Sideways News

2012 the movie looks at how the world could end

Theories that the world is going to end provide the basis for new disaster film 2012, by acclaimed director Roland Emmerich, which was released in the UK on 13^th November 2009. The publicity campaign for the film has attracted criticism for playing upon public fears by setting up a pseudo-scientific website that seemingly offers a lottery for the chance to be saved from the impending disaster.

The film depicts a significant solar storm which generates a new kind of radiation from the sun. The ultimate result of this radiation is a destabilisation of the Earth’s crust, which causes devastating earthquakes and tsunamis. The poles reverse and, bizarrely, the South Pole then relocates to Wisconsin.

The source of the fears
An ancient Mayan calendar, which is calculated to end approximately 21st December 2012, is at the root of the many hypotheses about a potential Doomsday, which include:

- claims that solar storms will ravage the planet
- belief in a rogue planet that will collide with Earth
- a galactic alignment that exposes the planet to unknown cosmic forces
- a polar shift with devastating consequences

Who were the Mayans?
The Mayans were an advanced civilisation with impressive mathematical skills and a talent for construction and urban development. They were also dedicated and precise astronomers, who devised their Long-Count Calendar to record their history over a period of 5,126 years. This calendar ceases in December 2012, and the assumption at the crux of the doomsday predictions is that something momentous will occur at that point.

What’s the evidence?
Mention of the calendar’s final date - 13.0.0.0.0 in Mayan terms - has been found at the archaeological site of Tortuguero, and in the Chilam Balam manuscript of Chumayel (written between 1775 and 1800 AD) in the Mayan village of Chumayel, Guatemala. Although translations vary, these finds seem to speak of the descent of a god - possibly one of war - at this time.

The History Channel has also examined the viability of the belief that calamity will occur in 2012. It aired "Decoding the Past: Mayan Doomsday Prophecy" and “2012, End of Days” in 2006; and “The Last Days on Earth”, “Seven Signs of the Apocalypse”, and “Nostradamus 2012” in 2008. Discovery Channel also aired "2012 Apocalypse" in 2009, suggesting that many of the feared events might occur in 2012.

How significant is the calendar date?
Descendants of the Mayan people still practise their traditions today, but do not seem to attach much significance to the 2012 date. "There is no concept of apocalypse in the Mayan culture," said the head of the Guatemalan confederation of Mayan priests and spiritual guides, Jesus Gomez.

Pioneering researcher John Major Jenkins, author of The 2012 Story: The Myths, Fallacies, and Truth Behind the Most Intriguing Date in History, told Sideways News why he is certain that the Mayan calendar does not foretell global disaster:

"I have shown that the spiritual teachings, associated with the cycle-ending alignment, involve transformation and renewal, not an apocalyptic doomsday. For 20 years, based upon my detailed and deep investigation and research into the Maya traditions, I have been reporting and saying in 10 books on the subject that the Maya did not predict the end of the world in 2012."

Nasa enters the debate
Nasa scientists are equally emphatic in asserting that there is nothing to fear. As Don Yeomans, a senior research scientist, has written on the Nasa website: “The stuff flying around through cyberspace, TV and the movies is not based on science. There is even a fake Nasa news release out there."

Fellow Nasa scientist Dr David Morrison, who operates the space agency's Ask an Astrobiologist service, was concerned enough by incoming emails to attempt to allay fears by answering the top 20 questions about potential 2012 disasters, acknowledging that people are “genuinely frightened”.

“I can only hope that most people are able to distinguish Hollywood film plots from reality,” he said.

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