Changes

'''Catastrophism''' is the view that most of earth's geological features are the result of large-scale catastrophes such as [[flood]]s, [[volcano|volcanic eruptions]], asteroid impacts, etc.<ref>Wile, Dr. Jay L. ''Exploring Creation Through General Science''. Anderson: Apologia Educational Ministries, Inc. 2000</ref>. [[Young earth creationist]] scientists, who often subscribe to [[Flood Geology]], point out that catastophism is increasingly being accepted in the field of [[geology]]. <ref>http://www.grisda.org/origins/12061.htm</ref>

'''Catastrophism''' is the view that most of earth's geological features are the result of large-scale catastrophes such as [[flood]]s, [[volcano|volcanic eruptions]], asteroid impacts, etc.<ref>Wile, Dr. Jay L. ''Exploring Creation Through General Science''. Anderson: Apologia Educational Ministries, Inc. 2000</ref>. [[Young earth creationist]] scientists, who often subscribe to [[Flood Geology]], point out that catastophism is increasingly being accepted in the field of [[geology]].<ref>http://www.grisda.org/origins/12061.htm</ref><ref>http://www.icr.org/index.php?module=articles&action=print&ID=84</ref>

<ref>http://www.icr.org/index.php?module=articles&action=print&ID=84</ref>  

== Historical Development ==

== Historical Development ==

Though [[Charles Lyell]] and [[Charles Darwin]] rejected Catastrophism for Uniformitarianism, scientists today have been forced to acknowledge that the same mass catastrophes denied by Darwin and Lyell did in fact happen, and that the fossil record shows life did die off rapidly.<ref name=berkeley>"[http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/history_12 Uniformitarianism: Charles Lyell]." Understanding Evolution. University of California Museum of Paleontology. April 18, 2012.</ref> The only disagreement on this point between Creationists and Evolutionists is when these events occurred, and how many of them there were. The overwhelming evidence of ancient mass extinctions has led to various hypotheses including huge asteroids and volcanic eruptions: {{cquote|"At least a handful of times in the last 500 million years, 50 to more than 90 percent of all species on Earth have disappeared in a geological blink of the eye... The causes of these mass extinction events are unsolved mysteries, though volcanic eruptions and the impacts of large asteroids or comets are prime suspects in many of the cases. Both would eject tons of debris into the atmosphere, darkening the skies for at least months on end. Starved of sunlight, plants and plant-eating creatures would quickly die. Space rocks and volcanoes could also unleash toxic and heat-trapping gases that—once the dust settled—enable runaway global warming... Massive floods of lava erupting from the central Atlantic magmatic province about 200 million years ago may explain the Triassic-Jurassic extinction. About 20 percent of all marine families went extinct, as well as most mammal-like creatures, many large amphibians, and all non-dinosaur archosaurs. An asteroid impact is another possible cause of the extinction, though a telltale crater has yet to be found."

Though [[Charles Lyell]] and [[Charles Darwin]] rejected Catastrophism for Uniformitarianism, scientists today have been forced to acknowledge that the same mass catastrophes denied by Darwin and Lyell did in fact happen, and that the fossil record shows life did die off rapidly.<ref name=berkeley>"[http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/history_12 Uniformitarianism: Charles Lyell]." Understanding Evolution. University of California Museum of Paleontology. April 18, 2012.</ref> The only disagreement on this point between Creationists and Evolutionists is when these events occurred, and how many of them there were. The overwhelming evidence of ancient mass extinctions has led to various hypotheses including huge asteroids and volcanic eruptions: {{cquote|"At least a handful of times in the last 500 million years, 50 to more than 90 percent of all species on Earth have disappeared in a geological blink of the eye... The causes of these mass extinction events are unsolved mysteries, though volcanic eruptions and the impacts of large asteroids or comets are prime suspects in many of the cases. Both would eject tons of debris into the atmosphere, darkening the skies for at least months on end. Starved of sunlight, plants and plant-eating creatures would quickly die. Space rocks and volcanoes could also unleash toxic and heat-trapping gases that—once the dust settled—enable runaway global warming... Massive floods of lava erupting from the central Atlantic magmatic province about 200 million years ago may explain the Triassic-Jurassic extinction. About 20 percent of all marine families went extinct, as well as most mammal-like creatures, many large amphibians, and all non-dinosaur archosaurs. An asteroid impact is another possible cause of the extinction, though a telltale crater has yet to be found."