The world will come to an end; the best estimate of astronomers is that this will happen somewhere between four or five billion years from now. Eventually, the Sun will use up all its fuel, its gravitational field will weaken and then its outer layers will start to expand. The Sun will become what astronomers call a Red Giant and its size will equal the orbit of Mercury, Venus, and possibly Earth, consuming all three.
But, the time horizon is so distant that it’s not enough to cause panic in the streets that can be exploited by writers and publishers.
The Mayan Long Calendar
However, predicting doomsday arriving in a couple years does focus the attention.
One of the less alarmist visions of what might be store for the world can be found at survive2012.com. It is compiled by writer Robert Bast who says that the calendar ends on December 21, 2012. “There isn’t much information regarding what the Mayans thought would occur in 2012, but the consensus of opinion is that there will be great change. To some people this means a positive, spiritual change. Others, like myself, consider that a catastrophic event may have been predicted.”
Collapse of Life on Earth from Many Sources
Bast helpfully lists the many disaster scenarios for which there is almost no scientific evidence. Here’s a small sampling:
- Collision with a dark comet, of which there may be many swirling around the cosmos undetected;
- Coronal Mass Ejection from the Sun so large it could knock out all the developed world’s electricity grids;
- Religious Apocalypse. The Rapture that will take the saved, and only the saved, up to sit with God, who is quite clearly a Christian in this prediction;
- Alien Invasion. Crop circles and flying saucers are an absolute giveaway that this is close; obviously, they’re casing the joint; and,
- Machine Takeover. As the devices built by humans get smarter they will organize and destroy their creators. (This does seem plausible to anyone who has tried to set the timer on a DVD player/recorder.)
2012 Catastrophe Publishing Bonanza
The destruction of planet Earth is still more than three years away but booksellers’ shelves are already groaning under the weight of titles shrilly declaring “The End is Nigh.”
As of June 2009, Amazon.com listed more than 175 books dealing with the 2012 doomsday. The field is crowded and getting more so. The pressure is on to publish early and often; there's not a lot of point to producing books in 2013 that predict Armageddon in 2012.
But publishers have run into a shortage of hyperbolic words to put on their covers; apocalypse, catastrophe, calamity, disaster have all been taken and used over and over again. “Really Nasty Stuff that Might Happen” is probably not going to be a bestseller.
Debunking the Catastrophe Industry
David Morrison is the go-to guy when it comes to the 2012 end-of-the-world file. He’s a Senior Scientist with the NASA Astrobiology Institute, and he operates "Ask an Astrobiologist" at the Institute's website.
Lately, he’s been busy answering a ton of questions about the Nibiru Collision. This story got started in 1995 when one Nancy Lieder announced she had been in contact with extra-terrestrials from the Zeta Reticuli star system. These distant people kindly warned Lieder that this Nibiru thing was hurtling Earth’s way bent on mayhem.
First it was going to hit in May 2003, but this was later revised to sometime in 2010. Now, it seems, Nibiru was in the back of the mind of the Mayans when they constructed their Long Calendar. The story has swept around the Internet with the speed of a comet – dark or otherwise.
Morrison writes that he “has received nearly a thousand questions about Nibiru and 2012, with more than 200 answers posted.” He’s put his answers to the 20 questions most frequently asked on his website.
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