- This article contains a list of potential causes of the end of civilization, centered on non-religious concepts. For other meanings, see End of the World (disambiguation)
The end of the world, or the end of civilization, is a common phrase to describe human extinction scenarios and related hazards, occurring on a global scale.
Types of risks
Various risks exist for mankind and civilization, but not all risks are equal. Risks can be roughly categorized into six types based on the scope of the risk (Personal, Regional, Global) and the intensity of the risk (Endurable or Terminal). This chart provides some examples.
- Typology of risk
|
| Endurable
| Terminal
|
| Global
| Thinning of Ozone Layer
| "End of civilization"
|
| Regional
| Economic recession
| Genocide
|
| Personal
| House burns down
| Cancer/death
|
The risks in this list are associated with those in the Global-Terminal category. This type of risk is one where an adverse outcome would either annihilate intelligent life, or permanently and drastically curtail its potential. It is a risk where humankind as a whole is imperilled and/or would have major adverse consequences for the course of human civilization. 1
Future scenarios
There are many potential end-of-civilization scenarios that have been suggested could happen in the future. Some are far more possible than others; listed here are the most well known.
Space
- Meteorite Impact. Meteorite strikes Earth.
- Nemesis. According to theory, the Nemesis star periodically passes through a denser region of the Oort cloud, potentially sending millions of comets into collision with Earth, causing mass extinctions in the past.
- Gliese 710. Star moving on a collision course with the Solar System - eventually this star may destroy the Earth.[1]
- Black Hole. Wayward black hole enters solar system.
- Gamma ray bursts. Gamma ray bursts strike the Earth, causing mass extinction. Some scientists believe this happened 450 million years ago.[2]
- Extraterrestrial life. Aliens, intelligent or otherwise, invade Earth.
- Kuiper Belt. Between Pluto and Neptune lies a vast reserve of large icy objects that could break loose and strike Earth.
- Dark nebula. A giant molecular cloud chokes out Earth's atmosphere.
- The Sun. In about five billion years, our sun will expand into a red giant, completely enveloping the Earth, and thus ending all life here. The same star evolution theories state that the Sun is increasing its luminosity, at a very slow rate. Thus, some astronomers predict that in fewer than one billion years, the Earth will be too hot for life as we know it to survive. See also the Ultimate fate of the universe. This is the only event listed here that scientists believe will definitely take place.
- Solar flare. Giant solar flare fries the Earth.
Earth
Man
- Artificial Intelligence. Badly programmed super intelligence goes haywire.
- Robots. Intelligent robots take over.
- Biotechnology. Unforeseen consequence of Genetic engineering, or purpose built biotech weapons threaten species.
- Demography. Demographic trends create a baby bust.
- Ecology. Natural resources are used up, or the environment is so damaged through pollution and destruction that civilization fails.
- Finance. Markets fail worldwide, resulting in economic collapse: mass unemployment, rioting, famine, and death.
- Infertility. Human fertility continues to decline, eventually ending with no fertile humans left to continue the species.
- Insanity. Mass insanity.
- Nanotechnology. Grey goo or deliberately built nanotechnolgy malware takes over world.
- Nuclear war. Cold War horrors come to pass.
- Peak oil. Oil runs out before an economically viable replacement is devised, leading to global chaos.
- Quantum energy. In the search for new quantum particles, scientists accidently blow up the universe.
- Quantum vacuum. During an experiment in high-energy physics, scientists accidently trigger a quantum vacuum collapse.
- Strange matter. Our entire planet including everything on it became a strange matter planet in a chain reaction theoretical physicists call "Ice-9 Type Transition".
- Technological singularity. Technology advances so rapidly that present-day humans are wiped out.
- World government. Misguided world government caps progress, leading to stagnation and reversals of Civilization.
Religion
- See main article End of the world (religion).
Fictional
- See main article End of the world (fiction).
Historical scenarios
Every generation has faced its own fears of an unknown future; the historical record of prior end of civilization scenarios is plentiful. Some of these include:
- Many fictional (and non-fictional) stories from the era of the Cold War were based on the belief that a nuclear war was inevitable, and that this would result in the destruction of all life on the planet Earth (see World War III for a list)
- Nostradamus wrote a prediction that a great catastrophe would occur in July the year 1999. Many followers of his writings took this to mean that the end of the world would occur. When the chosen date came and went, translators of his works began revising them with new interpretations of what the prediction actually meant. Some people also believe according to Nostradamus, that the world will end in the year 3797. No explanation of how is given.
- The Y2k bug, which was supposed to wreak havoc on computer systems and disrupt life as we know it. See also Millennialism.
- The Mayan long count calendar ends abruptly on 21 December (or 23 December) 2012. Many people have taken this as a sign that the world will end though it is not known if the Mayans believed this.
Notes
References
External links
