2012: Is it the End of the World as We Know It?

In director Roland Emmerich’s newest disaster film, the entire world comes to a cataclysmic end in the year 2012. The earth beneath our feet shifts, causing buildings to collapse and tidal waves to form, killing millions and leaving only a small percentage of the population struggling to escape on a limited number of ships built by the government for this very purpose.

It’s not like we didn’t now this was coming. We were warned and that’s not just a line from the movie. Here’s what the folks at National Geographic have to say about the truth beyond the legend.

The Maya believed that everything — including creation and destruction — occurred in cycles. Their calendar spanned five cycles, each lasting approximately 5,200 years. At the end of each cycle before this one, the Maya believed the current, flawed creation had to be destroyed for the world to be born again. Some believe the end of the current cycle on December 21, 2012, is an apocalyptic sign. And those who see a connection between the complex and incredibly accurate Maya calendar and a prophecy that the world will end in 2012 point to an unexpected discovery made by Princeton University scientist Adam Maloof as proof.

On Sunday, November 8, 2009, at 8 pm, National Geographic Channel examines the evidence behind the Maya calendar prophecies in 2012: Countdown to Armageddon. The special follows Maloof to three continents on a detective story that spans eons — with clues embedded in the oldest rocks on the planet.

In this special, you’ll see the investigation of identical rock shifts in both Norway and Australia, take a closer looks at the ruins of Chichén Itzá, which some believe to be the physical embodiment of the Maya calendar, and examine the Dresden Codex — the most comprehensive source for Maya astronomy, which has been locked in a high-security vault.

Is there proof that the Maya knew what they were talking about when they predicted the end of the world? Watch 2012: Countdown to Armageddon on November 8 on the National Geographic Channel, then catch 2012 the movie opening in theaters on November 13.

Video “Maya Doomsday Prophecy” – The Maya calendar will end on December 21, 2012. Are we three years from the end of the world?

Video “The Maya’s Lost Civilization” – The abrupt abandonment of the Maya’s great cities has stumped scholars for centuries

For more information visit:
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com