Nowadays, it seems everyone’s thinking about the end of the world. With the constant fear of a nuclear war with Russia, or North Korea, or China, it’s easy to forget the more boutique forms of apocalypse. Fortunately for you, a life of nervous fretting has given me an encyclopaedic knowledge of the ways this flimsy house of cards we call life could come crumbling down.
Asteroid impact
Maligned for being a cliché, the possibility of an asteroid colliding with Earth is nonetheless a classic. Let’s not forget the the famous 1.2km Barringer Meteor Crater was caused by a meteor only 60m wide. Imagine what an even bigger space rock could do!
Rating: 8/10 Russian Nukes™. If it worked for the dinosaurs, it can work for us!
Supervolcano
Although more of an underground choice, this edgy candidate is still worth considering. Upon eruption, a supervolcano creates more than 1000km³ of cubic deposits. Should one of these bad boys go off, the world would enter into an indefinite volcanic winter, plunging us into famine.
Rating: 9/10 Bee Extinctions™. The deadliest volcanic eruption of all time was roughly tenth the size of a supervolcanic eruption!
Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria
Essential as they may be in fighting disease, the overuse of antibiotics has caused new strains of super-resistant bacteria to emerge. With the world’s first strain of super-gonorrhea appearing in England recently, it seems like a major epidemic is on the cards for humanity.
Rating: 8/10 Robot Uprisings™. Maybe your aunt from Balmain was right about traditional medicine.
Climate Change
The silver tuna of armageddon, climate change is projected to cause the deaths of 250,000 people per year between 2030 and 2050, and with the current inaction of governments, it looks like we’re only heading faster to losing our planet to completely avoidable developmental practices!
Rating: 10/10 Freak Solar Flares™. We had a nice run.