How do you think the world will end?

free2beme

I was watching this National Geographic program called "the end" the other day. It showed different events that could end mankind and possibly the planet. In each one, there is true in possibilities and they never showed an example of God destroying the world. The events they talked about that could end mankind, were things like Asteroid Strike, Killer Virus, Major world earthquakes and even science causing a black hole in a particle excelerator. I personally think that man will one day destroy themselves or be destroyed by something. History shows this planet does have major destructive events in the past, so why not the future. What do you think is the most likely?

candidlynuts

i think.. like our ancestors..the world will end for us when we take our last breath.

Odrade

Not with a bang but a whimper.

Shazard

it will be eaten by big interdimensional space octopus

Low-Key Lysmith

Everyone will die from a shark attack.

fahrvegnugen

First of all, excellent question!

I used to dismiss the potential for asteroid impact as a ridiculous Hollywood storyline. Then I took an astronomy course at the local community college and learned just how real a threat this poses. However, assuming there are no serious impacts in the near future, mankind will probably develop the technology to identify potentially dangerous objects and divert/destroy them before impact. So I doubt civilization will end this way.

No doubt there will be future disease pandemics, but mankind has repeatedly weathered these in the past and I see no reason why we wouldn't do so in the future. Same with earthquakes--I can't imagine a scenario where the number and severity of earthquakes would be enough to end life as we know it.

The black hole-particle accelerator idea is interesting but it reminds me of some of the similar predictions of potential doom when the first atomic bombs were being tested--probably more science fiction than science.

I'd say the single greatest threat is nuclear self-anhilation. Or possibly destruction or alteration of our environment at a rate faster than we can adapt to the changes.

Otherwise the Earth will continue being hospitable for life until it cools down sufficiently for its liquid outer core to solidify. Once that happens it will lose its magnetic field and eventually most of its atmosphere--ending up similar to Mars. But that still gives us billions of years to evolve physically and technologically--so who knows what might happen between now and then.

tetrapod.sapien

i have come to not really worry about it at all. what candidlynuts and odrade said, says it so well for me too.

even if it were by some asteriod, or scientists and nano gray-goo, or a nuclear war, as far as i am concerned, it would be my last day anyways.

future generations of homo sapiens will not be able to live out their existence like i did, but i will not be around, so what do i care? and i know for a fact that they don't care, because they don't exist. it seems like a weird thing to say, because we are genetically "programmed" to preserve our species and tribe. but that is DNA talking, not me. you know?

if i had to choose a route for us to die on this planet, it would be slowly, over millions of years. which will happen if all else fails. but then again, by jeeves, we're in the middle of our own death right now anyways! alright! Cancun/Spring Break 06 HERE I COME!!

Sin-cerely,

TS

Jeffro

If all else fails, either the earth's orbit will eventually decay or the earth will be engulfed by the expansion of the sun, regardless of what 'perpetual motion' fantasies that some may have.

I'm betting that it's still a while off yet.

doofdaddy

Humans are like parasites.

There's a fine balance between feeding off the host and killing it (the planet).

At this time it ain't lookin' too good

gaiagirl

In the most likely scenario, the human race will be long extinct by the time the planet is burned up by the expanding Sun, five or 10 billion years from now. Most animal species only last a couple of million years anyway, although there are some very durable exceptions i.e. cockroaches, sharks, some bivalves. However, many do not simply hit a dead end and leave no descendants, but they evolve into something else. Eventually, humans SHOULD evolve into something else, hopefully more intelligent, more compassionate, less likely to kill other members of the same species. Our descendants will hopefully spread to other habitable planets, and witness the final days of the Sun from a safe distance.

How do you think the world will end?

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