basis in fact.
Yours sincerely,
Peter Yates,
(Dunedin, New Zealand.)
PS. You are welcome to copy or forward this email to your friends.
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The teenager has written back saying that I have definitely settled his nerves.
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Dennis Overbye Retiring
3 hours ago
