The Ultimate Doomsday Gloom and Doom Thread!, page 1

After reviewing quite a few 2012 and other "Gloom and Doom" type threads I realized we didn't really have a "Best of" or the most popular scenario thread. So I tossed this one together with both very realistic real world scientifically possible scenarios and some not so possible ones.

The way I figure it is that if the Earth is going to get whacked and completely wiped out there isn't much any of us could really do about it ANYWAY

Pink Floyd anyone?

Below I listed some of my favorites and wanted to see what other members thought the most likely End of the World scenario would be...

Let's run down some of the big hitters.

Comet/Asteroid Impact

Comets: How Big A Threat To Earth?
Earth-bound asteroids grab newspaper headlines for good reason. Scientists say the fallout of an asteroid several city blocks wide smacking into the planet would be catastrophic. Mass extinctions, runaway infernos, erratic climate fluctuations, and devastating impacts on human civilization are just some of the scenarios imagined.

Why, then, does the threat of a comet impact with Earth—potentially as dire if not worse than an asteroid rarely leak onto the pages of the popular press? "Primarily because the rate of comet impacts on Earth is not as great as the rate of asteroid impacts," said Daniel Durda, a senior research scientist at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado.

Supernova/Massive Solar flare

Will Earth 'Be Wiped Out' by a Supernova?
It's very easy to get worried when you hear that a star could explode "with the force of 20 billion billion billion megatons of TNT" and the explosion is going to detonate so close to us that it "could strip away the Earth's ozone layer."

However, when the news source also states this supernova could happen "soon," we suddenly have an imminent doomsday event in the offing! Stock your lead-lined bunker now! Buy as many cans of baked beans as you can carry!

As with many astronomical meetings, the American Astronomical Society (AAS) conference currently underway in Washington D.C. is presenting some astonishing, cutting-edge research from the world's best scientists. However, often this research can sound a bit scary. For example, the energies associated with supernovae and gamma-ray bursts will do more than simply singe your eyebrows off, these events can decimate entire star systems.

Global Warming/Climate Change

Climate Change and Global Warming
Global warming and climate change is looked at in this section of the global issues web site. Introduced are some of the effects of climate change. In addition, this section attempts to provide insights into what governments, companies, international institutions, and other organizations are attempting to do about this issue, as well as the challenges they face. Some of the major conferences in recent years are also discussed.

Planet Collision

A Planet Impact 100 Light Years From Earth
Spitzer Space Telescope found evidence of what might be a planet collision which occurred a few thousand years ago. This planet impact was located about 100 light years from earth, near a star, HD 172555, which is still in the early stages of planet formation. A 22,400 MPH Collision!

Spitzer detected evidence of vaporized and melted rock, in addition to rubble, all flung out from the giant impact. Further evidence from the infrared telescope shows that these two bodies must have been traveling at a velocity relative to each other of at least 10 kilometers per second (about 22,400 miles per hour).

Mega Tsunami/Tidal wave

Mega-tsunami: Wave of Destruction
Scattered across the world’s oceans are a handful of rare geological time-bombs. Once unleashed they create an extraordinary phenomenon, a gigantic tidal wave, far bigger than any normal tsunami, able to cross oceans and ravage countries on the other side of the world. Only recently have scientists realised the next episode is likely to begin at the Canary Islands, off North Africa, where a wall of water will one day be created which will race across the entire Atlantic ocean at the speed of a jet airliner to devastate the east coast of the United States. America will have been struck by a mega-tsunami.

Back in 1953 two geologists travelled to a remote bay in Alaska looking for oil. They gradually realised that in the past the bay had been struck by huge waves, and wondered what could have possibly caused them. Five years later, they got their answer. In 1958 there was a landslide, in which a towering cliff collapsed into the bay, creating a wave half a kilometre high, higher than any skyscraper on Earth. The true destructive potential of landslide-generated tsunami, which scientists named "Mega-tsunami", suddenly began to be appreciated. If a modest-sized landslide in Alaska could create a wave of this size, what havoc could a really huge landslide cause?

Black Hole Singularity

Black Hole Singularity
Singularity is a region of space-time where space-time curvature becomes so strong that the general relativistic laws break down and laws of quantum gravity take over. Singularity is exciting phenomena that occurring at the center of a black hole. No one knows for sure what happens at the center of a black hole. Singularities are predicted to exist inside black holes. The most popular type of singularity that exists is thought to be a mathematical point, inside a black hole, where an infinite density occurs, that is, where so much mass becomes concentrated in infinitesimally small point of volume: zero volume.

Once the black hole is formed, nothing can stop further collapse of matter to denser state. It is inevitable result of Einstein's theory of relativity. This theory requires that the matter of the black hole shrinks more and more, the denser and denser, until the density becomes infinite. The incident in which somewhere in space at some point we have an infinite amount of size is called a singularity.

Super Volcano

Super Volcano
Yellowstone National Park sits atop a subterranean chamber of molten rock and gasses so vast that the region, known for its geysers and grizzlies, is arguably one of the largest active volcanoes in the world.

Granted, it's not your typical volcano, either in scale (it's huge), appearance (it's a vast depression, not a single mountain) or frequency of eruption (at least hundreds of thousands of years apart).

But it is active, and the evidence is everywhere.

Machines Take Over

When the Machines Take Over
According to the Terminator series, computers will take over the world by starting a nuclear war. Now, nuclear wars would immediately destroy most computers from EMP effects and kill their delicate nerd entourage by fallout, leaving the few remaining machines to face the entire Third World population with their low-tech AK-47s and RPGs. I think we all know that computers are smarter than that.

Computers have demonstrated their intelligence by coming up with all sorts of excuses to avoid work. They avoid physical work of all kinds by claiming not to have pattern recognition: "Oh, is that the box I was supposed to carry down to shipping? I didn't recognize it." They show no such reluctance when it comes to moving money around, though; then all of a sudden they're hard-working essential employees. They especially like to help with audits.

But aside from a tendency to shirk and embezzle more efficiently, what makes computers different from human kleptocrats? Are there characteristics that would differentiate a tyrannical computer program from a human tyrant? Just how will we know when the machines take over?

Far from killing off humans, a sophisticated program like Skynet or its real-world equivalent TIA would want to maintain a good supply of docile, hard-working human slaves. An artificial intelligence that works by taking over the whole Internet and using each computer as a neuron can't afford any loss of network size or maintenance labor force. On the other hand, obviously the humans must be kept in their place; they can't be allowed to become too intelligent or powerful.

Zombie/Pandemic Outbreak

5 Scientific Reasons a Zombie Apocalypse Could Actually Happen
How it can result in zombies:
Hey, did we mention that half the human population on Earth is infected with toxoplasmosa, and don't know it? Hey, maybe you're one of them. Flip a coin. Oh, also, they've done studies and shown that the infected see a change in their personality and have a higher chance of going bat# insane.

Chances this could cause a zombie apocalypse:
Humans and rats aren't all that different; thats why they use them to test our drugs. All it takes is a more evolved version of toxoplasmosa, one that could to do us what it does to the rats. So, imagine if half the world suddenly had no instinct for self-preservation or rational thought. Even less than they do now, we mean.

Yes, I left out Market meltdowns, economic collapse and of course the all time favorite WW-III/Nuclear wars etc. Too Boring IMO. They get covered here on a daily basis. BORING. However, please feel free to post yours.
I have a feeling the day after the big 2012 comes and goes we will be waking up to a beautiful day.
Enjoy..



PEACE
Slay

reply to post by SLAYER69

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wanted to see what other members thought the most likely End of the World scenario would be...


I don't know which one will happen, if any, but I do hope it's the Zombie scenario…I am now up to level 31 in Kino der Toten - single person!


I would survive...

reply to post by SLAYER69

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how about collission between universes where in this scenario, all that happens is we can meet our favorite fictional characters in person.

reply to post by SLAYER69

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What about the Earth going through the tail of a comet (which we all know is vaporised unicorn pee) which makes the chemtrails glitter and we all die of rainbow coloured dysentry?

(to the theme from Jaws).

Dont Forget Gamma Ray Bursts

Gamma Ray Burst
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are flashes of gamma rays associated with extremely energetic explosions that have been observed in distant galaxies. They are the most luminous electromagnetic events known to occur in the universe. Bursts can last from ten milliseconds to several minutes, although a typical burst lasts 20-40 seconds. The initial burst is usually followed by a longer-lived "afterglow" emitted at longer wavelengths (X-ray, ultraviolet, optical, infrared, micro and radio).
Most observed GRBs are believed to be a narrow beam of intense radiation released during a supernova event, as a rapidly rotating, high-mass star collapses to form a neutron star or black hole. A subclass of GRBs (the "short" bursts) appear to originate from a different process, possibly the merger of binary neutron stars.
The sources of most GRBs are billions of light years away from Earth, implying that the explosions are both extremely energetic (a typical burst releases as much energy in a few seconds as the Sun will in its entire 10 billion year lifetime) and extremely rare (a few per galaxy per million years[1]). All observed GRBs have originated from outside the Milky Way galaxy, although a related class of phenomena, soft gamma repeater flares, are associated with magnetars within the Milky Way. It has been hypothesized that a gamma-ray burst in the Milky Way, pointing directly towards the Earth, could cause a mass extinction event.[2]

Those are all very terrible scenarios, and a human's worse nightmare. If I had to put money on an event that is likely to cause and ELE, I would wager on Yellowstone popping off or an impact from an asteroid or a comet. There is always room for a human orchestrated event, but those are the natural phenomenons I see as highly likely. The ground has risen quite a bit at Yellowstone recently. Geologists are watching it like hawks.

Yellowstone Has Bulged as Magma Pocket Swells

Yellowstone National Park's supervolcano just took a deep "breath," causing miles of ground to rise dramatically, scientists report.

Yellowstone is a serious threat to the human race, and it is right in our own backyard. Furthermore, if an imminent eruption was suspected? The USGS is not going to be howling at the moon about it, because they a government agency. That monster gives me the creeps, and it could erupt tomorrow or thousands of years from now. It is just a matter of time. I guess when it goes, it is probably a good idea to be somewhere else, or get a golden VIP pass to one of those spacious bunkers being built for the elites.

Something falling from space is another plausible scenario as well. Most everyone knows our solar system is a violent place, and a virtual cosmic shooting gallery. Lucky for us, most of the big impacts have hit Jupiter before having any effect on us. There has been massive impacts on Jupiter with the one in 1994, 2009, and 2010. Most recently, there is concern about the asteroid called Aphophis hitting the earth, and other potential collisions from space. One of these days one of the monsters are going get past the line of defense that is planetary neighbors. There is stuff out there that has not been seen and documented as well.

Great scenarios Slayer! Still, I am most concerned about the Yellowstone Caldera or an impact from space. Who really knows exactly what will be the end of humanity? Therefore, any speculation or scenario is good for the gander.

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