The end of the world ... again

By Keith Darnay

So, the world is supposed to end in 2012.

Again.

I'm not too worried.

After all, 28 years ago this week, on March 10, 1982, the world was supposed to end due to "The Jupiter Effect." On that day, all the planets of the solar system were roughly aligned on one side of the sun. That alignment would somehow trigger the destruction of the Earth.

I was working in TV in Fargo at the time, so I figured I'd go out and report on the massive death and societal chaos the alignment of the planets would bring to the community and the rest of civilization.

You can see the story and the outcome of the day on my YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/darnaytv. Just scroll down to the link on the right titled, "The Jupiter Effect -- Are We Dead Yet?" Or, follow this link: www.youtube.com/darnaytv#p/u/45/BxjVY--MAlw.

And, yes, I did have dark hair back then.

Seventeen years after the world ended in 1982, it was supposed to end again in July 1999 -- Nostradamus said so in his famous (or infamous) book, "The Prophecies," first published in 1555:

The year 1999, seven months,
From the sky will come a great King of Terror:
To bring back to life the great King of the Mongols, Before and after Mars to reign by good luck.

The King of Terror didn't make it to town in July. And the King of the Mongols also was absent that month.

In fact, just in 1999 alone, there were no fewer than 41 predictions for the world coming to an end.

But 2000 was a peak year for end of the world prophesies with at least 42 public predictions. After that, the numbers dropped sharply to about four or five a year.

For 2010, there are at least four predictions for the end of the world or the start of the end. All are based on counting days and years from certain starting points based on biblical references. Two specific "end dates" cited are April 2 and Sept. 9.

Indeed, an end of the world predictions list can go back at least a thousand years or so.

And all the entries on the list would have one thing in common: The world didn't end.

Which can be a bit embarrassing, especially if you're the person making the prediction.

History shows one of four things usually happen when someone predicts the end of the world and the world stubbornly fails to end:

1) People get mad and kill the person who made the prediction.

2) People are disappointed, embarrassed and go back to work.

3) The person making the prediction says the signs were misread and makes a new prediction.

4) The person making the prediction says all the energy/awareness/biofields/raised consciousness/love generated by those involved helped prevent the world from ending --this time.

Scientists sometimes make predictions about the end of the world based on current cosmological possibilities.

For example, a scientist at the University of Sussex in southern England has calculated that, as the sun ages and expands, life on Earth will be wiped out by the intense heat in 1 billion years. Then, 6.6 billion years later, the Earth itself will be vaporized as it falls into the sun.

There are at least 20 other ways the world could end through cosmic and man-made means that are more worrisome and more likely than the idea that the end of a Mayan "Long Count" calendar cycle means the end of life as we know it in 2012.

Here's my prediction: On the day after the world ends on Friday, Dec. 21, 2012, people across the country will be rushing about on the streets in apparent chaos and stress as they scramble to find and buy last minute Christmas gifts.

Not as dramatic and final as the end of the world, but more realistic.

Here are a few sites that can give you some useful insights into the end of the world prediction business:

End of the World Predictions
www.religioustolerance.org/end_wrld.htm

Sun Will Vaporize Earth
www.sussex.ac.uk/press_office/media/media672.shtml

20 Ways The World Really Could End
http://discovermagazine.com/2000/oct/featworld

12 Ways The World Could be Destroyed
www.huffingtonpost.com/james-altucher/12-ways-the-world-could-b_b_295496.html

Why Things Won't End In 2012
www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/2012.html

Nibiru And Doomsday 2012
http://astrobiology.nasa.gov/ask-an-astrobiologist/intro/nibiru-and-doomsday-2012-questions-and-answers

Bad Astronomy: Planet X
www.badastronomy.com/bad/misc/planetx/nutshell.html

(Keith Darnay has worked in the online world for more than a decade, the traditional media world for a few decades more and manages the online department and Web site for the University of Mary. His own site, featuring this column going back to 1995, is at www.darnay.com.)