Nairaland is currently gripped with 'End time things' fever.

The merest fantastic Topic is enough to drew the sentiments from a number of Nairalanders. It got to a point that the Moderators started cracking down on the perpetrators(which I highly recommended btw).

After thinking about it for sometime, I decided to create a topic that will teach some people how the world might realistically end, not because their holy book prophesied that it will happen thus, etc.


On that Note I humbly present;

[size=16pt]9 Different Ways The World Could End[/size]








[size=16pt]SOLAR STORMS[/size]



The sun follows an 11-year cycle that is currently building toward its " solar max," during which time the sun is more active. When solar storms occur, the sun can emit tides of electromagnetic radiation and coronal mass ejections, large bubbles of gas threaded with magnetic field lines.

CMEs are essentially balls of plasma, and when they reach Earth, they release energy visible as colorful auroras. They may be pretty, but they unleash static discharges that can disrupt or knock out power grids. Solar flares, eruptions of supercharged protons, can reach Earth in minutes and also have catastrophic consequences.

NASA says modern power grids are so interconnected that a large sun storm could cause failures that would cut power to 130 million people in the U.S. alone. Outages would cost trillions of dollars and take years to fix, communications would be cut off, international trade might halt, and millions of people could die. Sound like science fiction?

In 1859, a solar storm caused telegraph wires to short out in the U.S. and Europe, and in 1989, a solar storm knocked out power to all of Quebec, Canada. However, NASA predicts that the solar max that will occur in the 2012-2014 time frame will be average.

Really here to set this place on fire. But watch your back!!

[size=16pt]PANDEMIC[/size]



One of the most dangerous threats to the human population is a simple virus — that is, a deadly disease that spreads rapidly throughout the world. Within the last century we’ve had four major flu epidemics, as well as HIV and SARS, and scientists says it’s inevitable that another will occur.

The 1918 influenza outbreak killed more people than World War I, and if a deadly contagion surfaced today, it could spread even faster and infect even more people. Considering how quickly diseases spread though all forms of modern transportation — and the amount of international travel that takes place today — an outbreak similar to that of 1918, could have a more devastating impact.

And if nature doesn’t send such a deadly contagion our way, mankind just might. Biological warfare is another threat that looms over the modern world, and diseases like anthrax, Ebola and cholera have all been weaponized.

Reyginus: Really here to set this place on fire. But watch your back!!

LOL!

[size=16pt]GLOBAL WARMING[/size]



Whether you believe in man-made warming or not, there’s no denying the planet is getting hotter. In fact, 2010 tied 2005 for the warmest year on record with global temperatures 1.12 degrees Fahrenheit above the 20th century average.

And there are some who say that we’re running out of time to stop irreversible climate change — in fact, by some calculations we’re less than a decade away. According to climate scientists, once a critical greenhouse gas concentration threshold is passed, global warming will continue even if we stop releasing gases into the atmosphere.

If this occurs, the Earth’s climate will become more volatile, resulting in catastrophic weather patterns. Plus, as temperatures rise, food will become scarce, air quality will worsen and diseases will spread.

The World Health Organization estimates that 150,000 people are already killed by climate change-related issues each year, and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said that global warming poses as much of a threat to the world as war.

[size=16pt]GAMMA RAY BURST[/size]



When a supernova explodes, it unleashes a massive gamma ray, or high-frequency electromagnetic radiation. Most of these huge bursts of energy take place too far away to harm Earth, but if one occurred within 30 lightyears from the sun — which is pretty close on the cosmic scale — it would be disastrous.

The gamma ray would blow apart a portion of the planet’s atmosphere, produce worldwide fires and kill most of Earth’s species in just a matter of months.

However, the odds of a gamma ray burst destroying the planet are extremely low because not only would the supernova need to be close to Earth, the explosion would also have to be pointed in Earth’s direction.

Fortunately, there are few high-mass stars with the potential to explode.

[size=16pt]COMPUTER TAKE OVER[/size]



It may sound a lot like the plot of “The Terminator,” but computer technology is advancing daily and some believe that self-aware machines could become self-replicating and take over. After all, there are few areas of life where computers don’t intrude — they run banks, hospitals, stock markets and airports.


Previously, computers were only as good as the humans using them, but 'artificial intelligence' has the potential to create independently acting machines capable of outsmarting or destroying their creators.

Renowned scientist Stephen Hawking thinks computers could be a threat and argues that humans should be genetically engineered in order to compete with the phenomenal growth of artificial intelligence.

The idea of a computer takeover may sound absurd, but you never know, we could be in the Matrix right now.

[size=16pt]ELECTROMAGNETIC PULSE[/size]



Just as solar flares or coronal mass ejections could wipe out power grids, so could a sudden burst of electromagnetic radiation. The science is the same, but security experts say the cause is more likely to come from a more sinister source, such as the detonation of a nuclear
weapon.

An EMP blast — whether from a weapon or solar activity — could destroy our entire electronic, transportation and communications infrastructure in less than a second. If such a blast occurred over the United States, 90 percent of all Americans could be dead within a year, according to the Congressional EMP Commission.

The proximity of an EMP attack to the planet’s surface would affect the severity of its effects. This map illustrates how the United States would be affected by an EMP attack based on burst altitude.

[size=16pt]NUCLEAR WAR[/size]



The Cold War is over, but the threat of nuclear war still exists today, with a number of countries possessing the capability of deploying such destructive devices.

In addition to threats from the explosion and radiation, there are also indirect effects such as contaminated food and water supplies, poor air quality, destruction of power grids affecting communication and transportation, and
nuclear winter.

It’s been theorized that detonating nuclear weapons will cause large amounts of smoke, soot and debris to enter Earth’s stratosphere, reducing sunlight for months or even years. Such a nuclear winter would result in severe cold temperatures and interference in food production.

In 2007, scientists Brian Toon and Alan Robock concluded that if India and Pakistan were to launch 50 nuclear weapons at each other, the entire planet could experience 10 years of smoke clouds and a three-year temperature drop.

[size=16pt]ASTEROID[/size]



Movies like “Deep Impact” and “Armageddon” may be works of fiction, but the threat of an asteroid hitting the planet is quite real. After all, the Earth and moon have craters that prove they have a long history of being hit by large objects from space. There is an especially big crater on Mars that may have been the result of a big asteroid hitting the planet in the past, and thus wiping an entire ancient civilization from it, who knows?

In 2028, the asteroid 1997XF11 will come close to hitting Earth, but scientists say that won't actually happen. However, if it were to hit the planet, the mile-wide rock would race toward the surface at roughly 30,000 mph and probably wipe out most life on the planet.

The species that did survive would be in for a rough life after such a catastrophic event. Dust from the impact and ash from the forest fires would remain in the Earth’s atmosphere for years, blocking sunlight and destroying plant life, which would cause food shortages worldwide.

However, NASA's Spaceguard Survey searched for large near-Earth asteroids and has determined that there are no threatening asteroids as large as the one that killed the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.

So relax.

[size=16pt]ZOMBIES[/size]



From annual zombie walks to popular TV
shows like “ The Walking Dead,” zombies have never been trendier. But could they be real?

While dead humans can’t come back to life, certain viruses can induce aggressive, zombie-like behavior. For example, rabies, a virus that infects the central nervous system, can cause people to become extremely violent. Combine rabies with a flu-like virus that enables it to spread through the air, and you could have a “zombie” apocalypse on your hands.

Scientists say a hybrid rabies-influenza virus is theoretically possible, but it would be difficult to engineer.

The existence of certain “mind-controlling” parasites is another common argument for the possibility of a zombie-like outbreak. For example, a parasite called Toxoplasma gondii is known to alter the brain activity of infected rats. This single-celled parasite lives in the guts of cats, shedding eggs that can be picked up by rats and other small mammals that cats eat. When a rat picks up such an egg, the parasite forms cysts in its brain that make the rat more likely to be eaten by a cat.

How?

Scientists discovered that infected rats no longer became anxious when they smelled a cat’s scent. In fact, the rats would explore the odor and return to the cat-scented spot repeatedly because its brain activity had changed.

Infected humans have exhibited behavioral changes like slower reaction times and reckless behavior, and the parasite has also been linked to schizophrenia.

Many scientists are still worried about the classic end-of-the-world threat: Global nuclear war. Beyond North Korean leader Kim Jong saber rattling and Iran's secretive nuclear efforts, massive stockpiles of nuclear weapons around the globe could wreak destruction if they were to get into the wrong hands.

[size=16] PAST PREDICTIONS[/size]




34 BCE
Various Romans

Many Romans feared that the city would be destroyed in the 120th year of its founding. There was a myth that 12 eagles had revealed to Romulus a mystical number representing the lifetime of Rome, and some early Romans hypothesized that each eagle represented 10 years.




1284
Pope Innocent III

Pope Innocent III (d. 1216) predicted that the world would end 666 years after the rise of Islam.




1346–1351
Various Europeans

The black plague spreading across Europe was interpreted by many as the sign of the end of times.




1370
Jean de Roquetaillade

The Antichrist was to come in 1366
and the Millennium would begin in
1368 or 1370.




1901
Catholic Apostolic Church

This church, founded in 1831, claimed that Jesus would return by the time the last of its 12 founding members died. The last member died in 1901.




1941
Jehovah's Witnesses

A prediction of the end from the Jehovah's Witnesses, a group which branched from the Bible Student movement.




1977
William M. Branham
This Christian minister predicted the Rapture would occur no later than 1977.




2000 Jan 1
Various
Predictions of a Y2K computer bug were to crash many computers and would malfunction causing major catastrophes worldwide and that society would cease to function.




2012
Various
The so-called Mayan apocalypse at the start of the 13th b'ak'tun. The Earth would be destroyed by an asteroid, Nibiru, or some other interplanetary object; an alien invasion; or a supernova. Mayanist scholars stated that no extant classic Maya accounts forecast impending doom, and that the idea that the Long Count calendar ends in 2012 misrepresented Maya history and culture.


( Source)

all these this things are just boo hoos with very low probability
the major threats to humanity are global warming and religion

9jadelta: all these this things are just boo hoos with very low probability
the major threats to humanity are global warming andreligion

At least, you agreed with one.

@op thank you very much for ur effort. The problem is that their are too much underage children on nairaland coupled with the moderators most adult and sensible people have decided to stay back and watch.
The word end time things has been so much abuse by these children of collective anger like the word garri.

9jadelta: all these this things are just boo hoos with very low probability
the major threats to humanity are global warming and religion

what about those nuclear war head.

Omexonomy: @op thank you very much for ur effort.

You are welcome.

Omexonomy: The problem is that their are too much underage children on nairaland coupled with the moderators most adult and sensible people have decided to stay back and watch.
The word end time things has been so much abuse by these children of collective anger like the word garri.

It's very unfortunate indeed.
The mods have started cracking down on those mischievous prankters though. An unnecessary end times comment earns a hidden post, or in some cases a ban.

Omexonomy: what about those nuclear war head.

Definitely one of the more serious threats to mankind.

Good job Mods.

present prediction
2013 end time tins from nairalanders

Tread carefully, lad...

Ray McBlue:

You are welcome.



It's very unfortunate indeed.
The mods have started cracking down on those mischievous prankters though. An unnecessary end times comment earns a hidden post, or in some cases a ban.

That is a good example of problems that stem from generational gap and why old and young people don't seem to be able to work well togethr because they don't understand each other.

The older folks are wondering why on earth someone should be going around repeating "end time tinz" over and over again. He gets annoyed and admonishes the young one who on his side wonders whatever is wrong with old people that can't understand his world and his own idea of fun.

Alfa Seltzer:

That is a good example of problems that stem from generational gap and why old and young people don't seem to be able to work well togethr because they don't understand each other.

Maybe, generational gap is not really the bone of contention, rather a plain desire to be mischievous.

Alfa Seltzer: The older folks are wondering why on earth someone should be going around repeating "end time tinz" over and over again. He gets annoyed and admonishes the young one who on his side wonders whatever is wrong with old people that can't understand his world and his own idea of fun.

Some of those pranksters are 'older folks' that are trying to cope with boredom. Illiteracy and ignorance also play a big part in it.

You made sense though.

Omexonomy: what about those nuclear war head.

religious people will use those weapons to end the world. they will use technology, nuclear weapons, chemical weapons etc to prove to their superiority

the last disciple died in 1901?hmmm, seems like yesterday.

mystikal: the last disciple died in 1901?hmmm, seems like yesterday.

Elaborate?

9jadelta: religious people will use those weapons to end the world. they will use technology, nuclear weapons, chemical weapons etc to prove to their superiority

Hmnn...

At the end of the day, Religion is not the factor, rather, WMD(weapon of mass destruction) is the real factor.

Beyond Iran's secretive nuclear efforts, massive stockpiles of nuclear weapons around the globe could wreak destruction if they were to get into the wrong hands

[size=16pt]FUTURE PREDICTIONS[/size]






2020
Jeane Dixon

This psychic claimed that Armageddon would take place in 2020and Jesus would return to defeat the unholy Trinity of the Antichrist, Satan and the False prophet between 2020 and 2037. Dixon previously predicted the world would end on February 4, 1962.




2045
Ray Kurzweil

Kurzweil predicts a Technological Singularity caused by the compounding effects of exponential technological progress. Kurzweil writes "There will be no distinction, post-Singularity, between human and machine...".




2280
Rashad Khalifa

According to Rashad Khalifa's research on the Quran Code, the world will end in this year.




500,000,000
James Kasting

The level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will drop, making Earth uninhabitable.


( Source)

So scientists are trying to engineer a rabies - flu combo.abeg what more can I say if not en tym tin.

musa ajebor: So scientists are trying to engineer a rabies - flu combo.abeg what more can I say if not en tym tin.

It's one of the possible scenarios that might precipitate the end of human existence on earth, not an actuality but a theory.

Just stop with this 'end time' songs already!