The Sahara Desert Was Once Lush, Green, Wet
by Owen Omid Borville
April 22, 2019
Geology
Image by TiNo Heusinger
If there was a global flood that covered the entire Earth, then there should be evidence of many ancient remnant lakes and dried up lake beds around the world as water gradually left the continents and emptied into the oceans or evaporated due to climatic conditions. In fact, this is exactly what we observe. We should also observe evidence of ancient lush, wet environments that have dried up over the years. Freshwater lakes, ephemeral lakes, inland seas, and basin lakes are found on every continent in the world and this fact gives substantial evidence for the Genesis Flood. An ephemeral lake is a lake that is usually dry, but that fills with water for brief periods during and after rainfall or other precipitation. If the whole earth was covered with water around 4,500 years ago, then it seems logical that there would be many lakes on Earth as the mountains were uplifted and the floodwaters receded. In addition, 70 percent of the earth is currently covered by water. Many of these lakes are drying up due to changing climate conditions and human usage, as described by endorheic basins or lakes (having no outlet to sea). Saline and salty lakes form as the volume of the lakes shrink and saltwater becomes more concentrated.
The 3.5 square million kilometer Sahara Desert was once a lush, wet environment 4,500 years ago, according to recent research by French scientists and a Japanese satellite. An ancient river system was discovered by radar images in Mauritania and the Western Sahara Desert under the sands that stretch for over 500 kilometers from sources in the Atlas Mountains flowing toward the southwest and emptying into the Atlantic Ocean (1). Scientists believe plants and wildlife once thrived here because of the lush conditions produced by the river system. In addition, a three-kilometer deep submarine canyon aligns with the river system, giving further evidence of its existence. Researchers explain how climate can change from humid and wet to arid, dry desert within a few thousand years. The river system is believed to date back 245,000 years (1), however creationists dispute this time frame because of the inaccuracies of radiometric dating. Animals and people likely migrated southward into the savannas of sub-Saharan Africa as the Sahara became arid and desert-like. This is shown by the large variety of wildlife found in sub-Saharan Africa today along with the rapidly growing human population.
Lake Chad inside the Sahara Desert was once much bigger, a fact believed by many scientists today. While today encompassing only 1,350 square kilometers, Lake Chad is believed to once cover one million square kilometers within the last 7,000 years by mainstream scientists (although this date is debatable for creationists). Located near the western border of the country, Lake Chad is also freshwater in composition and is fed mostly by the Chari River. It is also very shallow at about ten and a half meters deep and has no outlet to the sea. Believed to be a former inland sea, Lake Chad gives great evidence of a remnant of the Genesis Flood that has been drying up due to changing climate patterns over the last 5,000 years. Lake Chad is named after the country its resides, a local word which means “large expanse of water.” Explored by the Romans in the first century of their empire, Lake Chad was much larger at that time. Europeans surveyed the lake in 1823 and it was still one of the largest lakes in the world at that time. Many areas of Lake Chad have become wetlands today, a further sign of its shrinking size. The size of the lake also varies with the seasons during wetlands flooding. Lake Chad is also believed to be the largest of four Saharan paleo-lakes, or ancient lakes. The ancient size of Lake Chad once was larger than the Caspian Sea is today and indicative of changing environmental and climate patterns over the last 5,000 years. Agricultural usage has also been attributed to the shrinking size of Lake Chad in addition to climate change patterns. However, the existence of such large bodies of water on the continents gives evidence of remnant waters created by the Genesis Flood.
Chott el Djerid in southern Tunisia is an endoheric salt lake and the largest salt pan of the Sahara desert with a surface area of 7,000 square kilometers and is a mostly dry salt lake. Despite the harsh, dry conditions of the Sahara Desert, this salt pan is a reminder of the wet history of the region and the changing climate patterns since the Genesis Flood.
A recent study also reports a sudden climate shift about 5,000 years ago in North Africa from a wet environment to a dry and arid environment (2)(3). The African Humid Period ran approximately 11,000-5,000 years ago and was caused by changes in the earth's orbit around the sun, according to mainstream uniformitarian scientists (4). These changes in the earth's orbit quickly produced humid and wet conditions across North Africa.
Rock paintings in North Africa which are believed to date from this period also depict the culture of a wetter environment, including paintings and carvings of animals from sub-Saharan Africa such as giraffes, cattle, hippos, antelope, and elephants. These animals are not seen today in the Sahara, which implies that these animals were once in the Sahara during wetter conditions. The uniformitarian time-scale occurrence of the African Humid Period is very close to the creationist time frame of the Genesis Flood event, where the springs of the deep along with volcanic activity spurred a 40 day and night rain event along with an exodus of subterranean water onto the surface of the earth 4,500 years ago. The wet conditions of the Genesis Flood would have produced the temporary wet conditions in North Africa until the arid climate returned. The climate is believed to have returned from a wet climate to an arid climate within two centuries (5).
Creationists believe that the world climate and environmental conditions on Earth were very different than today and that the pre-Flood environment was much greener, warmer, and wetter than today. The past wet and green environment of the Sahara Desert would have allowed more diverse life forms to exist there at that that time in contrast to today. Noah would have had a diverse set of life to bring on the Ark and would not have had to travel around the world to obtain the passengers for the Ark.
(1) Ancient River Network Discovered Buried Under Sahara Sand. The Guardian, November 10, 2015.
(2) Chu, Jennifer, MIT News, April 5, 2013.
(3) Sahara Went from Green to Desert in a Flash. Oskin, Becky, Live Science, April 5, 2013.
(4) Green Sahara: African Humid Periods Paced by Earth's Orbital Changes. The Nature Education. 2012.
(5) Chu, Jennifer. Research points to abrupt and widespread climate shift in the Sahara 5,000 years ago. Phys.org. April 5, 2013.
by Owen Omid Borville
April 22, 2019
Geology
Image by TiNo Heusinger
If there was a global flood that covered the entire Earth, then there should be evidence of many ancient remnant lakes and dried up lake beds around the world as water gradually left the continents and emptied into the oceans or evaporated due to climatic conditions. In fact, this is exactly what we observe. We should also observe evidence of ancient lush, wet environments that have dried up over the years. Freshwater lakes, ephemeral lakes, inland seas, and basin lakes are found on every continent in the world and this fact gives substantial evidence for the Genesis Flood. An ephemeral lake is a lake that is usually dry, but that fills with water for brief periods during and after rainfall or other precipitation. If the whole earth was covered with water around 4,500 years ago, then it seems logical that there would be many lakes on Earth as the mountains were uplifted and the floodwaters receded. In addition, 70 percent of the earth is currently covered by water. Many of these lakes are drying up due to changing climate conditions and human usage, as described by endorheic basins or lakes (having no outlet to sea). Saline and salty lakes form as the volume of the lakes shrink and saltwater becomes more concentrated.
The 3.5 square million kilometer Sahara Desert was once a lush, wet environment 4,500 years ago, according to recent research by French scientists and a Japanese satellite. An ancient river system was discovered by radar images in Mauritania and the Western Sahara Desert under the sands that stretch for over 500 kilometers from sources in the Atlas Mountains flowing toward the southwest and emptying into the Atlantic Ocean (1). Scientists believe plants and wildlife once thrived here because of the lush conditions produced by the river system. In addition, a three-kilometer deep submarine canyon aligns with the river system, giving further evidence of its existence. Researchers explain how climate can change from humid and wet to arid, dry desert within a few thousand years. The river system is believed to date back 245,000 years (1), however creationists dispute this time frame because of the inaccuracies of radiometric dating. Animals and people likely migrated southward into the savannas of sub-Saharan Africa as the Sahara became arid and desert-like. This is shown by the large variety of wildlife found in sub-Saharan Africa today along with the rapidly growing human population.
Lake Chad inside the Sahara Desert was once much bigger, a fact believed by many scientists today. While today encompassing only 1,350 square kilometers, Lake Chad is believed to once cover one million square kilometers within the last 7,000 years by mainstream scientists (although this date is debatable for creationists). Located near the western border of the country, Lake Chad is also freshwater in composition and is fed mostly by the Chari River. It is also very shallow at about ten and a half meters deep and has no outlet to the sea. Believed to be a former inland sea, Lake Chad gives great evidence of a remnant of the Genesis Flood that has been drying up due to changing climate patterns over the last 5,000 years. Lake Chad is named after the country its resides, a local word which means “large expanse of water.” Explored by the Romans in the first century of their empire, Lake Chad was much larger at that time. Europeans surveyed the lake in 1823 and it was still one of the largest lakes in the world at that time. Many areas of Lake Chad have become wetlands today, a further sign of its shrinking size. The size of the lake also varies with the seasons during wetlands flooding. Lake Chad is also believed to be the largest of four Saharan paleo-lakes, or ancient lakes. The ancient size of Lake Chad once was larger than the Caspian Sea is today and indicative of changing environmental and climate patterns over the last 5,000 years. Agricultural usage has also been attributed to the shrinking size of Lake Chad in addition to climate change patterns. However, the existence of such large bodies of water on the continents gives evidence of remnant waters created by the Genesis Flood.
Chott el Djerid in southern Tunisia is an endoheric salt lake and the largest salt pan of the Sahara desert with a surface area of 7,000 square kilometers and is a mostly dry salt lake. Despite the harsh, dry conditions of the Sahara Desert, this salt pan is a reminder of the wet history of the region and the changing climate patterns since the Genesis Flood.
A recent study also reports a sudden climate shift about 5,000 years ago in North Africa from a wet environment to a dry and arid environment (2)(3). The African Humid Period ran approximately 11,000-5,000 years ago and was caused by changes in the earth's orbit around the sun, according to mainstream uniformitarian scientists (4). These changes in the earth's orbit quickly produced humid and wet conditions across North Africa.
Rock paintings in North Africa which are believed to date from this period also depict the culture of a wetter environment, including paintings and carvings of animals from sub-Saharan Africa such as giraffes, cattle, hippos, antelope, and elephants. These animals are not seen today in the Sahara, which implies that these animals were once in the Sahara during wetter conditions. The uniformitarian time-scale occurrence of the African Humid Period is very close to the creationist time frame of the Genesis Flood event, where the springs of the deep along with volcanic activity spurred a 40 day and night rain event along with an exodus of subterranean water onto the surface of the earth 4,500 years ago. The wet conditions of the Genesis Flood would have produced the temporary wet conditions in North Africa until the arid climate returned. The climate is believed to have returned from a wet climate to an arid climate within two centuries (5).
Creationists believe that the world climate and environmental conditions on Earth were very different than today and that the pre-Flood environment was much greener, warmer, and wetter than today. The past wet and green environment of the Sahara Desert would have allowed more diverse life forms to exist there at that that time in contrast to today. Noah would have had a diverse set of life to bring on the Ark and would not have had to travel around the world to obtain the passengers for the Ark.
(1) Ancient River Network Discovered Buried Under Sahara Sand. The Guardian, November 10, 2015.
(2) Chu, Jennifer, MIT News, April 5, 2013.
(3) Sahara Went from Green to Desert in a Flash. Oskin, Becky, Live Science, April 5, 2013.
(4) Green Sahara: African Humid Periods Paced by Earth's Orbital Changes. The Nature Education. 2012.
(5) Chu, Jennifer. Research points to abrupt and widespread climate shift in the Sahara 5,000 years ago. Phys.org. April 5, 2013.
