If you haven’t heard about the 2012 doomsday prophecy yet, you’ve probably been living in a bomb shelter.  But scientists are warning people not to max out their credit cards just yet, because they too have a prophecy—there will be a 2013.

Many believe that the Mayans, the ancient prophet Nostradamus and the Book of Revelation all predicted that the world will come to an abrupt end on Dec. 21, 2012. Buying into the hype of History Channel shows like “The Nostradamus Effect” and recent movies like “2012,” some are letting fear and paranoia consume them.

According to the Mayans, Earth’s civilizations go through stages.  The Mayans believe there were four previous civilizations and Earth is now ending its fifth in 2012.  They believe the end of each stage is shrouded in Earth-shattering and violent change.  They believe this change will come in the form of earthquakes, a shifting of the poles and other natural disasters.

Some of those who support the 2012 doomsday prophecy also believe the planets in our galaxy will align, allowing Earth to see a previously undiscovered planet called Nibiru.

After an interview with Brian Camden of Virginia Beach, Va., president of Hardened Structures, it seems fear and paranoia could be good for business.  He said 30 percent of Hardened Structures’ business is building 2012 shelters and business is booming.

Though Camden wouldn’t say who his clients are, he said most were “rich white Republicans.”

Camden said the shelters were specially designed to withstand a number of cataclysmic events.  These events range from solar flares to the Earth’s poles shifting.

“If the shelter is forced to the surface, due to pole shift, earthquakes or what have you, it has to be capable of surviving all of those threats,” Camden said.

Camden said clients choose what type of shelter they want based on their beliefs of what will happen.  But he said there’s only one way to make these shelters: cast-in-place, reinforced concrete.  Cast-in-place concrete is generally used to make building foundations, beams and bridges, Camden said.

Camden said Hardened Structures makes the walls anywhere from 14 to 48 inches thick and the ceilings anywhere from 28 to 60 inches thick.  The shelters also have blast doors, three exits and a recovery plan for the aftermath of a cataclysmic event.

Usually buried partially in the ground, Camden said most of these shelters are being constructed in rural, mountainous regions around the world.

Prospective clients interested in building one of these shelters should be prepared to make an investment because they aren’t cheap.  Camden said a family of four can expect to pay upwards of $200,000 for a shelter.

Does Camden believe that the Earth will endure a cataclysmic event in two years?  He doesn’t.

It seems a fair question to ask what’s really going to happen in 2012 -- if anything.

Woody Sullivan, a professor of astronomy at the University of Washington, said people should not expect 2012 to be any different than any other year.

Sullivan, who said he’s familiar with the ancient Mayan calendar, said that calendar clicks over to zero about every 2 million days or so.  He said the next flip will happen on Dec. 21, 2012.

“I’m sure the Mayans felt like this was going to be a disastrous time,” Sullivan said.  But he also said “it’s just a bunch of nonsense” because these notions aren’t founded in scientific fact.

Sullivan said astronomers have technology that helps predict astronomical events.  These include asteroids and solar eclipses.  But he said no extraordinary astronomical event is predicted for 2012.

Predictions of the end of the world aren’t a new thing, Sullivan said.  They’ve been going on for years.  Sullivan said the major difference now is how powerful the Internet has been in perpetuating the message.

“In the past it was preachers standing on corners,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan said using the Internet to push your message also has additional advantages.

“Another thing to point out is how much money can be made from this hysteria,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan said Hollywood has used the Internet skillfully to promote its recent blockbuster “2012.”

Toby Smith, a senior lecturer in astronomy at the University of Washington, said students are frequently asking him if anything could happen in 2012.  Like Sullivan, Smith has responded by assuring his students that nothing is going to happen.

“Each one has a different (idea about) how death and destruction will rain down on the Earth,” Smith said.  “I’ve never had a student who’s come with the same mechanism twice.”

For the Earth to come to pieces, it’d have to be impacted by an object similar of size, Smith said.  But he warned it doesn’t take much to disrupt the Earth’s biosphere.  He said a relatively small asteroid of six miles in diameter could cause a mass extinction similar to the one that killed the dinosaurs.  

Smith said a six-mile asteroid is tiny compared to the Earth, but its influence could go global in a pretty short time frame.  He said it isn’t the impact that would do humans in; it’s the climate change resulting from the sun being blocked by dust particles in the atmosphere that is the problem.  He added that dust could block the sun for years. 

“But we think we have a pretty good inventory of 10-kilometer asteroid objects,” Smith said. 

According to Lonnie G. Thompson, lead researcher for the Byrd Polar Research Center, the Mayans might have had good reason to be worried about the end of the world.

“What’s clear from the climate evidence 5,200 years ago is that an abrupt event occurred,” Thompson said.  He said evidence has pointed to a huge flood around that time. 

But Thompson said the idea of a cataclysmic event wiping out humanity today needs to be taken with a grain of salt.  Five-thousand years ago there might have only been a fraction of the current number of people on Earth, whereas today there are close to 6.8 billion.  He said if a flood or drought wiped out the Mayans, it would’ve seemed like the world came to an end for them. 

Thompson said it was interesting how people were focused on the idea of the world coming to an end instead of what humans themselves were doing to the Earth.

“I think the impact that 6.8 billion people are having on the Earth is something that we need to be concerned about,” Thompson said. 

Thompson said the recently released movie “2012” did have some positive aspects.

“If a movie like that generates interest in the Mayan history and in understanding what might have happened 5,200 years ago, then that’s not all bad,” Thompson said.

So why do humans fear the end of the world?  This is a question some psychologists are asking.

Dr. Ron Slosky, who owns a private clinical psychology practice in Bellevue, said it seems people have worried about the end of the world since the beginning of time.  He said the idea of authoritarianism might be to blame.

According to Stanley Milgram, a social psychologist, authoritarianism is when people blindly obey a person, organization or text, solely because they perceive it to be authoritative.  In the case of 2012, Slosky said the authoritative source was the Bible.

“This cockamamie idea that because it says in some religious text that 2012 is going to happen, where the world’s gonna blow apart and the people believe that, has authority,” Slosky said.

Slosky said he doesn’t think anything unusual will happen in 2012; people are worrying over nothing.  He said humans are affecting global warming, but no one wants to look at that. 

“They don’t want to look at things they actually have control of,” Slosky said.  “It doesn’t take much to scare people.”

CHRIS MONGILLO is a student in the University of Washington Department of Communication News Laboratory.

Valoración de los usuarios: / 0
PobreEl mejor