Ice Age After the Flood
Did an ice age occur after the Genesis Flood? The many glacial erosional features on earth give evidence of an ice age that covered a large portion of the earth in the last several thousand years where a much larger portion of North America, Europe, Asia, and the Southern Hemisphere was covered by thick ice sheets. Creationists believe that there was one ice age after the flood and that this ice age event gives great evidence for the flood and the young earth. Evolutionists cite multiple ice ages that occurred throughout their proposed 4.6 billion year history of the Earth based on recurring climate cycles that are caused by Earth's rotation around the sun that comply with uniformitarian time principles. Evolutionists believe that ice ages occur every 40,000 to 100,000 years within their time scale and the last one is believed to occur about 10,000 years ago. The Yosemite and Andes mountains give evidence for post-flood glaciation, in addition to the many glacial erosional features in North America, Eurasia, and South America. The ice age is a process that is not happening today but evolutionists and uniformitarians must explain it because of the many glacial features on Earth in North America, Eurasia, and South America along with the North and South poles.
Evolutionists have trouble providing a strong explanation for the ice age initiation while flood geology gives a better explanation. A simple reduction in temperature would not create an ice age and therefore substantial amounts of evaporation and precipitation of moisture and water would be needed to cause an ice age. The Genesis Flood would provide the conditions needed to cause an ice age, while the secular mainstream academia refuses to recognize the occurrence of a global flood. The warm oceans heated by the ocean floor ridges and hydrothermal vents "springs of the great deep" opened up during the flood event and helped create the conditions for the ice age. The warm waters caused higher evaporation rates over the oceans and increased precipitation rates around the world, resulting in more snowfall and growing ice sheets, particularly at high latitudes.
The ice age itself should be evidence for the Flood and the young earth, as it is a process that happened in the past but is not happening today. The volcanism and its effect on the atmosphere proposed by creationists at the fountains of the deep and the mid-ocean ridges also likely was a major factor in the ice age. Evolutionists believe in multiple ice ages explained by changes in the earth’s orbit around the sun, in addition to atmospheric composition, wind and ocean currents, meteorite impacts, and volcanic eruptions. However, if the initiation of one ice age is difficult for mainstream uniformitarian scientists to explain, how can several ice ages be explained?
The existence of multiple high elevation lakes inside the Andes Mountains, including Lake Titicaca and the many salt flats such as Salar de Uyuni give great evidence of the rapid uplift during the Flood and following ice age. Were the Andes glacial lakes formed from flood water and the ice age? The evidence points toward this observation. The existence of many lakes in an arid environment and the rapidly shrinking lakes over the last 4,500 years point toward the creationist flood model.
Evolutionists believe that there have been at least five ice ages during the millions of years of Earth's history and very long periods of time in between each ice age (40,000 to 100,000 years). An ice age is defined as a long-term period of reduction in global temperatures at the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets along with alpine glaciers. There is evidence for glacial expansion around the Earth as erosional features carved by expanding and retreating glaciers are observed, therefore indicating that there was at least one major ice age in Earth's history.
However, the most significant question regarding the occurrence of an ice age is: What could cause an ice age? The creationist model gives the best explanation for the cause of an ice age as a dramatic change in climate would be required for such an event to occur. This dramatic change in climate would require some dramatic event to occur such as never occurred in history and never will happen again. Creationists believe that this event is the global Flood described in the Book of Genesis of approximately 4,500 years ago. As the springs of the great deep were opened up, according to Genesis 7:11, large amounts of hot water, steam, and volcanic material were released from the subsurface of the earth, which in turn significantly heated up the ocean's waters.
This warmer ocean water would have caused a large amount of evaporation for several centuries after the Flood above the oceans into the atmosphere, which would in turn cause large amounts of precipitation in the form of snowfall to occur at the North and South Pole. In addition, the large amount of volcanic dust exerted into the atmosphere would also have blocked sunlight and caused temperatures to drop even further while contributing toward the accumulation of snowfall. Cooler summers would have allowed the ice sheets to expand during the ice age. This snowfall accumulation would cause the polar ice sheets to expand over several centuries from each pole toward the equator.
Some believe that there are Biblical references to the Ice Age, particularly in Job 37:6-13 and Job 38:22. The Book of Job is believed to be one of the oldest books in the Bible and was likely written during or shortly after the Ice Age. However, the Ice Age did not affect the warmer regions of the Earth closer to the equator and therefore the land associated with the Biblical account would be further away from most of the glaciation. The Ice Age would not be central to the theme of the Bible and that is why there is not much written about the event. However, some of the individuals associated with the Bible and the Book of Job could have come in contact with ice or snow during their travels to more northerly areas. In addition, higher elevation areas would have received higher snowfall levels.
Evolutionists believe that the "present is the key to the past," and that present processes on Earth can explain past processes. Warm ocean waters, high evaporation, and cooler summers provided the unique conditions to cause the ice age. However, ice ages are not occurring today and the occurrence of an ice age should be described by a dramatic and catastrophic event that is not occurring today: the global Flood of the Book of Genesis. There is no other event in Earth's history that could have caused an ice age other than the global Genesis Flood. The occurrence of the ice age is one of the best evidences for the Genesis Flood and the young earth creationist model.
Evolutionists have trouble providing a strong explanation for the ice age initiation while flood geology gives a better explanation. A simple reduction in temperature would not create an ice age and therefore substantial amounts of evaporation and precipitation of moisture and water would be needed to cause an ice age. The Genesis Flood would provide the conditions needed to cause an ice age, while the secular mainstream academia refuses to recognize the occurrence of a global flood. The warm oceans heated by the ocean floor ridges and hydrothermal vents "springs of the great deep" opened up during the flood event and helped create the conditions for the ice age. The warm waters caused higher evaporation rates over the oceans and increased precipitation rates around the world, resulting in more snowfall and growing ice sheets, particularly at high latitudes.
The ice age itself should be evidence for the Flood and the young earth, as it is a process that happened in the past but is not happening today. The volcanism and its effect on the atmosphere proposed by creationists at the fountains of the deep and the mid-ocean ridges also likely was a major factor in the ice age. Evolutionists believe in multiple ice ages explained by changes in the earth’s orbit around the sun, in addition to atmospheric composition, wind and ocean currents, meteorite impacts, and volcanic eruptions. However, if the initiation of one ice age is difficult for mainstream uniformitarian scientists to explain, how can several ice ages be explained?
The existence of multiple high elevation lakes inside the Andes Mountains, including Lake Titicaca and the many salt flats such as Salar de Uyuni give great evidence of the rapid uplift during the Flood and following ice age. Were the Andes glacial lakes formed from flood water and the ice age? The evidence points toward this observation. The existence of many lakes in an arid environment and the rapidly shrinking lakes over the last 4,500 years point toward the creationist flood model.
Evolutionists believe that there have been at least five ice ages during the millions of years of Earth's history and very long periods of time in between each ice age (40,000 to 100,000 years). An ice age is defined as a long-term period of reduction in global temperatures at the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets along with alpine glaciers. There is evidence for glacial expansion around the Earth as erosional features carved by expanding and retreating glaciers are observed, therefore indicating that there was at least one major ice age in Earth's history.
However, the most significant question regarding the occurrence of an ice age is: What could cause an ice age? The creationist model gives the best explanation for the cause of an ice age as a dramatic change in climate would be required for such an event to occur. This dramatic change in climate would require some dramatic event to occur such as never occurred in history and never will happen again. Creationists believe that this event is the global Flood described in the Book of Genesis of approximately 4,500 years ago. As the springs of the great deep were opened up, according to Genesis 7:11, large amounts of hot water, steam, and volcanic material were released from the subsurface of the earth, which in turn significantly heated up the ocean's waters.
This warmer ocean water would have caused a large amount of evaporation for several centuries after the Flood above the oceans into the atmosphere, which would in turn cause large amounts of precipitation in the form of snowfall to occur at the North and South Pole. In addition, the large amount of volcanic dust exerted into the atmosphere would also have blocked sunlight and caused temperatures to drop even further while contributing toward the accumulation of snowfall. Cooler summers would have allowed the ice sheets to expand during the ice age. This snowfall accumulation would cause the polar ice sheets to expand over several centuries from each pole toward the equator.
Some believe that there are Biblical references to the Ice Age, particularly in Job 37:6-13 and Job 38:22. The Book of Job is believed to be one of the oldest books in the Bible and was likely written during or shortly after the Ice Age. However, the Ice Age did not affect the warmer regions of the Earth closer to the equator and therefore the land associated with the Biblical account would be further away from most of the glaciation. The Ice Age would not be central to the theme of the Bible and that is why there is not much written about the event. However, some of the individuals associated with the Bible and the Book of Job could have come in contact with ice or snow during their travels to more northerly areas. In addition, higher elevation areas would have received higher snowfall levels.
Evolutionists believe that the "present is the key to the past," and that present processes on Earth can explain past processes. Warm ocean waters, high evaporation, and cooler summers provided the unique conditions to cause the ice age. However, ice ages are not occurring today and the occurrence of an ice age should be described by a dramatic and catastrophic event that is not occurring today: the global Flood of the Book of Genesis. There is no other event in Earth's history that could have caused an ice age other than the global Genesis Flood. The occurrence of the ice age is one of the best evidences for the Genesis Flood and the young earth creationist model.
