Author
Lawrence Joseph discussed how a variety of knowledge he gathered
from around the world led him to conclude that humankind is soon to face
major earth changes and catastrophe. Storms and intense activity on the
sun are on the rise and connected with quakes and upheaval on the
Earth, he said. For instance, in September 2005 there were unprecedented
storms on the sun, and this was also the time of hurricanes such as
Katrina and Rita.
Meeting with Russian scientists in Siberia, he
was told that our entire Solar System is passing through an interstellar
energy cloud and this would bring on a global cataclysm within less
thana decade. He also investigated the deterioration of the Earth's
magnetic field, interviewing scientists at a South African Magnetic
Observatory.
The Mayans had a precise system of astronomy, and
their calendar which ends in 2012, completed the largest cycle of time
they could graph, Joseph noted. They saw the center of our galaxy as a
navel, and warned of a great disruption on Earth when the Sun aligns
with the galactic center, he explained. As to the time frame for such an
event, one shaman told him it would happen like "the deepening of
twilight."
Biography:
Lawrence Joseph has written on
science, nature, politics and business for the past twenty five years.
In 1990, he published Gaia: The Growth of an Idea, exploring the Gaia
Hypothesis that the global ecosystem adjusts and regulates itself more
like a living organism than a geological machine, as traditional Earth
science holds. His current book, Apocalypse 2012: A Scientific
Investigation into Civilization's End, is a personal inquiry into the
confluence of ancient Mayan prophecy and contemporary solar physics
projections indicating that the year 2012 will be pivotal, perhaps
catastrophic. Currently, he is Chairman of the Board of Aerospace
Consulting Corporation (AC2), an Albuquerque, New Mexico firm developing
ultra-high temperature plasma furnaces designed to completely
disintegrate highly toxic biological, chemical and medical wastes.
Geomagnetic reversal
Another
idea tied to 2012 involves a geomagnetic reversal (often incorrectly
referred to as a pole shift by proponents), possibly triggered by a
massive solar flare, that would release an energy equal to 100 billion
atomic bombs. This belief is supposedly supported by observations that
the Earth's magnetic field is weakening, which could precede a reversal
of the north and south magnetic poles.
Most scientific estimates,
however, say that geomagnetic reversals take between 1,000 and 10,000
years to complete, and do not start on any particular date. Furthermore,
the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration now predicts that the solar
maximum will peak in May 2013, not 2012, and that it will be fairly weak, with a
below-average number of sunspots. In any case, there is no scientific evidence
linking a solar maximum to a geomagnetic reversal, which is driven by forces entirely
within the Earth. Instead, a solar maximum would be mostly notable for its effects
on satellite and cellular phone communications. David Morrison attributes the rise
of the solar storm idea to physicist and science popularizer Michio Kaku, who claimed in
an interview with Fox News that a solar peak in 2012 could be disastrous for orbiting
satellites.
Planet X/Nibiru
Some
believers in doomsday in 2012 claim that a planet called Planet X, or
Nibiru, will collide with or pass by Earth in that year.
The
phrase "Earth Changes" was coined by the American psychic Edgar Cayce to
refer to the belief that the world will soon enter on a series of
cataclysmic events causing major alterations in human life on the
planet.
This includes "natural events" (such as major
earthquakes, the melting of the polar ice caps, a pole shift of the
planetary axis, major weather events, solar flares and so on) as well as
huge changes of the local and global social, economical and political
systems.
Cayce
Cayce himself also made many prophesies of
cataclysmic events involving the whole planet. He claimed the polar axis
would shift and that many areas that are now land would again become
ocean floor, and that Atlantis would rise from the sea. The belief that
the California coast would slip into the sea—a common feature of Earth
Changes predictions—originated with Cayce's alleged prophecies.[citation
needed] In more recent times, self-proclaimed psychic Gordon-Michael
Scallion has issued a variety of
prophecies centering on the concept of "Earth Changes" and publishes a monthly newsletter, The Earth Changes Report
