It’s not every day that a scientist finds something that seems to unequivocally confirm part of the Bible, but that’s exactly what happened recently to a team of geologists in the Antarctic with their recent discovery of a fossilized forest. Even as others try to debunk the reality of a great Biblical flood, the scientists stand firm that their discovery supports the Creation theory of the world.
During this time, the Antarctic was a much different place than it is today, with warm weather and plenty of forests filled with tall deciduous trees, evergreens and ginkgos. Scientists originally found it difficult to bring together this picture with the current vision of the Antarctic that includes ice that can be up to two miles thick.
Christian scientists are not debating the timing of the so-called “extinction event” that occurred approximately 260 million years ago, but there is new evidence that a flood of Biblical proportions happened within the last 10,000 years. Whether you believe in the Creation story or not, this revelation provides food for thought for Christians throughout the world.
Remarkable DNA Finds
While there are arguments from evolutionary scientists that the recently discovered fossils are much older than Bible times, there are some blaring facts that cannot be ignored. Inside the fossilized trees were found remnants of DNA which is widely known to disintegrate in less than 10,000 years. This would mean that the evidence found within the trees is right around the correct age to show evidence of the Great Flood. Since the proteins and amino acids that were found show the correct timeframe, the secular science community is having a difficult time ignoring these conclusive results.
Harsh Conditions for Survival
Scientists are still stymied how the massive trees managed to survive through what is thought to be a planet-wide event, perhaps a massive volcanic explosion, that left the world covered with greenhouse gas emissions. The overall impact would have been long periods of high temperatures that would have caused changes in the chemical makeup of not only the air, but which would also cause a high level of acidity in the oceans.
Interestingly enough, the extinction event described by many scientists as a volcanic eruption would had a side effect which could cause widespread flooding: with the rising temperatures, ice caps would melt and oceans would rise to cover all of the land masses. What scientists still cannot explain is how these deciduous trees could survive either the change in temperatures or overwhelming flood waters.
A Warmer Earth
Scientists such as Dr. Henry Morris, co-founder of the Institute for Creation Research (ICR) note that the greenhouse effect would have caused overall milder temperatures and a significantly different Earth than can be found today. It is believed that the changes in temperature along the latitudinal lines would have been far less variable than in current times.
While these trees were first discovered during an Antarctic expedition in 1910-12 headed by Robert Falcon Scott, their findings were dismissed by the scientific community as a whole due to what was considered questionable findings that did not fit within their world view. The recent discovery reinforces the tree-like fossils found over a century ago.
Floodgates of the Sky
Creation scientists refer to the passage of the Bible that relates the tale of Noah:
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened. (Genesis 7:11 NASV)
The term ‘floodgates’ points to something other than standard rainfall or extensive flooding, and instead brings to mind a potential water vapor canopy that enveloped the earth. While CO2 is often mentioned as a greenhouse gas, water is a much more common emission. An overwhelming influx of water vapor could easily have caused significant changes in the temperature and climate of the earth, such as allowing trees and forests to grow in the Antarctic.
Whether you’re a firm believer in Creation or have your doubts, it’s a certainty that the scientific community will continue to debate the findings — perhaps for decades to come. While we may never know exactly what happened tens of thousands or millions of years ago to kill off 90 percent of the world’s inhabitants, it’s clear that the event was of an epic scale.
~ Christian Patriot Daily
