2012 Doomsday Predictions

There has been a great deal of discussion, hype and confusion regarding the information out there in regards to a possible doomsday on December 21st, 2012. With the exception of one or two, most if not all of the doomsday scenarios out there have little to no scientific validity. Regardless, this topic is one that many find extremely interesting and so we will go through each of the possibilities here to give you a clearer picture so that you can make your own conclusions.

Yellowstone Super-volcano - While there seems to have been a large increase in volcanic and seismic activity around the world in recent years, the only "world ending" scenario comes from a super“It’s more plausible that you have a truly mammoth eruption,” like an eruption of the super-volcano eruption.

The most active one over the history of the earth is one that lies beneath the Yellowstone National Park area. Yellowstone has experienced colossal volcanic explosions in the past, most recently 2 million and 640,000 years ago. Given that time frame, we would not be due for another eruption for 500,000 more years. There is however always a possibility for an eruption to occur and if it did happen it would be devastating for much of North America, if not the entire world.

Asteroid or Comet Impact - In 2029, the asteroid Apophis will come within striking distance of the earth, but scientists currently rate the chances of impact at 1 in 250,000. Apophis is estimated to be 900 feet wide, which is a substantial sized asteroid, but nothing close to the 9 mile wide asteroid that helped cause the extinction of the dinosaurs.

There are currently no comets that are detected to have a flight path anywhere near Earth. While comets are harder to find than asteroids, they are still detectable. While it is possible for some to go undetected for quite some time, It is estimated that if an asteroid or comet was detected in the solar system we would have 10 or more years of advanced warning before any possible impact would occur.

Global Pandemic - In a world with H1N1, SARS and other highly contagious diseases, a global pandemic is a very real threat to the lives of many. In order for one to occur and be large enough to cause a mass extinction however, a virus would have to somehow be spread all over the world at the exact same time and be strong enough to kill its host in a week or less. Without those precise events, people would have enough time for their immune systems to counteract a virus and allow the uncontaminated to safeguard themselves from catching any life threatening viruses.

Polar Shift - A reversal in the rotation of Earth is considered impossible by most scientists. There is in fact evidence of continental drift, which has changed the makeup of the Earth over billions of years, but has no effect on claims of a possible reversal of the Earth's rotational poles.

While there is evidence of the magnetic polarity of the Earth reversing in the past and occurring roughly every 400,000 years, there is no evidence that it has ever caused any harm to life on Earth. Even if this belief is false, a magnetic reversal is very unlikely to happen in the next several thousand years anyway, so it will play no part in 2012.

Solar Flares - Solar activity has a regular cycle, with peaks approximately every 11 years. Coincidentally, we are currently in the solar maximum between 2012-2014. During the solar maximum periods, solar flares can cause some interruption of satellite communications, but scientists are growing increasingly successful with safeguarding against this by protecting electronics from solar radiation.

As far as risk to actual life on Earth, there is no evidence that even the strongest of solar flares would have any detrimental effect, and thus it should not be of any concern in 2012 or any other year.

Nuclear Annihilation - Perhaps the only real threat to a mass extinction on Earth comes from humans themselves. While there are constant threats from countries like Iran and North Korea and terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda, something extremely drastic would have to occur within the second half of 2012 for any kind of plausible threat to a life ending doomsday by December 21st.

At the end of the day, we are in control of our own destinies. December 21st, 2012 can either turn into a self-fulfilling doomsday prophecy, or it can be just another day on Earth that leads to a brighter future for us all. For all of our sake, let's hope that the latter prevails.