Throughout its existence, humanity has been preparing for the fact that someday the end of the world will come and the existence of all living things will cease. It was predicted not only by ancient civilizations, including the Maya and Sumerians, but also by modern scientists. So, only in 2017, according to their forecasts, humanity successfully survived several ends of the world without any visible consequences. And now experts in this field again started talking about the fact that human civilization may soon disappear from the face of the Earth.
The closest predicted end of the world in time is based on scientific facts and evidence and has a lot to do with magnetic pole reversal. Simply put, according to this theory, the North and South Poles should soon swap places, resulting in a weakening of the Earth's magnetic pole.
Unfortunately, scientists have not been able to establish how often this process occurs, but they tentatively call 2021.
It should be noted that the last change of the poles took place about 780 thousand years ago. It is quite obvious that no one knows what consequences this process led then. For this reason, scientists fear the worst - for example, an increase in volcanic activity. In addition, magnetic inversion, combined with a powerful solar flare and ozone depletion, can lead to the collapse of electrical systems, in other words, initiate the collapse of the technological era.
However, experts say, everything is not so bad. The change of poles by itself cannot lead to the extinction of humanity. Weakening of the Earth's magnetic field will lead to a decrease in the planet's protection from gamma-ray bursts, cosmic rays, solar wind, stellar flares and similar cosmic negative influences.
According to the predictions of the famous Nostradamus, our planet will leave its orbit in 2023. However, scientists cannot provide any evidence to support this prediction.
But the following hypothesis is based on some scientific calculations. We are talking about a theory according to which the end of the world will come either in 2029 or in 2036 from a collision with Apophis. This asteroid will approach the Earth at a very close distance, after which it can abruptly change its trajectory and crash into our planet, which will result in the most unpredictable consequences.
Asteroid Apophis was recorded by the American Kitt Peak laboratory specialists back in 2004. It got its name from the ancient Egyptian god-destroyer, who appeared in the form of a large serpent that lived in the underworld and tried to destroy all living things with every sunset. And it was in 2004 that scientists predicted the fall of this asteroid on our planet.
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It must be said that even theoretically, if a celestial body, the diameter of which reaches 240 meters, collides with the Earth, then the consequences can be very dire.
NASA experts have calculated that in the event of an explosion, its power will reach 506 megatons (just for comparison - the most powerful thermonuclear bomb in the history of mankind exploded with a power of about 60 megatons). If Apophis falls to Earth, a crater with a diameter of about 6 kilometers may form. Even at a distance of more than one hundred kilometers, an earthquake will be felt, the strength of which will be at least five points according to Richter. In the event that an asteroid hits the ocean or sea, a tsunami is formed, which will destroy, depending on the terrain, all living things at a distance of up to three hundred kilometers.
In general, it must be said that scientists are seriously concerned about the appearance of Apophis. They offer a wide variety of options for neutralizing it. The most exotic is the proposal to wrap the asteroid in a film with a high reflectivity in order to reduce the heating of Apophis by the Sun and change its trajectory.
However, not everything is so bad. Back in 2013, American experts studied the trajectory of the asteroid in detail, as a result of which they came to the conclusion that there will definitely not be a collision in 2029, and in 2036 a collision is unlikely. Moreover, even if a collision does occur, there will be no lasting consequences, except for significant destruction.
And another fairly common theory of the end of the world, according to scientists, was calculated by Iisak Newton. This famous scientist, the founder of modern physics, studied the Bible, on the basis of which he was able to establish the exact date of the end of the world, indicated in the book of Daniel.
He outlined his assumptions in a letter that he addressed to a friend. This letter was exhibited at an auction in 1936, ended up in a private collection, and only in the mid-90s of the last century it became known to the general public. It got to the experts only in 2002.
According to Newton's theory, the Bible defines the end of the world in 1260 after the birth of Christ throughout Europe. The scientist believed that in this case we are talking about the period of the formation of the empire of Charlemagne in 800. Thus, by some simple calculations, the year 2060 is obtained. And modern experts did not see anything crazy in this prediction.
However, everything is not so terrible here either. In his letter, Newton said that the end of the world in 2060 may not come. Earlier this year, Armageddon is definitely not expected.
An international group of researchers also tried to establish the exact date of the end of the world. Scientists have come to the conclusion that the universe is gradually dying. They calculated that over the past several billion years, it has faded twice. Thus, only one hundred trillion years separates mankind from complete darkness …
In addition to the above, there are other forecasts. Among them there are the most fantastic and quite real ones.
So, in particular, one of the theories claims that humanity will die from the Sun. The sun in the distant future will begin to grow rapidly and increase in size, gradually turning into a red giant. First, Mercury will disappear, then Venus, and then the turn of our planet will come. Scientists suggest that humanity should seek salvation on another planet. For example, on one of the moons of Jupiter, on which water is present (albeit in the form of ice). Theoretically, we can assume that it is possible to settle there.
But the following hypothesis is fantastic in its essence. Its author is Alexei Turchin, a futurist and global risk researcher. The scientist claims that in about 2020-2040 there will be a disaster from nanotechnology, which will get out of the control of humanity. In these years, the probability of the end of the world, according to Turchin, is about 50 percent. An important role in this process is assigned to the development of artificial intelligence, bioweapons and nanotechnologies. As the researcher notes, biotechnology has enormous potential, and a person can already manipulate them in a laboratory. The danger also lies in the fact that the genetic codes of dangerous viruses that have caused the death of many people are in the public domain on the Internet.
A great danger to mankind, according to scientists, is the powerful Yellowstone volcano, the last eruption of which occurred about 600 thousand years ago, as a result of which about a thousand cubic meters of ash fell on the planet's surface. In the event that a repeated eruption occurs, a global catastrophe will occur on the Earth, which will lead to many destruction and death of living beings. Moreover, it can cause the onset of "volcanic winter".
But astrophysicist Stephen Hawking claims that if during the next millennium mankind does not leave the Earth, it is doomed to inevitable death. According to the scientist, it is necessary to continue to explore the space of space, because due to the formation of black holes, life on Earth will become impossible.
Thus, there are a lot of theories and predictions of the possible end of the world. Earth was predicted to die before, however, fortunately, none of the predictions came true. And from what all the same humanity will die out and what expects it in the future, no one knows for certain.