What Will Happen in 2012?
1 - The Discovery of Planet X (Nibiru)
The reason so many
people are asking "what will happen in 2012?" goes back to 1976 when
Zecharia Stichin published The 12th
Planet. In this book, he said the Sumerians had identified a twelfth
body called Nibiru with a 3600-year orbit.
This claim totally
contradicts what real experts on the Sumerian civilization have found. The
Sumerians, while a mighty race, knew very little of astronomy and most
certainly didn't even know about the existence of Uranus, Neptune or Pluto. So
the idea of them discovering a twelfth body in the solar system is well off;
this was just another wildly inaccurate claim spun by Stichin.
Nonetheless, this
is all it took for the great hoax to begin. A self-declared psychic named Nancy
Leider (who claims to speak with aliens) announced on her website that Nibiru,
also known as Planet X, is on a collision course with Earth. The catastrophe
was initially predicted for May 2003, but when nothing happened the doomsday
date was pushed back to December 2012.
So what does NASA
have to say about this erroneous planet?
In 1984, when news
of a potential tenth planet hit the news headlines, the term Planet X became a
popular way of describing the unidentified mass spotted via infrared survey.
However, after closer inspection, the mystery object was identified as a
distant galaxy.
Planetary Alignment
For some reason, a
lot of people think that all the planets will fall into perfect alignment on
December 21, 2012. Could this spell the end for mankind?
According to NASA,
there are no planetary alignments in the next few decades. Earth will certainly
not cross the galactic plane in 2012 - and even when any alignments do occur,
their effects on Earth would be negligible.
The truth is, every year in December, the Earth and the sun do
align with the approximate center of the Milky Way Galaxy but that has never
created any effects here on Earth before and neither will it in December 2012.
Nuff said.
Polar Shift
Planet Earth is
surrounded by a magnetic field which undergoes a reversal (north switching
magnetic poles with south) on average every 400,000 years. Judging by the
current level of movement, we can predict the next reversal will be within the
next 1,000-3,000 years. But definitely not within the timeframe of 2012.
Even if a reversal
were to occur, it will likely not cause us harm. If polar shifts were deadly,
it would show up in the fossil record as numerous mass extinctions since the
beginning of life on Earth... which it hasn't.
The End of The Mayan Calendar
With Planet X and
2012 in the public eye, it wasn't long before conspiracy theorists realized the
year coincided with the end of the Mayan Long Count calendar. Surely this was
real proof that the world will end in 2012! Erm... no.
Calendars keep
track of the passage of time; they don't predict the future.
Though the Mayans
were very advanced and made solid astronomical observations, there was never
any doomsday prophecy made. This has been confirmed by genuine Mayan scholars.
The Mayan calendar (like all calendars) had to end somewhere. Not only does it
end, but it begins again in a new cycle, just as your calendar ends on December
31 and begins again on January 1.
No matter what New
Age loons doggedly spout about the Mayan prophecy, ask yourself: how do they know what will happen in 2012? Where did theirinformation come from? It certainly wasn't the Mayans, who, as we have
established, made no such claims about the end of the world.
The Mayan prophecy
is just another hoax propagated by the internet, TV documentaries, and even
blockbuster movies (see below). People love to jump on the bandwagon even when
their knowledge is suspect.
Solar Storms
Perhaps the most
credible theory of all is solar storms. And yet it still doesn't spell the end
of life as we know it.
The sun has regular
peaks and troughs of activity, with peaks occurring about every 11 years. In
the past, solar flares occurring during the peak period have caused some
disruption of satellite communications, but these days engineers are building
electronics that are protected from most solar storms.
There is no denying
the next peak in solar activity will occur in 2012-2014, but it is expected to
be an average cycle. In any case, we are well prepared for solar flares and
these should be no different from any other period in history.
Religion's Role in Doomsday Hoaxes
If all the 2012
doomsday theories can be so easily discredited, then why on Earth are we so
whipped up into a frenzy over it?
This is down to
human instinct; to be constantly on the lookout for threats to our survival,
and to wonder about where our future is leading.
Some religious
leaders exploit this trait to create fear and develop a devout following.
People who are depressed and lost in the world are especially vulnerable to
this kind of propaganda; they find comfort in the thought of the rapture ending
their Earthly pain and taking them to "a better place".
Unfortunately,
people become believers in 2012 for lack of critical thinking. They jump on the
bandwagon and feel safer - special, even - to be one of the ones who saw it
coming. Of course, their doomsday project will fall flat one day, but until
then, believers will pour a whole lot of energy into this egregious hoax.
The Media's Role in Doomsday Hoaxes
What if you're not
religious but still feel an emotional tug every time someone mentions December
21, 2012? Then you are a victim of the sensationalist media.
For the same human
instinct described above, you thrive on the idea of knowing your future -
however apocalyptic it may be. If your life isn't quite happy enough in it's
current form, you are excited by the idea of society's collapse and a fresh
start for all those who survive. This kind of existence is glorified by
post-apocalyptic movies like Waterworld, Resident Evil, Zombieland and others.
So, Really... What Will Happen in 2012?
The 2012 phenomenon
is a hoax. Anyone who spreads fear about 2012 back their claims with drivel
that makes no scientific sense. And, if you hadn't noticed, science is the best
tool we have. It's how we created space rockets, computers and cars.
Some go as far as
to suggest that ALL of the above theories will take place. In a single day,
just before tea time, Earth will be bombarded by polar shifts, sun storms,
planetary collision, volcanoes, earthquakes, floods and more. Right.
Take a few minutes
to look at the scientific evidence behind the 2012 claims and you will find a
complete lack of it. People love to make stuff up; to sound important, to feel
in control, or just to make some money. You have probably propagated the hoax
yourself, just by talking about it.
There will always
be natural and man-made threats to your survival and you should be reasonably
prepared for these. Fortunately, the fact that you are reading this article
suggests you live in a relatively stable environment with food, clean water and
a roof over your head. You are already thriving in a way that billions of
people in the world don't.
So the next time
someone asks what will happen in 2012 and makes that "ooo-eerrr"
noise, stop them in their tracks - and encourage some critical thinking for a
change...
See you in 2013 ;)
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