Doomsday event

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Reentry vehicles from a MIRV-type ballistic missile return to earth.

A doomsday event is a specific occurrence which has an exceptionally destructive effect on the human race.^[1] The final outcomes of doomsday events may range from a major disruption of human civilization, to the extinction of human life, to the destruction of the planet Earth, to the annihilation of the entire universe.

A 2006 poll by SciFi.com revealed that virtually all Americans believed that some sort of doomsday scenario could realistically impact the human race, and that many feel that such a scenario is likely to be man-made.^[2]

Scenarios

Doomsday events may include:

Natural occurrences

Artist impression of what might have caused the Chicxulub crater.

These include:

• A global pandemic.^[3]

• A geological event such as massive flood basalt, volcanism, or the eruption of a supervolcano. One such event, the Toba Eruption, occurred in Indonesia about 71,500 years ago. According to the Toba catastrophe theory, the event may have reduced human populations to only a few tens of thousands of individuals. Yellowstone Caldera is another such supervolcano, having undergone 142 or more caldera-forming eruptions in the past 17 million years.^[4]

• A gamma ray burst or other devastating blast of cosmic radiation.^[5] One especially deadly hypothesized source is a hypernova, produced when a hypergiant star explodes and then collapses, sending vast amounts of radiation sweeping across hundreds or even thousands of lightyears of space. Hypernovas have never been observed; however, a hypernova may have been the cause of the Ordovician-Silurian extinction events. The nearest hypergiant is thought to be Eta Carinae, approximately 8,000 light-years distant.

• An abrupt reorientation of Earth's axis of rotation.^[6]

• A drastic increase or decrease in the Sun's energy output.

• An impact event caused by the collision of a large meteoroid, asteroid, or comet with Earth. A common theory postulates that the extinction of the dinosaurs occurred approximately 65 million years ago as a result of the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event when a large asteroid struck the earth, producing atmospheric dust which blocked solar energy and caused a significant lowering of temperatures worldwide. Evidence for this theory includes a sedimentary layer of iridium in the geological record and a large crater in the area of Chicxulub, Mexico. The Tunguska event (1908) was on a much smaller scale.

• A sudden change in the physical constants governing the universe, such as that created by a Vacuum metastability event.^[7]

• A close approach of a black hole to the solar system.^[8]

• An exceptionally devastating hypercane.

• A universal Big Rip or Big Crunch.

• Severe climate change, caused by natural earth/sun cycles.

Non-natural events

In War of the Worlds, the aliens piloting these machines were not friendlies.

These include:

• The creation of a black hole on or close to Earth.^[9]

• Depletion of oil or other important natural resources, assuming that alternatives are not explored.

• Strangelet accident.

• A nuclear, chemical, or biological war.

• A cybernetic revolt.

• A grey goo inundation.

• Alien invasion.

Supernatural events

These include:

• An act of divine retribution or the Last Judgment. Many religions include beliefs pertaining to the end of time.
• The Norsemen believed that the world would end in a tremendous battle of the gods known as Ragnarok.
• In the Christian Bible, the Book of Revelation describes Armageddon, a final battle between the forces of God and the forces of Satan (though many see the Book of Revelation as symbolic).
• In Hindu mythology, it is believed the Lord Vishnu will assume his tenth incarnation called Kalki Avatar to destroy the demon Kali and rescue the pure at heart before the world is destroyed.

See also

• Apocalyptic fiction
• Apocalyptic literature
• Doomsday
• Doomsday argument
• Doomsday Clock
• Doomsday device
• Doomsday film
• Existential risk
• Extinction event
• Heinz von Foerster
• Human extinction
• Risks to civilization, humans and planet Earth
• Societal collapse
• Survivalism

Notes

External links

• "Countdown to Doomsday with Today Show Host Matt Lauer". SciFi.com (2006).
• Armageddon Online, A collection of doomsday scenarios & Daily News
• Doomsday Guide, a directory devoted to end times theories
• Top 10 Ways to Destroy Earth