You Asked:

Is the world going to end in 2012? If not 2012, is it ever going to end? — Blanche, Topeka, KS

Marshall Brain Answered:

There seems to be a lot of hype around 2012 but this kind of hype is pretty common. You may recall that the world was also going to end in 2000, but somehow we survived. These are myths, just like the predictions of Nostradamus.

If you ask scientists about the end of the world, what do they say?

1) We know that at some point a billion years or so in the future, the sun will expand and swallow earth unless we move our planet out of the way. But that is not something we really need to worry about. See this video for details:

2) We know that if a big enough asteroid or comet were to strike, it would end the world as we know it. If the asteroid is large enough, it could potentially erase all life:

It looks like Britain may have a plan for preventing an asteroid catastrophe: British plan to tackle asteroids

3) And then there is the year 2030 (or so). According to this article…

Population Growth Expected to Cause a Food, Water and Energy Crisis by 2030

By 2030, world population is expected to hit 8.3 billion, causing a 50 percent increase in the global demand for food and energy and a 30 percent increase in the demand for fresh drinking water—a resource that is already in short supply for about a third of the world’s people. Climate change will complicate things even further, and in unpredictable ways, Prof. John Beddington told a London conference on sustainable development.

See also:
- 2030: A Perfect Storm of food, water and energy shortages?
-Food and energy shortages will create ‘perfect storm’, says Prof John Beddington

Even if the world is OK in 2030, it could be bad news for Bangkok and (potentially) other coastal cities:

Thailand’s top disaster expert once foretold the 2004 tsunami. Now, he says the nation’s capital will be submerged by 2030

The city floods a little almost every morning at high tide, said Sarawut Kankamneard, a glassmaker who lives nearby. “When tide is high, water pressure builds up,” he said. “It floods the sewers and runs into the city.”

To hear Smith tell it, this is doomsday in its infancy. In 2100, by his projections, Bangkok will be Atlantis. He is calling for a massive dike spanning the Gulf of Thailand, a roughly $2.8 billion USD project by his estimation. But to save Bangkok, he insists, construction must begin almost immediately.

More on the 2012 myth: Will the world really end in 2012?

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