2012: The end of the world?

There has been a lot of talking lately about the theory that the world is going to end in year 2012. Is this something that we should take seriously? Is Earth in danger? Before you answer these questions let me present you some facts and theories.

So, why 2012?


Primarily this date is based on the ancient Mayan calendar. According to some calculations it ends on December 21, 2012 and marks the end of an era that lasted 5126 years. Ancient Mayans where remarkable mathematics and astronomers – we can have no doubt in that, but can we treat this calculation as a “prophecy”? The ending date of the Mayan calendar is not meant to represent the end of time, but rather the end of their calendar cycle. Just as our calendar begins again on January 1, their calendar will begin a new cycle on December 22, 2012. The main difference here is that their calendar has cycles much longer than 365 days.



The second reason of the apocalypse coming in 2012 is that some say there will be an planetary alignment that will start a chain reaction that will cause huge weather anomalies (just like those in Hollywood super productions “Day After Tomorrow” and “2012”). But… this is not true ;). First there is not going to be any major alignment of planets or any other objects in our solar system for at least the next few decades. Secondly, even if such thing would happen, there is no reason (nor proof) to believe that it would have any impact on Earth.



The next theory is based on phenomenon of Solar Magnetic Shift. Approximately every 11 years the magnetic poles of the Sun flip. It’s a time when there is the greatest appearance of Sun spots, solar flares and other solar activities. The next magnetic pole flip of the Sun is predicted to be in 2012, but may not happen until 2013 or even later. Some believe that this flip will bring the largest "solar storm" in history. If it will, this actually would be a big threat. It could cause telecommunication shutdown, electricity blackouts and other problems with electrical devices. Will the storm be large and dangerous? Maybe… but certainly will not end the world.



Like the Sun, the Earth also can flip its magnetic poles. While the Sun does it every 11 years, the Earth needs roughly 400,000 years. It’s been now longer that, but still there is no evidence that it might happen soon. Even if it would it certainly would not cause the Earth to start spinning in the opposite direction or flip the whole Earth upside down.



One of Hollywoods favorite version – the Asteroid Collision. Yes, an asteroid or comet could someday collide with Earth – in fact meteorites do it every day (however most of them burn in the atmosphere) – but it’s highly improbable we wouldn’t know about it long before. NASA is continuously cataloging and monitoring the large objects in our solar system, and there is a zero probability that they could miss a giant object on a collision trajectory.



While all these theories might be a great ideas for a movie script, the likelihood that any one would happen is null…… or not? What’s your opinion? Do you believe in prophecies? Have you heard about any other interesting calendar besides the Mayan one?