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From CreationWiki, the encyclopedia of creation science

The Canopy theory is a now largely discredited model^{[Reference needed]} originally developed as an explanation for the source of the flood water that covered the Earth during the Biblical flood of Noah.

Factors Suggesting Canopy Theory

• Continuous forty day rain.
• Rainbows & clouds - not mentioned in the Bible before the flood
• Fossil plants and animals in polar regions, indicating globally uniform temperatures before the flood.
• Tremendous decline in human life expectancy following the flood.

Contents 1 Supporting Factors 2 Canopy Types 2.1 Vapor Canopy 2.2 Crystalline canopy 3 Canopy Destruction 4 See Also 5 References

Supporting Factors

Before the flood, human lifespans were approximately 10 times our current expectancy. Also, the overall size of organisms, and the productivity of ecosystems, was generally much greater before the flood than after. Various regions of the Earth now perpetually glaciated, such as Antarctica, possess fossil evidence of rich ecosystems, including fossil ferns and amphibians with skulls measuring up to one meter. Productivity in these regions could only be explained by global temperature fluctuations or continental drift.

There are other indicators of an atmospheric change resulting from the flood, such as the sudden appearance of a rainbow following the flood, and the fact that human life expectancy declined to what it is today in just the few generations after Noah. Likewise the first mention of clouds is not until after the deluge, and many believe there was no rain or clouds beforehand. However, from the Bible it is clear there were stars also visible before the flood, therefore any supposed canopy was less dense than the standard cloud cover today.

"Then God said, 'Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.' Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven." - Genesis 1:6-8

"In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened." - Genesis 7:11

"When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds," - Genesis 9:14

"When the bow is in the clouds, I will look upon it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth." - Genesis 9:16

"In the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up—for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no man to till the ground; but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground." - Genesis 2:5-6

Canopy Types

Vapor Canopy

The original canopy theory proposed the existence of a dense vapor canopy, which fell during the 40 day rain. While the existence of a vapor canopy remains theoretic, it is unquestionable that our world was tremendously affected by the flood, and the catastrophe resulted in or was caused by atmospheric changes.

Some speculate that Genesis 1:6-7 is referring to a vapor canopy that collapsed during the flood, but beforehand protected the earth, providing atmospheric stability, and globally uniform temperatures that no longer exist.

"And God said, 'Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water.' So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so." - Genesis 1:6-7

Crystalline canopy

Main article: Crystalline canopy

The crystalline canopy is envisioned as a clear flexible shell that surrounded the earth (not to be confused with a Dyson sphere) as a blanket of polarized hydrogen ice crystals that formed a huge magnetic shield.^{[Reference needed]}

Canopy Destruction

There are three possibilities to how the canopy fell.

1. Since the canopy is polarized by the earth's magnetic field, a sudden polar flip would make it fall. [1]
2. A meteor impact would have destroyed the canopy. [2]
3. God's divine intervention.

See Also

• A vapor canopy was the source for much of the flood waters Response to Talk.Origins Creationist Claims
• Fountains of the great deep
• Hydroplate theory
• Flood geology

Browse

References

• Flood models: the need for an integrated approach by A.C. McIntosh, T. Edmondson & S. Taylor. Technical Journal 14(1):52–59 April 2000
• Sensitivity Studies On Vapor Canopy Temperature Profiles Larry Vardiman and Karen Bousselot Presented at the Fourth International Conference on Creationism. Pittsburgh, PA, August 3-8, 1998
• Arguments for a Canopy—and Brief Responses by Dr. Walt Brown

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