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December 21, 2012 : A threat to the world

DECEMBER 21, 2012 is an important date for all humanity. The ancient Mayans created the Long Count calendar to mark this date as the beginning of a new cycle for mankind.

But why some people are calling 2012 a ‘doomsday’ and the end of the world?

The coming era will mark a significance emergence of natural disasters like droughts, floods, tsunamis, hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, global warming, famine, human suffering, disease, disregard for human life, wars, increased terrorist attacks, increased nuclear threat and other major disasters.

On December 21, 2012, the ancient Mayans foretold the Earth’s final day while the Hopi Indians see a great purification of the mother earth. Nostradamus spoke of devastation. Asteroid and the Chinese I Chang predicted the end of the history. While the holy Bible foretold about the coming of Apocalypse, the prophecies of St Malachy predicted only one more Pope and Edgar Cayce predicted the return of Atlantis.

These were the religious beliefs while some of the scientists like Albert Einstein warned of the polar shift while the NASA confirmed that intense solar storms are coming. On that date, the mother earth will complete its 26,000 year wobble. Our sun will align with the plane of the Milky Way.

The countdown has already begun for the most expected disaster going to be experienced by us on December 21, 2012, caused to be a Black Friday.

May be we are going to experience a renewed enlightenment or a new beginning or possibly we will be the witnesses to the end of the world.

The world will end in 2012, say experts

SCIENTIFIC EXPERTS from around the world are predicting that five years from now, all life on Earth could well come to an end. Some are saying it’ll be humans that would set it off. Others believe that a natural phenomenon will be the cause. And the religious folks are saying it’ll be God himself who would press the stop button. The following are some likely arguments as to why the world would end by the year 2012.

Reason one: Mayan calendar

The first to predict 2012 as the end of the world were the Mayans, a bloodthirsty race that were good at two things -- building highly accurate astrological equipment out of stone and sacrificing virgins.

Thousands of years ago they managed to calculate the length of the lunar moon as 329.53020 days, only 34 seconds out. The Mayan calendar predicts that the earth will end on December 21, 2012. Given that they were pretty close to the mark with the lunar cycle, it’s likely they’ve got the end of the world right as well.

Reason two: Sun storms

Solar experts from around the world monitoring the sun have made a startling discovery. Our sun is in a bit of strife. The energy output of the sun is, like most things in nature, cyclic and it’s supposed to be in the middle of a period of relative stability. However, recent solar storms have been bombarding the earth with lot of radiation energy. It’s been knocking out power grids and destroying satellites. This activity is predicted to get worse and calculations suggest it’ll reach its deadly peak sometime in 2012.

Reason three: The atom smasher

Scientists in Europe have been building the world’s largest particle accelerator. Basically, its a 27 km tunnel designed to smash atoms together to find out what makes the universe tick. However, the mega-gadget has caused serious concern, with some scientists suggesting that it’s properly even a bad idea to turn it on in the first place. They’re predicting all manner of deadly results, including mini black holes. So when this machine is fired up for its first serious experiment in 2012, the world could be crushed into a super-dense blob the size of a basketball.

Reason four: The Bible says it

If having scientists warning us about the end of the world isn’t bad enough, religious folks are getting in on the act as well. Interpretations of the Christian Bible reveal that the date for Armageddon, the final battle between good an evil, has been set for 2012. The I Ching, also known as the Chinese Book of Changes, says the same thing, as do various sections of the Hindu teachings.

Reason five: Super volcano

Yellowstone National Park in United States is famous for its thermal springs and old faithful geyser. The reason for this is simple -- it’s sitting on top of the world’s biggest volcano and geological experts are beginning to get nervous sweats. The Yellowstone volcano has a pattern of erupting every 650,000 years or so, and we’re many years overdue for an explosion that will fill the atmosphere with ash, blocking the sun and plunging the earth into a frozen winter that could last up to 15,000 years. The pressure under the Yellowstone is building steadily, and geologists have set 2012 as a likely date for the big bang.

Reason six: The physicists

This one’s case of bog -- simple maths mathematics. Physicists at Berkely University have been crunching the numbers. They’ve determined that the earth is well overdue for a major catastrophic event. Even worse, they’re claiming that their calculations prove that we’re all going to die, very soon. They are also saying that their prediction comes with a certainty of 99 per cent; and 2012 just happens to be the best guess as to when it occurs.

Reason seven: Earth’s magnetic field

We all know the Earth is surrounded by a magnetic field that shields us from most of the sun’s radiation. What you might not know is that the magnetic poles we call North and South have a nasty habit of swapping places every 750,000 years or so -- and right now we’re about 30,000 years overdue. Scientists have noted that the poles are drifting apart roughly 20-30 kms each year, much faster than ever before, which points to a pole-shift being right around the corner. While the pole shift is under way, the magnetic field is disrupted and will eventually disappear, sometimes for up to 100 years. The result is enough UV outdoors to crisp your skin in seconds, killing everything it touches.

Earth

Earth is a small planet in the vastness of space. It is one of nine planets that travel through space around the sun. The sun is a star -- one of billions of stars that make up a galaxy called the Milky Way. The Milky Way and as many as 100 billion other galaxies make up the universe.

The planet Earth is only a tiny part of the universe, but it is the home of human beings and, in fact, all known life in the universe. Animals, plants, and other organisms live almost everywhere on Earth's surface. They can live on Earth because it is just the right distance from the sun. Most living things need the sun's warmth and light for life. If Earth were too close to the sun, it would be too hot for living things. If Earth were too far from the sun, it would be too cold for anything to live. Living things also must have water to live. Earth has plenty. Water covers most of Earth's surface.

The study of Earth is called geology, and scientists who study Earth are geologists. Geologists study different physical features of Earth to understand how they were formed and how they may have changed over time. Much of Earth, such as the deep interior, cannot be studied directly. Geologists must often study samples of rock and use indirect methods to learn about the planet. Today, geologists can also view and study the entire Earth from space.

This article discusses Earth (Earth as a planet) (Earth's spheres) (Earth's rocks) (Cycles on and in Earth) (Earth's interior) (Earth's crust) (Earth's changing climate) (History of Earth).