How to Survive 2012

If the core stops spinning, as this book predicts, we won’t have some $6billion machine to drill its way to the center of the earth and set off a bomb that will start the “earth engine” again. The $6billion drill won’t be built in six weeks, and unlike in the movie, there won’t be a hot pocket and twinky guzzling computer geek to hack the planet. If anybody would hack the planet, there wouldn’t be any need for the $6billion machine.

You want proof of an impending catastrophe? The author quotes Native American lore of the Great Flood. You want natural evidence? River sediment has been found on mountaintops. We know that when the Ice Age ended, the melting glaciers brought floods. When we had changes in the Earth’s magnetic field, we got super-powerful lightening. What else could’ve baked the dinosaur footprints rock-hard?

We’ve had massive catastrophes before, like the Black Death which killed half of Europe and Asia. Not only did it leave cities and towns empty, but it caused a massive drop in the price of goods worldwide. There was, however, a benefit to the Black Death; according to Simon Schama’s History of Britain, the sudden death of the nobility allowed peasants to buy land dirt cheap, and it was the beginning of Britain’s new upper class! For the Jews of Germany, it didn’t turn out so well. The plague-proof Jews (they were the only ones who bathed once a week) were accused of causing the plague and persecution got worse.

In 1783, volcanic gases killed all the livestock in Iceland, and there was no more beef for the blondes. Grass died, trees died, crops died, and as you guessed, it, no food! At least the fish survived (hello Cod Wars) until the same thing happened again in 1902 in Martinique. This time around, everyone died from the gas, and all the buildings were destroyed. The only guy to survive was a criminal awaiting execution in his bunker-like cell.

The best thing about this book is that Patrick Geryl uses lots of practical suggestions, no far out stuff. He talks about how unsinkable boats mean life or death in a flood. Well do any of you remember New Orleans in 2005? The NY Times warned of this in 2002, but did anybody listen? How many homeowners in that city had inflatable rubber rafts? You have to be crazy to live in a flood zone if you’re not prepared. Look what happed to New York City and the New Jersey coast in 2012?

Ever since the NYC Blackout of 2003, I’ve always kept flashlight and batteries handy. I have non-perishable food stored in a waterproof container. I live in a neighborhood that’s high above sea level. I won’t be ready for a zombie invasion, but it’s a start.