Larry Ingels, P.E., a VIRGINIA CHRISTIAN ALLIANCE Advisor comments on the misleading example by Bill Nye, the ‘Science Guy’, in his debate with Ken Ham concerning so call ‘annual’ ice rings.
Bill Nye, the “Science Guy”, in his recent debate with Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis, made reference to the ice core evidence concerning the age of the earth. Mr. Nye and many other scientists are apparently convinced that all the rings found in ice cores are annual rings.
There is a National Ice Core Laboratory (NICL) near Denver, Colorado where a study of 10,000-feet of ice core samples from Greenland was made and found to have 135,000 consecutive ice rings or layers. After the study a spokesperson announced that this “annual ring” evidence “proves” that the earth is much older than what creationists believe. But wait! Are these really “annual” rings?
Here is some evidence that evolutionists and spokespersons such as Bill Nye have not reported on. Early in WWII, a flight of U.S. aircraft was headed for Iceland, but due to bad weather had to return to Greenland. Over Greenland they ran out of fuel and landed, where they were finally abandoned and referred to as the “Lost squadron”.
During the 1980s, about 42 years later, the aircraft were discovered under 263 feet of ice & snow. The man who excavated one of the aircraft, Bob Cardin from Kentucky, was asked about the number of ice rings found during the aircraft recovery. He said there were “hundreds” of layers/ice rings in the ice covering the aircraft. If these were annual rings there should have been only 42 or so of these rings. Dr. Larry Vardiman, Ph.D. stated in 1992,” … the ice sheet (above the aircraft) has been accumulating at an average of five feet per year.” From this evidence many scientists have concluded that weather variations within each year can cause “ice rings”/ layering and not just the annual weather changes between winter and summer. This aircraft recovery related evidence has “destroyed” the “annual ring” assumptions of scientists concerning ice core rings. However, people like Mr. Nye continue to use “ice rings” as evidence of an ancient earth. Using the accumulation average of 5 feet per year, the 10,000 feet sample in the NICL could have been only about 2,000 years old.
During the debate with Mr. Nye, Creationist Ken Ham started to talk about the ice ring evidence related to the aircraft recovery, but was not able to complete his point due to the rebuttal time limits imposed. My discussion is offered to bring out the Young Earth evidence about ice rings that Ken Ham could have used if given adequate time for rebuttal.
Larry T. Ingels, P. E. Advisory Board Member of the Virginia Christian Alliance. Creation and Evolution Studies, Locust Grove, VA
