Noah's ark, where did all that rain come from?

Question

if there was so much rain that it flooded all the land then where did all that rain come from, i.e, there was not that much sea or water in the first place, how can clouds vaperate more water than what was allready there in the first place.

Answer 1

It's my understanding that to form the oceans in the first place, the earth's surface cooled and condensed causing it to rain for, I think the figure quoted, was 2 million years.

Answer 2

Three possibilities:

1. As a magical event, the rain was magic, or magic transported the rain from (and later, presumably, back to) an extraterrestrial place. Likewise, magic would be needed to house 1.6 billion species on a single vessel, and allow each to repopulate without running into genetic difficulties from lack of diversity (i.e. incest).
2. It did not happen at all. It was either made up or a parable.
3. The story was inspired by a real flood that was not global, but magnified and exaggerated over time.

The problem with (1) is that it takes an awful large amount of extra effort; if a god is responsible for the laws of physics, then they would likely be based upon his own example: the path of least resistance. it would have been just as easy for an omnipotent god to inflict a human-specific disease upon all humans; his 'chosen' could be either immune or sequestered away. This suggests that the story is not literal; interpretations were added.

The problem with (2) is that while a global flood of the sort described is, without magic, clearly impossible based on the evidence, there have been enough localized floods that could have inspired the story (as per #3). The flooding of the Black Sea alone could be a likely inspiration; even My. Ararat is not far away.

Answer 3

Ok...there are 30 or more answers to your question, containing all manner of proposals intermixed with some science and details.

May I submit another? There is in the internet a site where in a scientist makes another proposal which seems to follow in part some of these other submitions. There are some differences in his attempt to show with some scientific evidence to support his proposal. Go to the site and read it in more complete form then I can repeat here.

the site is Bob Gentry creation halos and the center of the universe www.halos.com that is a Google search

In it and an available film there is considerable animation to also explain where in the water came from. Even an explanation of the forming of the Grand Canyon, ancient coal and oil deposits.

In a quick answer, following the Biblical account of the "fountains of the deep arrupting" there is an expalantion of the earths outer shell being moved about do to the water which came from above in the sky and that which was stored below the earths surface. Bare in mind how we obtain fresh water now, is to a great extent from wells and pumping water from beneath the earths surface.

Of course you can disregard looking the information or discount it, but at least this is a better expalnation then what most people are even considering to any extent. It also has a great Biblical connection for those whom wish to believe.

Answer 4

If it was done by God before recorded history began, then don't you think it's a bit hard to speculate on the science?

With that said, here's the verse:
"on the same day all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened"

All underground aquifers could empty onto the surface because of a massive tectonic plate shift. That's happened in recorded history.
Massive purges of relative humidity in the form of rain happen for many reasons. In the central USA, dry lines often form in the eastern Rockies. When they sweep eastward, they cause a massive buildup of moisture over the southern plains, usually resulting in massive downpours and severe thunderstorms.

Hope this helps.

Answer 5

The same place that any other rain comes from. Clouds.

OK that was a smart-*** answer.

This is not a politcal question and I hope no one gives you a politcal answer.

You have to understand the dynamics surrounding a storm system and the only way to do that is ask a meteorologist or climatologist, or anyone who studies weather for a living or a hobby.

Your question is a good one though.

Answer 6

The history channel did a wonderfull show on this, you see to the people in that area at the time, the whole world was a small peice of land, it did rain, the river flooded, and noah on something much less than the ark people think of floated down south and hit greece i think, he had a few farm animals with him at the time. He actually thought the world had flooded, but in reality it did not.

Answer 7

Massive Climate Change caused by a meteorite hitting the other side of the earth in the Gulf of Mexico and the after effects of too much carbon and ash in the atmosphere which caused all the ice to melt around the globe.

That's when you could walk from Europe to Britain.

Answer 8

well there was no rain.......
no ark no animals.
the real story is, Iberian peninsula .. where Spain and Morocco meets was closed out, earth quake, let the water from the Atlantic flood the land.. making the Mediterranean sea... flooding hundreds of cities.. that's the famous flood..

remember the bible is a religious book, believing in the ark is like believing the earth was created in 7 days

Answer 9

The rain came from the sky. And it is true that clouds cannot evaporate more water then they contain. It is not the only source for the flood waters though....

The water for the flood also came from the "fountains of the great deep".

http://news-info.wustl.edu/news/page/normal/8222.html

Answer 10

Rain comes from where rain comes from. Every drop of water from the beginning of creation, except what has been brought into space on purpose, has always been either in the oceans, and other bodies of water, or in the clouds.