Talk:Younger Dryas impact theory

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• Younger Dryas impact hypothesis
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• Talk:Younger Dryas impact hypothesis

Justification for this redirect

I'm aware that some may find this redirect to be controversial due to the term "theory" being associated with the Younger Dryas impact hypothesis (YDIH). With that in mind, I thought I'd get ahead of some of the potential pushback and provide some justification for it so as to ease any concerns.

Most notably, and the reason for my attention to this, was a paper published in Earth-Science Reviews.^[1] The fact that a suggestion that the YDIH should now be referred to as a theory made it through peer review is telling.

^ B. Sweatman, Martin (19 May 2021). "The Younger Dryas impact hypothesis: Review of the impact evidence" (PDF). Earth-Science Reviews. 218: 103677. Bibcode:2021ESRv..21803677S. doi:10.1016/J.EARSCIREV.2021.103677. ISSN 0012-8252. S2CID 236231169. Wikidata Q106977355. Probably, with the YD impact event essentially confirmed, the YD impact hypothesis should now be called a 'theory'.

Prior to that though, there also appears to have been at least a few instances of the term being used in reliable sources.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

^ Williams, Matt (2019-03-19). "Almost 13,000 Years Ago, a Comet Impact Set Everything on Fire". Universe Today. Archived from the original on 2021-02-14. Retrieved 2021-06-08. For years, there have been geologists that have argued that this period was caused by an airburst or meteor fragments (known as the Younger Dryas Impact Theory).
^ Voosen, Paul (2018-11-14). "Massive crater under Greenland's ice points to climate-altering impact in the time of humans". Science. Archived from the original on 2021-05-25. Retrieved 2021-06-08. He was expecting to put the Younger Dryas impact theory to rest by showing that, 12,800 years ago, levels of metals that asteroid impacts tend to spread did not spike.
^ Caperton Morton, Mary (2017-06-16). "Platinum may point to impact theory for Younger Dryas". EARTH. Archived from the original on 2021-01-18. Retrieved 2021-06-08. But without a well-dated crater to point to, many scientists are still skeptical about the Younger Dryas impact theory.
^ Ronson, Jacqueline (2016-12-20). "Missing Nanodiamonds Debunk the Theory That Comets Flung Earth Into the Ice Age". Inverse. Archived from the original on 2021-01-16. Retrieved 2021-06-08. Two new studies published Wednesday in the Journal of Quaternary Science refute two separate lines of evidence that have been used to float the Younger Dryas impact theory.

You could maybe argue that they were using the term incorrectly, but I think that the existence of the news articles alone would still be reason enough to keep this redirect. Aluxosm (talk) 10:43, 8 June 2021 (UTC)[reply]

For more context, this is from just over a year before Sweatman's paper:^[1]

^ Powell, James Lawrence (2020). Deadly voyager: the ancient comet strike that changed Earth and human history. ISBN 978-0-578-66677-8. OCLC 1241981179. The reproducibility of the evidence has moved the YDIH much closer to the status of theory than hypothesis and shifted the burden of proof to its opponents.

Aluxosm (talk) 01:52, 16 June 2021 (UTC)[reply]

[1] B. Sweatman, Martin (19 May 2021). "The Younger Dryas impact hypothesis: Review of the impact evidence" (PDF). Earth-Science Reviews. 218: 103677. Bibcode:2021ESRv..21803677S. doi:10.1016/J.EARSCIREV.2021.103677. ISSN 0012-8252. S2CID 236231169. Wikidata Q106977355. Probably, with the YD impact event essentially confirmed, the YD impact hypothesis should now be called a 'theory'.

[2] Williams, Matt (2019-03-19). "Almost 13,000 Years Ago, a Comet Impact Set Everything on Fire". Universe Today. Archived from the original on 2021-02-14. Retrieved 2021-06-08. For years, there have been geologists that have argued that this period was caused by an airburst or meteor fragments (known as the Younger Dryas Impact Theory).

[3] Voosen, Paul (2018-11-14). "Massive crater under Greenland's ice points to climate-altering impact in the time of humans". Science. Archived from the original on 2021-05-25. Retrieved 2021-06-08. He was expecting to put the Younger Dryas impact theory to rest by showing that, 12,800 years ago, levels of metals that asteroid impacts tend to spread did not spike.

[4] Caperton Morton, Mary (2017-06-16). "Platinum may point to impact theory for Younger Dryas". EARTH. Archived from the original on 2021-01-18. Retrieved 2021-06-08. But without a well-dated crater to point to, many scientists are still skeptical about the Younger Dryas impact theory.

[5] Ronson, Jacqueline (2016-12-20). "Missing Nanodiamonds Debunk the Theory That Comets Flung Earth Into the Ice Age". Inverse. Archived from the original on 2021-01-16. Retrieved 2021-06-08. Two new studies published Wednesday in the Journal of Quaternary Science refute two separate lines of evidence that have been used to float the Younger Dryas impact theory.

[6] Powell, James Lawrence (2020). Deadly voyager: the ancient comet strike that changed Earth and human history. ISBN 978-0-578-66677-8. OCLC 1241981179. The reproducibility of the evidence has moved the YDIH much closer to the status of theory than hypothesis and shifted the burden of proof to its opponents.

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