Originally posted by shaunybaby
basically until people stop believing every word a predictionist might claim, then we'll never get out of this fad. this is not the first time people have predicted the end of the world. remember new years eve 1999? all hell was supposed to break loose, jesus was supposed to be paying a visit with other numerous wierd things happening...what happened in the end... nothing.
Before that it was 1666
You guys want a prediction? Here's mine, based on known scientific facts -- the end result may not be true, but it's as good an extrapolation if trends continue..
CO2 will hit the critical 480-500 ppm mark by 2012. This will raise temperatures worldwide significantly, causing the peat trapped in permafrost of the tundra regions to thaw out and release more CO2 and CH4 (methane). In a sort of feedback loop, this will heat the planet even more from the greenhouse effect and cause gas hydrates at the bottom of oceans and seabeds to release even more CO2 and CH4. That will cause the icecaps to melt and reduce the albedo (reflectivity) of the regions under it causing more solar heat to be absorbed.
Combined with the other computer prediction model posted somewhere on these boards that solar flare activity will peak around 2012, I'd say that if WW3 doesn't start and we send ourselves into a nuclear winter, we'll all be cooked by 2012. Or at least us humans living near the equator will be cooked.
If us Equatorians don't die, one unfortunate side effect from the increased heat in the equatorial regions is that we will get pissed off easily. Read up on the heat-aggression hypothesis and you'll understand what I mean. So we'll be more easily provoked and that's bad for productivity because we will all be fighting and injuring each other. Or the heat might make us lazier and want to sleep. Either way it's not good.
Of course I could be terribly wrong.
