Science: November 2007 Archives

This is a fascinating article about a guy who is finding evidence of a massive flood about 5,000 years ago.

Masse’s biggest idea is that some 5,000 years ago, a 3-mile-wide ball of rock and ice swung around the sun and smashed into the ocean off the coast of Madagascar. The ensuing cataclysm sent a series of 600-foot-high tsunamis crashing against the world’s coastlines and injected plumes of superheated water vapor and aerosol particulates into the atmosphere. Within hours, the infusion of heat and moisture blasted its way into jet streams and spawned super-hurricanes that pummeled the other side of the planet. For about a week, material ejected into the atmosphere plunged the world into darkness. All told, up to 80 percent of the world’s population may have perished, making it the single most lethal event in history.

I’m always tickled when evidence turns up to support a position opposite that of the prevailing theory of the day. This guy decided to investigate why there are so many stories about a major destructive event in the stories and oral histories of so many cultures and is starting to find hard evidence.