Young Earth Creationism Is Improbable

I. The Universe The Big Bang Theory The big bang theory (BBT), the dominant cosmological model for the evolution of the universe, which estimates the universe to be around 13.75 billion years old, which corresponds to the Lambda-CDM model's (also known as the standard model) theoretical value for the age of the universe based on the Hubble constant and performing regression analysis. There are a number of proofs for the big bang theory, three of the most important being the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR), the organization of the known universe, and the abundance of light elements in the universe. [1] The CMBR can be thought of as the afterglow of the big bang, and its existence is only currently consistent with the big bang theory. It was discovered, and its predictions confirmed over the years since its inception. In the absence of Big Bang, there would be no reason to expect a uniform, long-wavelength background radiation in the universe. Here is a satellite picture of the it - notice how the field is relatively uniform, a confirmation of a prediction of the BBT [2]: Another indicator of the big bang is the organization of the known universe with galactic evolution. Galaxies formed more recently appear markedly different from galaxies formed closer to the big bang, meaning that galaxies have evolved over time, which is a strong argument for the big bang theory because no other cosmological theory can explain it. "Observations of star formation, galaxy and quasar distributions and larger structures agree well with Big Bang simulations of the formation of structure in the Universe and are helping to complete details of the theory. "[3][4] A final strong argument for the big bang theory is the abundance of light elements as there is no other explanation for it. ""as one examines older and older objects, the abundance of most heavy elements becomes smaller and smaller, asymptoting to zero. By contrast, the abundance of helium goes to a non-zero limiting value. The measurements show consistently that the abundance of helium, even in very old objects, is still around 25% of the total mass of "normal" matter. And that corresponds nicely to the value which the BBT predicts for the production of He during primordial nucleosynthesis. " Here is a picture showing the log graph of abundance of elements by atomic number in the universe[5][6]: In conclusion, the big bang theory is the only cosmological theory for the evolution of the universe that can explain many of the observations made. According to the theory, the universe is around 13.75 billion years old. Age of Stars A more experimental proof for the age of the universe can be found by finding out the ages of the oldest stars. "Another [sic] star, CS 31082-001, shows an age of 12.5 +/- 3 Gyr based on the decay of U-238. Wanajo et al. refine the predicted U/Th production ratio and get 14.1 +/- 2.5 Gyr for the age of this star. "[Gyr means billions of years ago (giga-years) and U/Th means Uranium/Thorium radioactive dating][7] "Applying this technique to the globular cluster NGC 6397, Pasquini found an age of 13.4 billion years, plus or minus 800 million years. Other studies like Krauss and Hansen obtained similar results with related methods: 12.2 and 12.1 billion years, respectively, with errors on order 1 to 2 billion years. "[8][9] Allowing for experimental uncertainties, the oldest stars are consistent with the age of the universe proposed by the BBT. It points to the idea that the universe is around 13.75 years old. II. The Earth's Indicators Meteorites The Earth provides a slew of different evidence that the universe is older than 6000 years. One example can be found in the ages of the oldest meteorites on the Earth. "The best age for the Earth (4.54 Ga) is based on old, presumed single-stage leads coupled with the Pb ratios in troilite from iron meteorites, specifically the Canyon Diablo meteorite. In addition, mineral grains (zircon) with U-Pb ages of 4.4 Ga have recently been reported from sedimentary rocks in west-central Australia. " Many of the oldest meteorites examined range from 4.5-4.65 billion years old. [10][11] The oldest recovered rocks from the moon, which may have been a part of the Earth itself once, further verifies the Earth's age: "These rocks vary greatly in age, a reflection of their different ages of formation and their subsequent histories. The oldest dated moon rocks, however, have ages between 4.4 and 4.5 billion years and provide a minimum age for the formation of our nearest planetary neighbor. " Meteorites from around the solar system correspond to those relative ages as well: "There are more than 70 meteorites, of different types, whose ages have been measured using radiometric dating techniques. The results show that the meteorites, and therefore the Solar System, formed between 4.53 and 4.58 billion years ago. "[10] This level of preciseness in meteorites found on the Earth, the Moon, and around the solar system indicate they were caused by the same event, and a lot older the 10000 years. Interior Verifications There is a lot of interal evidence as well that the Earth is older than 6000 years. Take, for example, ice core samples: "From the data gathered from the Vostok ice-core indicates that the minimum age of the earth is 160,000 +- 15,000 years. Furthermore there exists approximately 33% of additional ice below the core sample which would hold a disproportionate number of years due to thinning of the ice layers under the tremendous pressure of the ice above it. "[12] Another is continental drift. Satellite data has shown that the two continents are moving at a rate of roughly 2 cm per year (roughly the speed of fingernail growth), which means that for these diverging continents to have been together at some point in history, as all the evidence shows, the drift must have been going on for at least 200 million years. [13][14] Yet another example is the shifting of the geomagnetic poles. A geomagnetic reversal is a change in the polarity of the Earth's magnetic field. The frequency at which these reversals occur varies greatly, but they usually happen once every 50,000 to 800,000 years, and generally take thousands of years. This fact is obviously inconsistent with the notion of a young Earth; around 171 reversals are geologically documented, which would make the Earth at least 8.5 million years old. [13][15] Conclusion It is clear from the validity of the Lambda-CDM model of the Big Bang Theory's theoretical formulation that the universe is over 13 billion years old, and this is backed up by the observations of stellar age. The Earth has a plethora of indicators that it is over 4 billion years old, including, but not limited to meteorite age, ice cores, continental drift regression analysis, and geomagnetic pole shifting. Overall, it is very improbable that the universe or the Earth is 6000 years old. Sources [1]: . http://en.wikipedia.org... [2]: . http://csep10.phys.utk.edu... [3]: . http://en.wikipedia.org... [4]: . http://arxiv.org... [5]: . http://www.talkorigins.org... [6]: . http://arxiv.org... [7]: . http://www.astro.ucla.edu... [8]: . http://arxiv.org... [9]: . http://pubs.usgs.gov... [10]: . http://www.talkorigins.org... [11]: . http://rationalwiki.org... [12]: Laurie R. Godfrey (1983). "Scientists Confront Creationism". [13]: . http://en.wikipedia.org...