the end of the world as we KNOW IT

ok, thanks for the clarification.

I geuss that could happen, but I wonder, IF it will happen, why in 2012? why is it so special?

Or maybe it would be the end of the world as SOME people know it? I like this world, and I dont feel like dying (if thats even gonna happen )

CATFISH

[Edited on 9-3-2004 by Catfish]

Isn't this a bit OT for Space 2015?

Well with the United States engaging in economic acts of desperation like invading countries for no reason (other than for $$$), your life may change even before we reach 2012. If the U.S. economy goes down the drain, the world will go with it. As they say, the bigger they are, the harder they fall. I'm sure the economic collapse of the United States will be awful for all of us stuck on the planet, except maybe the rich (but they do rely upon us).

As for something happening in 2012, I dunno. I have a sneaking suspicion something will, but there is zero proof for it, so I have just have a suspicion. I don't think we will all die as a result of whatever happens. Now there may be riots and other things that cause massive deaths, but so long as you keep away from it, you should be okay. Hope you don't live in a very populated area.

Diverging further off-topic, the world as we know it relies upon petroleum that can be extracted cheaply. According to a great deal of modeling, which previously proved valid for the American peak of oil production in 1973, we reached the maximum that all wells on Earth CAN produce during the year 2000. Now that demand, which is accelerating, exceeds supply, "westernized" economies are collapsing.

"The world as we know it" is quite anomalous with respect to most of history. Since the first oil well was drilled in 1859, hydrocarbons fueled unprecented progress. Because extraction was economical for the last century-and-a-half, countries controlling oil reserves became wealthy and advanced. But now that our economy is entrenched in exploiting cheap oil, all sectors are hit. Unfortunately, alternative energy was never developed well and 80% of our power still is from hydrocarbons.

A search for "peak oil" yields plentiful results on the web from authenticated sources which confirm my contentions. Of course, I did such a search, though also followed oil reserve trends for twenty years. Because I am a licensed professional geologist, this topic is very familiar ground, so to speak. Indeed, the world as we know it is already vanishing.

Again, this has been covered many times, please have a look around through the archives using the Search function, you'll find a good deal of information already around.