Super volcanoes. Mega Tsunamis. Magnetic Pole Reversal. Solar storms and super-heating of the Sun. Massive chunks of space rock crashing into the Earth. Earthquakes in great numbers. Just a few of the possible “Extinction Level Events” that could occur to the planet we call home.
But for you or I, the worry of these outcomes actually happening in our own, or our children’s, lifetimes is not something that normally plagues us. In fact, when scientists discuss the possibility of them, thousands or hundreds of thousands of years is typically the timespan involved.
Yet a particular date keeps circulating the web in connection with these horrific happenings, and refuses to go away. December 21st 2012. Why this particular day has come to be associated with disasters on a par with the end of the Dinosaurs, is because of the many doomsday prophecies which appear to show some connection with a time just 2 years away, amongst them, the Maya and Nostradamus.
But, assuming for a moment that these prophecies could be true, what end of the world scenarios could actually happen, and which are less likely? In the list that follows, we look at the likelihood of natural disasters, and those which are most certainly super-natural.
Magnetic Pole Reversal: This has been shown to have happened at various stages in the Earth’s past, but not in the past several thousand years in the modern age of mankind. Should it occur, the effects on all kinds of technology could be disastrous. Air traffic crashing into major metropolitan areas, ocean vessels becoming lost, even the basic supply of goods to the general populace would cause a knock-on effect which might escalate into global chaos. Scientists do tend to agree that geomagnetic reversal is overdue, but they are not talking about imminent possibility.
Mega Tsunamis: There are a number of recent studies which show that these giant tidal waves capable of wiping out many large coastal cities and, therefore, millions of people, are actually very likely given the effects of global warming and the harm man has caused to the environment. Just one hypothesis, that of a large shelf of ice or rock breaking away from a landmass, showed the likelihood of such a destructive event occurring.
Great Numbers of Earthquakes: If we take a look at figures showing recorded earthquakes above magnitude 4 in the past several hundred years, we can see that there appears to be an escalation occurring which is worrying. Just in the past 10 years alone, there seems to have been more earthquakes across the planet than in the previous 100 years put together. While this figure is dismissed as merely an ability now to locate more earthquakes as they happen than ever before, because of technology, there does appear to be more damage and life loss being caused by earthquakes than previously felt.
Super Volcanoes: It is not unrealistic to believe that just one super volcano occurring in a mainland highly populated area could cause the kind of devastation and dust cloud which might affect the world negatively for many months. The Krakatoa event of 1883, released energy of the scale of 13,000 times the Hiroshima atomic bomb. Had this happened in a major continental location, the world might have been irrevocably altered. Even Krakatoa itself erupting again in a similar or increased way could be devastating for the planet.
Solar Catastrophe: The Sun’s rays are lifegivers to the planet. But unchecked, they can completely wipe out life as we know it. It is agreed in scientific circles that at some point in many thousands of years from now, the Sun will begin to degrade and at that time the Earth will be at significant risk. But if something else was to cause our Sol to increase its heat output or solar flares by several orders of magnitude, we might find that living in caves won’t even save us!
Extra-terrestrial objects crashing into the planet: Comets and asteroids colliding with our home are the stuff of science fiction books and movies, but this is another outcome which scientists agree could have ended life on Earth millions of years ago, and which is overdue to happen again. Even a near-miss, where chunks of debris dragged behind by the celestial traveller break off and strike the planet, could cause massive devastation by itself.
Global Thermonuclear War: Finally, the threat of what seemed like an Armageddon for the Cold War period appears to have left us. But has it really? With global terrorism, and escalating tensions in the Middle East and the Far East, the threat of this is as real as it has ever been, despite us all thinking that nuclear weapons have mostly been disarmed.
Sadly, whether natural or man-made, the threats associated with 2012 are all genuinely real and possible, however unlikely. As we count down to December 21st 2012, is it justifiable to dismiss the notion of doomsday as mere conjecture and New Age ramblings?