In 2004 an explanation emerged which seemed to finally matched the evidence: the sky had come down and suffocated the climbers.
There were in all 26 climbers on the mountain at the time, and the weather was calm. Towards the end of the day a storm gathered, and according to physicist Kent Moore of the University of Toronto in Canada, the stratosphere sank down and clipped the mountain's summit. Usually Everest is just below the stratosphere ? about 500 metres below, but during this storm, on the 10th of May, there were two streams of very fast-flowing air called jet streaks, moving down the mountain. As these very low pressure air streams reached the climbers they would have caused the pressure to drop and the oxygen levels to drop too. (The same thing happened in 1998, in which the weather changed and a dramatic drop of 16 millibars was recorded.) The climbers who died in 1996 probably experienced a reduction in oxygen of about 14%.
As you read this article, you probably don't notice the fact that you are also breathing. The steady operation of . . .
In 1996 12 climbers on Mount Everest suddenly died. Many theories were at first put forward to explain this unfortunate event, but none of them stacked up. The climbers were well equipped, and they took all the correct precautions, yet all 12 died. It was a mystery as well as a sad ending to 12 lives.
In 2004 an explanation emerged which seemed to finally matched the evidence: the sky had come down and suffocated the climbers.
There were in all 26 climbers on the mountain at the time, and the weather was calm. Towards the end of the day a storm gathered, and according to physicist Kent Moore of the University of Toronto in Canada, the stratosphere sank down and clipped the mountain's summit. Usually Everest is just below the stratosphere ? about 500 metres below, but during this storm, on the 10th of May, there were two streams of very fast-flowing air called jet streaks, moving down the mountain. As these very low pressure air streams reached the climbers they would have caused the pressure to drop and the oxygen levels to drop too. (The same thing happened in 1998, in which the weather changed and a dramatic drop of 16 millibars was recorded.) The climbers who died in 1996 probably experienced a reduction in oxygen of about 14%.
As you read this article, you probably don't notice the fact that you are also breathing. The steady operation of your lungs is so automatic most people don't even think about it. The same could be said for eating, digestion, blinking, and many other bodily functions. Its as if we are designed to get on with much more important things, while all these other incredibly complicated things are taken care of.
The atmosphere is also an amazing part of our lives. We take it for granted that there will always be air to breath, but what a marvel of engineering the atmosphere is. It reaches outwards from the surface of the Earth like a blanket, held in place by exactly the right amount of gravity to keep it at a suitable pressure for life. Less gravity would allow the air to disperse into space, more would compress it and narrow the range in which life could exist.
The atmosphere is made of mainly two gasses, nitrogen 78% and oxygen 21%. The remaining 1% is argon, and a few other gasses, including water vapour and carbon dioxide. All these gasses are important, and each plays a role in the biosphere. Plants, for example, need carbon dioxide, while animals need oxygen ? each help to sustain the other. Water vapour is essential for keeping our lungs working, since they need water on their inner surface to function properly. Even dust, which falls continuously from meteorites is essential, because without it water vapour could not condense so easily into droplets and fall as rain, snow or hail.
The atmosphere consists of several layers, each fulfilling a specific function. In the lowest layer, (troposphere), infrared creates heat, which fuels the hydrologic cycle (evaporation, precipitation). The higher layers of the atmosphere filter out shorter wavelength ultraviolet, which is harmful, even lethal.
The atmosphere, by itself, is a remarkable thing, but when it is seen in context with other Earth systems, it reveals intelligent design. The integration of atmosphere with life, the balance of gasses, the size and mass of the planet, the presence of moisture, the defense against ultraviolet, the circulation of heat, the carbon-dioxide/oxygen cycle with plants, and many other factors . . . all these things confirm what the Bible says: that the Earth was designed to support life, and life was designed to be sustained by this Earth.
The truth of this is easy to see, as soon as Man tries to build a miniature biosphere. He cannot make a system which is perpetually self-cleaning and self-maintaining, either in a desert, or in space. On a smaller scale, it is impossible to keep fish in a tank without also installing a range of filtering, oxygenating and cleaning systems. Earth is a fully-operational biosphere, and it bears witness to a wise Creator.
Richard Gunther, Copyright 2006