I dont want to panic anyone, but........

[lincstash]

Mount etna might be about to pop as well. This could seriously mess up summers for several years, like Mt St Helens did.

A series of earthquakes occurred on April 2-3 along a fault near the north flank of the volcano - 175 earthquakes in all producing some impressive results - and scientists have noted increased "rumblings" at Etna since. This has culminated in explosions and ash April 7-8.

Most of the ash appears to be made from merely crushed rock of previous eruption - accidental material rather than new juvenile magma, but all of this suggests that Etna could be headed for a new eruptive period.

There has also been an increase in the gas emissions from the volcano - all signs that new magma may be rising in the conduit and a new eruption is approaching.

The knowledge about the Mayan Long Count calendar has been around for centuries, its just that it was such an obscure subject only a handful of people knew about it. Its the usual case of Hollywood latching onto an idea and hyping it up.

The MAyans didnt say the world would lend at the end of the 5th cycle. They just didnt say it would, which isnt the same thing.

A Pole shift is also hyped up. The worst that will occur is is if the magnetic zeros for any length of time, then we'll get the full brunt of the solar wind and all the high velocity cosmic particles. Also, there will be some serious messing with electricity supplies- surges and power cuts as multiple magnetic poles wandered about. But its not a ELE by any means.

The Yellowstone Supervolcano - now theres something you really DO need new underpants about. That has erupted 2.1 million, 1.3 million, and 640,000 years ago, and by anyones maths, its due again about now. In fact, Yellowstone Lake has started to tilt as the rock underneath is bulging - and if the water over the vent main channel its keeping sealed becomes shallow enough, there will be a massive hydrothermal explosion. When THAT happens the whole thing could rupture, 50 cubic miles of flood basalt, and were talking full on maximum effect Nuclear Winter, goodbye any species with a backbone.

And lets not even mention Asteroid strike, lethal genetically engineered virus or greenhouse earth scenarios...........

What about the volcano that if it erupts will carve off a big bit of the canary islands (I think could have the location wrong) that will drop into the sea causing a tsunami big enough to wipe out the entire eastern sea board of the USA?

Obviously I can't remember trivial details like the names, accurate locations or anything like that - I will only have been watching the programme because I was too red wined to find the remote control

I love those sort of imminent disaster programmes. The Canary Islands thing isn't likely to happen for quite a while IIRC, and as you said it faces away from Europe and towards the US? So they would have a bit of notice as it would take hours to cross the atlantic.

The Yellowstone thing is quite scary though, big boom. Big, big, big boom!

how come the Mayan's knew all this 'stuff' about the future?? How do we know the books they left were not Mayan works of fiction?

boobellina, I think that's gran canaria

of course, alongside the lab engineered viruses (swine flu, sars, aids, etc) and volcanoes we are also being killed by GM crops

so the moral of the story is

eat only organic bananas grown in your back garden in a hidden MN commune

ah, the Mayans had 'the gods' telling them

Though actually the Mayan gods were a different type, much less friendly- reptilian aliens..

but that's a whole other thread

Hopefully the Canary Islands thing won't happen for a while as we live in Gran Canaria It's not Gran Canaria that would erupt AFAIK, it's an emerging volcano between us and La Gomera IIRC. We live right on the seafront and my dear step-dad always keeps reminding me that if I see the sea start to go way, way, way out then to get in me car and drive to the highest point I can

so do i carry on revising or not?

Supersoph- estoy muy celosa! Yes gran canaria is on a fault line, but I haven't heard that anything will happen in that region soon, so fear not. Do you grow bananas and have a spare room, by any chance?

Eccentrica, yes carry on. All underground communities/stranded MN islands need well educated folk to lead them. You can be our Obama.

Anyone else's face do this always just before a party?

I live on a boat!

Anyone want to buy a square metre of deck space? Only a hundred quid ono!

"By thelunar66 Mon 19-Apr-10 15:22:38
how come the Mayan's knew all this 'stuff' about the future?? hmm How do we know the books they left were not Mayan works of fiction? "

It wasnt a work of fiction, it was the calendar they measured time with.....If its a work of fiction, then the Mayans must have had another, completely undiscovered but almost identical way to measure the time and date....

p'raps they got bored doing the whole calendar thing every year and decided they'd play a practical joke instead and let future hunans believe the whole is about to end?

I think, as someone else mentioned earlier, that 2012 is not supposed to be the end of the world, it's the end of a cycle. Kind of like how the year ends in December and starts again in January.

I think there have been about 10 'end of the world' predictions in my lifetime so far. I wonder how many more I'll survive?

I was joking above about them giving up the calendar

It could be the end of DD's world as she knows it, in 2012, if she doesn't work hard at school. She'll be getting GCSE results in August 2012!

I wasn't responding to your post specifically luciemule.

I'm a bit of a worrier so when I first heard the Mayan thing I read as much as I could about it. Apparently there are other 'monuments' or whatever on the same Mayan site that have significant dates written waaaaaay in to the future as well. I think I'm more worried about the potential for mass hysteria around the date rather than the date itself!

I wonder if you can grow banana trees in Ireland?...although apparently they will all end up underwater anyway!

I too am a worrier bubbley - glad it's not just me then! I read some really site telling people that there was this project (I think in Africa somewhere) to build a huge Ark and it had drawings and plans and lists of things to buy so you could build your own. It went into so much detail, it completely freaked me out! Oh well - I'll try not to worry.

Now then.....should I stock pile ...pop tarts....or yumyums? decisions, decisions.

Pop tarts- I think they never go off.

LOL Ds2 found out today he has to start orthodontic treatment which will end in 2012. His immediate reaction was: "Is it worth it if the world is going to end in 2012?" I told him he might as well go with a perfect set of gnashers.

Hmmm. Not sure I would bother building a whole ark. I don't need two of EVERY animal really. In fact, I may leave some off altogether. I'd make do with a nice yacht with a few overstocked freezers...and lots of chocolate.

Where are these catastrophic flood things supposed to come from anyway? I thought that pole change thing took thousands of years....

Do you think at any other period in time people were so preoccupied with the end of the world? Or is it just us because we have the lovely media and Hollywood (oh and the Internet of course! )to get us all hyped up?

Bubbley, ants can definitely be kicked off the ark. Horrid little scuttley things. I think they're aliens though so they'll probably be alright.