“IF THE WORLD COMES TO AN END, I WANT TO BE IN CINCINNATI. EVERYTHING COMES THERE TEN YEARS LATER.” (Mark Twain)

Three weeks and counting, we are drawing nearer to the date predicted by some as the “world’s end.” This cataclysmic-event phenomenon grows with each passing day.

The world will absolutely come to an end, someday . . . but it won’t be on December 21, 2012. Human life on Earth will end eventually too. While it’s true there are threats all around us, none are expected, by scientists, to happen next year. Following are some of the theories proposed by world-enders.

THE MAYANS

Most pundits of devastation point first to Mayan Prophecies in their calendar, which ends on 12-21-12, as some sort of proof. In spite what you may have heard, the ancient Mayans did not generally engage in prophecy and their calendar does not end in 2012.

For the short term, they used a “Calendar Round” which lasted 52 years (just slightly longer than the average human life span at the time.) and was repeated over and over again. For longer periods, they used a “Long Count” calendar that lasts 5,126 years. The current Long Count does terminate in 2012. It began in 3114 B.C. which the Mayans considered the beginning of the current world age. While this date may have been identified as the beginning of the Mayan culture, it certainly is not the beginning of the world. They had another calculation (called a Distance Number) that is ignored by new age theorists. It is added to the Long Count calendar. This actually extends their calendar several thousand years beyond today. 

Most scholars of Mayan culture agree that the end of the current Long Count did NOT signify the end of the world for the Mayans. They believed that there were older ages before the current one and there would be more ages after it. Most historians contend that books professing that the Mayans predicted the end of the world are fabricated on very little evidence.

NOSTRADAMUS

There is no evidence in academic writings that any of Nostradamus’ quatrains predicted a specific event in any way other than in vague general terms. In spite of the claims in books and films, there are no Nostradamus quatrains that the world will end in December 2012.

MAGNETIC POLAR SHIFT

Some end-of-world theorists argue that a massive solar flare in 2012 will cause the magnetic poles of the Earth to reverse, producing a collapse of our magnetic shield for a period of time. The Earth will then be exposed to massive cosmic radiation that will cause the extinction of all life. The magnetic poles have reversed many times in Earth’s history; the last time was 780,000 years ago. There is no fossil evidence that a magnetic flip has ever led to large scale extinction. Scientists believe that if a magnetic shift were to happen sooner rather than later, it would take place between 3000 and 4000 A.D.; and that it would be disruptive but not catastrophic.

ROTATIONAL POLAR TILTING

Some fear that a magnetic field shift will lead to a shift of the poles themselves which will tilt the Earth’s axis. The result would be that the Earth’s crust will stop spinning west to east but possibly north to south. These events taking place in weeks would cause massive earthquakes and tsunamis across the planet. This kind of polar tilt did happen about 800 million years ago but the 50 degree tilt took 20 million years to complete. This is an eternity in terms of human existence and would probably not even be noticed by us, if we existed at all.

PLANETARY COLLISION

There is a theory circulating that a massive planet (five times the size of Earth) is on a collision course with us and will pass close or hit the Earth in 2012. Some people call it Nibiru or Planet X. If it existed, Nibiru has never been detected. In fact it was allegedly implanted telepathically in the head of a Nancy Lieder by extraterrestrials. And she predicted it would destroy earth in 2003. It didn’t happen. No legitimate scientist argues for the existence of Nibiru. If a planet that large existed, we would already be able to see it. This is total nonsense. But for fun, check out the 2011 film “Melancholia” which depicts the event.

GALACTIC REALIGNMENT

Some new age authors have linked 2012 with the alignment of the Earth and Sun with our galaxy’s equator. This does in fact happen every 2,000 years, without incident. Years ago this was called the “Age of Aquarius,” a time of peace and enlightenment. This alignment does not occur on a specific day (or year) but over a period of 36 years. Also, this arrangement last occurred in 1998. Sorry hippies, you missed it.

Whatever happens on December 21, 2012, if anything, does not appear to present any global danger. If we are wrong, we will publish a complete apology on December 22^nd .