Maybe not slaughtered. Maybe sacrificed. Maybe humans were so important to him that he went through with the sacrifice even though it was a big one and it grieved him to lose all those lifeforms.

...

That's a quieting thought. I'm going to sit back and think about that for a moment.

Possibly, though many of those sacrifices were needless ones, creatures that in no way impeached on mankind's 'niche' in things. 800 Million years ago, there was an Ice Ago that froze the Oceans to about a kilometres depth almost to the Equator. 96% of life on the planet died. I find it hard to think that God would consider that acceptable losses

What also needs to be understood is that it's not just my DNA that clawed it's way up. The modern Cockroach or Alligator is nothing like it's prehistoric ancestor, except for on the outside. But evolution demands of them that they be leaner, faster, smarter and more adaptable to face the challenges ahead. The cockroach has earned it's place here every bit as much as the human has.

Actually, crocodiles and the like are pretty much unchanged since the late Triassic/Early Jurassic. They're one of the mysteries of palaeontology - why did they survive, when similar animals did not?

Anyone interested in this should try to grab hold of either 'The Fifth Miracle" and/or "A short history of Planet Earth". I've read 'em both, and they both kick arse

Indeed, the main design seems to be the most efficient for the environment, however, prehistoric crocs were larger, slower and less flexible iirc. As the size of the prey has decreased, the smaller crocs, those that need less food, have been the ones to survive and breed, at least until balance was reached again. I believe there are some notable bone-structure changes in the hips of crocs and alligators in the last few million years as well.

Yes, crocs are one of the stranger members of the 'Dinosaur' ilk. It may because they were small, and lucky that they survived. Bit like us really

Flipside Wrote

It survived 'Hypercanes' in the Jurassic period (Hurricanes with windspeeds equalling the speed of sound

I too have never herd of Hypercanes, and I am a weather freak. And just because the water was warmer don't mean the Hurricanes got that strong. If the wind speeds were that fast in the center it would kill the storm or ether create what happened on "The Day After Tommorow", whitch will never happen by the way.

...how can you be so into a science like meteorology, and still be a creationist?

Cause, meteorology is the study of weather, and God made weather too. And even a person who studies the stars can be a creationist.

*sigh*

It wasn't simply a question of weather. At that time there were volcanic plumes under the water, much as they are now. But Earth was far more Geologically active at the time, and these plumes, rather than boil away underwater the way as they do now, spiralled their way to the surface, creatings spinning hyper-heated columns of steam.

http://www.zetatalk.com/theword/tword09m.htm

I found that site after the post, so it doesn't mention the Jurassic ones, but it's the same theory.

Hyoercanes are, AFAIK, hypotetical potential creations of oceanic asteroid impacts. There's no actual Geological evidence for their existence.

Like most of the theories of the weather around that time, since the atmosphere was not entirely the same, nothing is certain, but it seems highly likely that these occured. It's doubtful we will will have much luck proving it geologically, since the who Hypercanes would have taken place in such short time, and any marks left by them would be very difficult to detect this far from the event.

Tracking back continental drift and mantle behaviour etc, it suggests that there were some pretty big holes in the crust under the ocean from time to time during that period though,

Dude, there is one huge mistake in that report. Hurricanes don't form by themselves, they need a low pressure area, not just thunderstorms and a warm ocean. A meteor wouldn't have no effect on them, even if it warmed the water to 100 degrees. 500 mph winds would kill a low pressure area and the "Hypercane" Would die in minutes. The reason the limit is around 200 mpg is becuase no low in history could have surived with anything higher

All it needs is an energy source, whether that is the motion of air from high to low, or a spinning column of steam and gas, as long as it has motivation, it will function. As to whether they could have moved, it's not certain, but with the preditive windpeeds, done on Meterological computers, it wouldn't need to.

No, a hurricane CAN'T beformed with just a colum of air. And for a low pressure area to get strong enough to form a hypercane the earth would spin so fast it would kill everything anyways. Agreed if and huge meteor hit it would send out wind speeds around the speed of sound, and it might even twirl, but it would only last a few minutes at most and would not form a hypercane

http://rds.yahoo.com/S=2766679/K=hyperc ... RCANES.pdf

http://www.icr.org/newsletters/research ... feb03.html

Some creationists disagree....

http://www.weathernotebook.com/transcri ... 07/30.html (pants link, but there you go)

http://www-das.uwyo.edu/~geerts/cwx/not ... nesis.html (small section)

http://www.carleton.ca/~tpatters/teachi ... rcane.html

And some more reputable sources

The world does not always work the way we choose it to. These things may or may not have existed, but theoretically, they can. Impossible is a question of whether it's happened yet, more often than not

That third article explains it best, it acts almost like a Hurricane 'generator' whilst it is active. He doesn't agree that they could have occured as recently as in the Jurassic period, but others do.