In director Roland Emmerich’s newest disaster film, the entire world comes to a cataclysmic end in the year 2012. The earth beneath our feet shifts, causing buildings to collapse and tidal waves to form, killing millions and leaving only a small percentage of the population struggling to escape on a limited number of ships built by the government for this very purpose.

It’s not like we didn’t now this was coming. We were warned and that’s not just a line from the movie. Here’s what the folks at National Geographic have to say about the truth beyond the legend.

On Sunday, November 8, 2009, at 8 pm, National Geographic Channel examines the evidence behind the Maya calendar prophecies in 2012: Countdown to Armageddon. The special follows Maloof to three continents on a detective story that spans eons — with clues embedded in the oldest rocks on the planet.

In this special, you’ll see the investigation of identical rock shifts in both Norway and Australia, take a closer looks at the ruins of Chichén Itzá, which some believe to be the physical embodiment of the Maya calendar, and examine the Dresden Codex — the most comprehensive source for Maya astronomy, which has been locked in a high-security vault.

Is there proof that the Maya knew what they were talking about when they predicted the end of the world? Watch 2012: Countdown to Armageddon on November 8 on the National Geographic Channel, then catch 2012 the movie opening in theaters on November 13.

Video “Maya Doomsday Prophecy” – The Maya calendar will end on December 21, 2012. Are we three years from the end of the world?

Video “The Maya’s Lost Civilization” – The abrupt abandonment of the Maya’s great cities has stumped scholars for centuries

For more information visit:
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com