Doomsday scenario

[[Image:Onozomg.gif|thumb|We're doomed!]]
A '''doomsday scenario''' is a story of how we might meet our horrible end as a [[species]], or even how the [[Earth]] might be destroyed. These range from the [[myth]]ical, to the silly, to the [[Paranoia|paranoid]], to the [[Science|scientific]].

==Mythical==
*[[Armageddon]], as described in the [[Book of Revelation]] in the [[Bible]].
*[[2012 apocalypse]] 
*[[Earth changes]].
*Ragnarok, the [[Norse mythology]] ending where (spoiler) Odin dies. 

==Silly==
*The [[Extraterrestrial|alien]] overlords finally tire of anally probing us and vape the [[planet]].
*Intentional [[human]] [[extinction]]. (see: [[Voluntary Human Extinction Movement]])
*The [[Homosexual|Gays]] create an evil gay-turning robot that turns everyone GAY!
*The colors of the [[rainbow]] grow so pretty in the sky they grain into the faces of all the people going by.
*Someone will divide by zero. Luckily ''most'' calculators have safeguards against this and will display an error if you try it.
*The Vogons actually ''do'' destroy earth for a Galactic freeway.<ref>''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'', [[Douglas Adams]]</ref>
*A planet-eating {{wpl|The Doomsday Machine (Star Trek: The Original Series)|doomsday machine}} devours the Earth.
*[[Priest]]s in some lost Himalayan country complete writing down the 10,000 names of [[God]].<ref>{{wpa|The Nine Billion Names of God}}</ref>
* An [[Fun:God|Imperial fleet]] that was just about to begin an Exterminatus in an 
God
Emperorforsaken planet is warped in both space and time and does it by mistake on present Earth.

==Paranoid==
*The [[New World Order]] takes over, and finally tires of anally probing us and vapes the planet.
*A "Camp of the Saints" scenario, from the novel "Camp of the Saints" by Jean Raspail, in which civilization collapses due to hordes of [[Illegal immigration|illegal immigrants]].

==Scientific==
*Total existence failure, every [[atom]] in existence deletes itself (scientific progress goes "boink").
*Newly discovered more stable form of ice converts all liquid water into ice.<ref>{{wpa|Ice-nine}}</ref>
*Numerous "how the [[universe]] may end" scenarios speculated on in [[popular science]] and [[science woo]] circles.

===Astronomical===
*A large asteroid surprises us and impacts the Earth, totally screwing up Archer Daniels Midland's monopoly on [[GMO|genetically modified soybeans]].
*A [[black hole]] drops in on the [[Solar System]] (immensely unlikely).
*The [[Sun]] becomes a [[Star #Red giant|red giant]] (no need to hurry).
*Quantum fluctuations in [[gravity]] suck the Earth into the Sun (extremely unlikely).{{citation needed}}
*Gamma ray bursts (absurdly unlikely).<ref>[https://science.howstuffworks.com/gamma-ray-burst-life-earth.htm Could a gamma-ray burst wipe out all life on Earth?], How Stuff Works</ref>
*Collision of the Milky Way with another galaxy. Our next impact is scheduled in about 4,000,000,000 years<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Cowen | first1 = Ron | date = 2012 |title  = Andromeda on collision course with the Milky Way | url = http://www.nature.com/news/andromeda-on-collision-course-with-the-milky-way-1.10765 | work = [[Wikipedia:Nature (journal)|Nature]]}}</ref> (certain to occur, though the solar system itself will probably be unaffected).

===Biological===
*A new [[virus]]/[[bacteria]]/[[parasite]] [[evolution|evolves]] and eliminates [[human|mankind]] (not exactly doomsday because [[life]] will go on. Also has to get around the fact that there exists an inverse relationship between ease of transfer and [[death]] rates percentage.)
**[[Zombies#Zombie_Holocaust.21|Zombie Holocaust!]] (less likely).
*Mass [[insanity]]: every person in the world goes insane (halfway there).
*Someone genetically engineers a virus that kills us all, either deliberately or carelessly.<ref name=vox>[https://www.vox.com/2015/2/19/8069533/end-of-the-world These are the 12 things most likely to destroy the world], Vox</ref>
*Ecosystem collapse, [[Rain#Acid rain|acid rain]] or some other environmental disaster destroys the biosphere.
*[[Overpopulation]]: the sheer demand for resources launches a mass global [[war]].
*[[Evolution]] takes over, and humans become a new species. The human race would be "extinct", but our descendants would still be here.

===Planetary===
*[[Peak oil]].
*All life is reduced to [[grey goo]] due to [[nanotechnology]].
*[[Nuclear war|Global thermonuclear war]] (frighteningly plausible, though less likely to happen on a global scale since the end of the Cold War).
*Runaway [[global warming]] on a [[Venus]]-like scale (unlikely; it was repudiated by the same scientist who popularized it.<ref>{{cite web |title=James Hansen's New Opinion on Venus Syndrome |date=September 18, 2013 |author=Karl-Friedrich Lenz |url=http://k.lenz.name/LB/?p=9790}}</ref>)
*The [[Ozone layer]] peaces out, turning the Sun into a deadly ultraviolet lazer. (Narrowly averted, but there's a possibility that global warming will cause this anyway.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tango in the Atmosphere: Ozone and Climate Change |date=February 2004 |https://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/features/200402_tango/#:~:text=Ozone%20chemistry%20is%20very%20sensitive,the%20severity%20of%20ozone%20losses}}</ref>)
*[[Yellowstone|Yellowstone National Park]] blows its top (the entire park lies on a supervolcano that has gone off several times in the past, but is very unlikely to erupt again in the near future) [insert fart joke here]
*[[Geomagnetism|Magnetic field reversal]] (there is nothing in the [[fossil record]] to indicate that any previous reversals have caused any problems).
*[[Plate tectonics|Tectonics]]: the entire Pacific Ocean slides under [[Asia]], sucking the [[California]] coast along with it. The [[Hawaii]]an hotspot burns through and creates a massive volcano in [[Siberia]]. [[Europe]] crashes into the east coast of [[North America]]. The Himalayas fall over due to being too tall, wrecking most of [[India]]. [[Antarctica]] breaks into five sections, and each section proceeds north to destroy another continent. See also [[Expanding Earth]] [[Hypothesis]].

==See also==
*[[Existential risk]]
*[[List of predictions of the end of the world]]
*[[Moral panic]]
*[[Culture of fear]]
*[[Survivalism]]: some peoples' response when they become convinced a doomsday scenario is likely to occur
*[[Doomsday argument]]: probability says it's coming.

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Sociology]]
[[Category:End of the world]]
[[Category:Religion]]
[[Category:Environmentalism]]
[[Category:Evolution]]
[[Category:Woo]]
[[Category:Science]]

Categories: Sociology, End of the world, Religion, Environmentalism, Evolution, Woo, Science