Since the dawn of time, people have speculated about when the world will end. There are always new predictions about the end of our planet.
When will the world end? A calendar
Nostradamus predicted that an asteroid would hit the Earth in 2024 and destroy it.
- However, Nostradamus' prophecies are usually very cryptic and open to interpretation. In addition, the famous doctor and fortune teller has already predicted asteroid impacts for the past few years – which has not yet occurred.
- The Messiah Foundation paints a scenario: It assumes that the Earth will collide with a comet in 2026 – which would also mean the end of the world. However, there is no concrete evidence to support this assumption. The Messiah Foundation, founded in 2002, is the successor organization to “RAGS International”, a spiritual organization that was founded in Pakistan in 1980.
- Raymond Kurzweil, an American digital prophet and head of technical development at Google, has made various predictions for the future of humanity. One of them assumes that machines will take over power by the year 2045. While this would not mean the end of the world, according to Kurzweil it could mean the end of humanity.
- The mathematician and physicist Isaac Newton was not only interested in natural sciences, he was also a very religious person. Newton evaluated numerous Bible verses and came to the conclusion that the apocalypse would take place in the year 2060.
- The American religious scholar David Cook, who studies Muslim apocalyptic movements, among other things, sees the current war in Syria as a battle leading up to the Last Judgement. He predicts the end of the world for the year 2076.
End of the world: Possible scenarios
Climate, volcanoes or wars could put an end to our world.
- Global climate change has an overall impact on our lives on Earth. However, there have always been alternating periods of ice and warm weather. We have currently been living in a warm climate for around 12,000 years. However, none of these periods mean the end of the world. Even in previous ice ages, living creatures adapted to extreme cold.
- Without the sun, there would be no life on earth. Since the sun is not a planet but a star, its end is inevitable. Before it goes out, however, the sun would swell up and if the sun expanded to such an extent, the earth would burn. It is believed that the sun has a lifespan of around 10 billion years – it is now 4 billion years old. It is considered certain that this scenario will come to pass. However, humanity still has enough time to find alternative quarters until then.
- If an asteroid were to hit the Earth, the consequences of the impact would depend on its size. Of the approximately 500,000 known asteroids, only about 30 are large enough to completely destroy the Earth in a collision. However, since smaller asteroids can also cause considerable damage, they are constantly monitored. Scientists therefore consider the end of the world due to a collision to be rather unlikely.
- Scientists believe that the eruption of a super volcano, such as the Yellowstone volcano, is more likely. An eruption would send a thick veil of sulphur gases and ash through the entire Earth's atmosphere and fine volcanic dust would settle on all living things. Side effects of an eruption would also be strong earthquakes and huge tidal waves. But even such a catastrophe would not mean the end of the world. However, it would set life on Earth back a long way in its development.
- A third world war would most likely be fought with nuclear weapons and could therefore actually mean the end of the world. According to scientists, a global nuclear war could not only destroy all life, but also the earth itself. Causes and triggers for military conflicts include resource scarcity and famine.
End of the Earth: What Science Says
The question of when the world will end also concerns science.
- Researchers at the Canadian institute BCA Research have predicted the end of the world for the year 2290 with a probability of 50 percent.
- Scientists even believe there is a 95 percent probability that the world will end by 2710.
- The researchers believe that the reason for this lies in humans and their desire for progress.