Are the people who believe the Earth is only several thousand years old completely unaware of the many methods we have of disproving that the Earth is so young? Forget about carbon dating and radioactive decay! How about:
1. Dendrochronology, the study of dating by studying tree rings, shows that the Earth is at least 12,000 years old. Using different species of trees in different locations on the planet, the tree rings of younger trees can be matched to older trees, going back for thousands and thousands of years.
2. The analysis of varves, the layers of sediment deposited at the base of lakes, shows the Earth to be ancient. The layers are easily distinguished between coarse summer sediment and finer winter sediment patterns that repeat and can be counted. Depending on which site you check the varve record for, the age of the Earth can be anywhere from 12,000 to several million years old.
3. Ice layers at both poles can be visually distinguished by the difference in the size of summer and winter snow crystals, the dust deposited by strong spring winds or the acidity changes in the layers (summer snow has higher acid levels). Each technique of analyzing ice layers corroborates the others. These techniques suggest a minimum age of 110,000 years for our planet.
The visual evidence for these things is out there in the world to see. How can the Earth be only 6,000 years old in the face of these facts?