Near Extinction Threatened Ancestors

[_Gazelam]

Question:

Why is it acceptable to believe in an Ice age (world covered by frozen water)

But not acceptable to believe that the earth was covered in unfrozen water?

[_moksha]

Question:

Why is it acceptable to believe in an Ice age (world covered by frozen water)

But not acceptable to believe that the earth was covered in unfrozen water?

The whole world wasn't covered in frozen water. The world will undoubtedly experience another Ice Age after this period of interglaciation ends. However, there is still not enough water to cover the continents unless nothing around was higher than 300 feet and all the ice were to melt.

[_Dr. Shades]

Actually, the number was much lower than 2,000. try 8

And it was far from a drought...

Hey Gazelam, Noah's flood was supposed (by Bible believers) to have taken place c. 5,000 years ago, not 70,000 years ago.

So the chronology is way off, thus disqualifying any supposed worldwide flood as being the near-extinction event in question.

Why is it acceptable to believe in an Ice age (world covered by frozen water)

But not acceptable to believe that the earth was covered in unfrozen water?

Simple. With an ice age, the water isn't assumed to accumulate and freeze all at once. What happens is that the earth's temperature cools to such an extent that the annual snowfall (in areas closest to the poles) each year doesn't melt away 100% in the ensuing Spring and Summer months. Thus the amount of ice and snow ON LAND accumulates over the course of many years. Glaciation pushes its way South (but the areas nearer the equator remain too warm to see an accumulation of ice).

THEREFORE, the total amount of earth's water slowly transfers from liquid sea water AT SEA to frozen fresh water ON LAND. Sea levels drop as a result.

So, to answer your question, the total amount of water on earth REMAINS THE SAME. Even during the worst ice age, however, glaciers never completely cover the earth's landmass.