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| APOCALYPTIC EVENTS That Could End the World TOMORROW |
People have been predicting the end of the world for hundreds of years. There's just something about the end of all things that fascinates people. Now, of course most of these predictions have either been unfounded or just flat out wrong. I mean, remember Y2K and the Mayan Apocalypse?
But despite those predictions, there are theories that exist, created by the scientific community that describe the most likely scenarios that could end all life on Earth.
In this article, we gathered the most interesting and somewhat disturbing ones to share with you all.
So, here they are : 10 Apocalyptic Events That Could End the World Tomorrow.
Number one : The Big Crunch
The Big Crunch theory says the expansion of the universe first created by the original Big Bang will eventually halt, at which point it will begin to contract from the force of its own gravity, sucking everything that exists back into a singularity. That means that every galaxy, star, and planet would cease to exist, which of course includes Earth, and by extension, us.
Now, this shouldn't worry you for two reasons :
First, from what we currently know, the universe is not only still expanding, but it's expanding at an accelerating rate. So, you safe for now baby.
Secondly, if this did happen, there would be no warning, anyways. You would just suddenly be shrunk
to a very, very small size and then poof, gone.
Number two : The Heat Death of the Universe
This theory's basically the exact opposite of The Big Crunch, which says gravity will never halt the expansion of the universe, and that it will continue to widen and widen forever. So, basically, you're safe then, right?
Well, not exactly.
The laws of thermodynamics say that if the universe continues to infinitely expand, that all matter in the universe will eventually become evenly dispersed. This will cause stars to go out and ultimately leave Earth and everything else in a cold, dark nothingness. In case you missed biology class, not having warmth is really bad for anything that lives on Earth. The planet would essentially just become
a giant ice ball. That's not good.
Number three : an Asteroid Impact
Movies like Deep Impact and Armageddon may have moved the danger of an asteroid impact into the realm of fiction for most people, but the danger of one destroying life on Earth is more real than you might think.
Our galaxy contains hundreds and hundreds of massive asteroids flying throughout space, some of which have been found by NASA hurtling directly at us.
In 2005, a 390 meter-wide asteroid called Apophis was said to potentially hit the Earth by 2036, with the energy of 100,000 times that of an atomic bomb. That asteroid ended up passing Earth in the year 2013, which is good news, except it arrived over 20 years earlier than expected, showing that even the world's greatest minds may not be able to tell if and when a catastrophic asteroid may hit Earth.
Number four : a Super Volcanic Eruption
Throughout history, volcanoes have always had the power to cause massive damage and even destroy entire cities like Pompeii.A super volcano's like that, except they're millions of times stronger, with ejecta of over 1000 cubic kilometers, capable of causing the extinction of humanity. Of the six super volcanoes on Earth, the largest is in Yellowstone National Park in the United States. If it were to erupt, it would produce over two billion tons of sulfuric acid.
In addition, it could create the equivalent of a nuclear winter with the resulting dust and debris blocking out the sun for several years. Now luckily, super volcanoes rarely erupt. However, the Long Valley super volcano in California has been showing signs of waking up in the last 20 years.
Number five : a global pandemic
New and deadly viruses are appearing faster today than ever before. As the Earth's population continues to grow beyond seven billion people, the potential for new supergerms to develop and spread increases.
Within the last century alone, we've seen four major flu epidemics, as well as the emergence of SARS and HIV. And if Mother Nature doesn't create something that will kill us off, we might end up doing it ourselves, as anthrax, Ebola, and cholera have all been weaponized as biological warfare agents.
But realistically, it won't be long before even the common flu is able to kill us off, what with everyone constantly using hand sanitizers all the time. Nobody builds up their immune system anymore.
Number six : Giant Solar Flare
Solar flares, more properly known as coronal mass ejections are enormous magnetic bursts from the sun that bombard Earth with subatomic particles at a speed of about 6.4 million kilometers per hour.
Capable of reaching Earth within only minutes, a large enough solar flare could cause countrywide power outages and cut off our communication systems, meaning potentially millions of deaths. Now, the Earth's atmosphere and magnetic field are able to protect us from most solar flares. However, it just so happens that this year, the sun will reach a solar max, which will cause it to enter a destructive period of turbulence, meaning a massive solar flare may be headed our way soon.
In other words, before the solar flare, your biggest problem might be your cell phone battery dying.
But after, it'll be learning how to poop in the dark while listening to riots outside. It will kind of be like your own personal episode of Survivor. Look forward to it.
Number seven : a Black Hole
With an estimated 10 million black holes in our galaxy alone, the possibility of one gobbling up Earth
one day is very real. The reason that they're so dangerous is that unlike an asteroid, a black hole does not have to come in direct contact with Earth to bring destruction. All that one has to do is pass through our solar system, and it would distort all of the planets' orbits. This could cause extreme climate swings on Earth, or even fling our planet into deep space. There's even a potential for us to one day accidentally create our very own black hole right here on Earth through particle accelerator machines, like the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider and the Large Hadron Collider.
Number eight : Environmental Destruction
There is certainly no shortage of threats to our environment today. Global warming is causing sea levels to rise, as well as wild tropical storms. Honeybees have been disappearing by the millions, since 2006, in something called Colony Collapse Disorder, which is resulting in the slowing of propagation of food crops around the world.
At least 30,000 new species become extinct every year, faster than any other point in history, which is causing major disruptions in the worldwide ecosystem, and that's just a few of the problems that we face today.
There's even something called the clathrate gun hypothesis that says that there are massive deposits of methane gas under the ocean in permafrost that are in danger of melting. If that occurred, it would be like the Earth releasing a giant fart, which would dramatically speed up global warming, causing untold havoc.
Death by giant fart. It's how I always hoped I would die.
Number nine : Global Dimming
Simply put, global dimming occurs when air pollution creates a thick cloud barrier that blocks sunlight from reaching the Earth's surface. And the worst part about it is that it's already happening. Some scientists believe that global dimming has caused the United States to become 10% darker than it was in the 1950's. If global dimming continues, at best we're dealing with more acid rain and smog, and less food and oxygen for our growing populace. At worst, we could see Earth enter another ice age.
Number 10 : a Gamma Ray Burst
Gamma rays are a form of high-frequency electromagnetic radiation estimated to have 10 quadrillion times more energy than our sun. When two collapsed stars merge, they release a supernova of gamma rays that's so powerful that it briefly outshines the entire galaxy. If such an event occurred within a distance of 1000 light years away from Earth, the resulting rays would literally fry Earth in an instant
with an unimaginable amount of radiation.
Luckily, all gamma ray bursts observed thus far have been extremely distant. However, there are some high mass stars in our galaxy with the potential to explode.
And that's it for this article. As per usual, this was not an exhaustive list. There are many other theories out there about how the apocalypse could happen, like nuclear war, like World War III, or the artificial intelligence robot takeover. we just chose the ones that we personally thought were most interesting.
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