Vapor canopy

The vapor canopy is a creationist idea which states that the world before the Flood was once surrounded by an atmospheric layer of water, in either liquid, solid or gas form, and that the water from the canopy contributed greatly to the floodwaters. It was originally proposed by Henry Morris in his book, The Genesis Flood, and was once popular amongst creationists, but is mostly rejected by them today. The theory is supported by creation scientist Kent Hovind.

Scriptural basis for the vapor canopy

The basis for the idea is Genesis 1:6-7:

And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

Proponents of the canopy theory hold that the "firmament" described in the passage refers to the atmosphere, because Genesis also states that God created birds to fly in the firmament. They note that the passage provides for waters both above and below the atmosphere, and infer that there was a canopy of water above the atmosphere before the flood.

Genesis 2:5-6 is taken to provide that no rain fell before the flood, but the plants of the Earth were watered from a mist from underground:

And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.

But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.

In Genesis 7:11, the flood is described as beginning when the "windows of heaven were opened," which proponents of the canopy model believe refers to the antediluvian vapor canopy:

In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.

And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.

Physics of the vapor canopy

Mainstream proponents point out that in order for the vapor canopy to explain a truly global flood, the atmosphere would have had to have a composition of about 900 parts water vapor to one part of what we call air today. To prevent this from condensing, the temperature would have to be raised to the point where the partial pressure of water equals 900 atmospheres. This is equivalent to the surface of the planet having the same environment as a 13,000 psi boiler, completely inhospitable to any form of life.