10 Upcoming Events that Could End the World
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VOICE OVER: Callum Janes
The end is nigh... For this list, we'll be looking at future cataclysms that could end the world as we know it. Our dountdown includes Gliese 710 ,The Big Freeze, war and more!
Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the Top 10 Upcoming Events That Could End the World. For this list, we’ll be looking at future cataclysms that could end the world as we know it. We’re including events that are ongoing, all well as those in the near future or even billions of years away. Which of these scares you the most? Let us know in the comments below!
Found in East Antarctica, the Wilkes Basin is 870 miles long and 250 miles wide. It functions as a sort of ‘ice plug’, trapping a vast quantity of marine ice from melting. But scientists warn that it’s at risk of deglaciation due to climate change. Should the drainage basin melt, sea levels around the world would rise by 10 to 13 feet. Granted, this would take approximately 10,000 years to occur, but the results would be catastrophic. In 2022, Science Magazine classified the melting of the Wilkes Basin as an irreversible tipping point in Earth’s climate system.
While Earth has a solid inner core, the outer core is liquid, composed mostly of iron and nickel. Currents within the outer core generate the magnetic field that protects Earth from solar wind and cosmic rays. The magnetic field’s poles are at the far North and South of the planet; however, at irregular intervals, hundreds of thousands of years apart, they trade places, in what’s known as a geomagnetic reversal. It’s a slow process that takes thousands of years to complete. The last reversal occurred 780,000 years ago. We don’t know a lot about what to expect, except that the magnetic field will be chaotic, potentially increasing our exposure to radiation. Then again, maybe nothing much will happen. No one really knows.
As stars and their planets hurtle around the sun, they sometimes brush by each other - or even crash together. And in the far future, it’s going to happen to us. One star called Gliese 710 is on a direct collision course with our solar system. In about 1.29 million years, Gliese 710 will pass close to the sun, at a predicted minimum distance of 10,520 astronomical units - where each unit represents the distance between the Sun and Earth. The enormous gravitational pull of the star could potentially perturb objects in the Oort Cloud and send comets hurtling our way - for millions of years. If one of them hits Earth, it could cause widespread disaster.
Discovered back in 1999 and named after an Egyptian mythological bird, Bennu is an asteroid that is headed toward us. We don’t have to worry, as Bennu won’t reach Earth for another 150 to 300 years. But it will cause quite a scare for our great great grandchildren. The chances of the asteroid striking Earth are about 1-in-1,750, so you wouldn’t want to bet on it. But if future generations get really, really unlucky, then the consequences will be catastrophic. It isn’t as big as the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs, but it could still cause widespread devastation.
We’re currently in an interglacial period between ice ages that started about 11,700 years ago. Human activities have also warned the planet, increasing the frequencies of natural disasters and pushing many species to the brink of extinction. However, even assuming we don’t tip our home into a runaway greenhouse effect, we also need to reckon with the next ice age in our planet’s natural climate cycle. According to experts, this may be another 50,000 years off. Global warming could push this to 100,000 years. Afterwards, the world will enter another glacial period. Our species made it through the last glacial period, so there is hope, but we would have to adapt considerably to survive.
We are currently in the middle of another mass extinction event, known as the Holocene Extinction. The Holocene epoch has seen widespread extinctions of both plant and animal species. It’s thought that much of this has been due to human activities, such as hunting and habitat destruction. One frightening 2022 study published in Science Advances estimates that between 13% and 27% of terrestrial vertebrate species will be gone by the end of the current century. Marine life is also at risk, thanks to overfishing, pollution, and climate change. The disruption to ecosystems will be devastating for humans as well.
#10: The Melting of the Wilkes Basin
Found in East Antarctica, the Wilkes Basin is 870 miles long and 250 miles wide. It functions as a sort of ‘ice plug’, trapping a vast quantity of marine ice from melting. But scientists warn that it’s at risk of deglaciation due to climate change. Should the drainage basin melt, sea levels around the world would rise by 10 to 13 feet. Granted, this would take approximately 10,000 years to occur, but the results would be catastrophic. In 2022, Science Magazine classified the melting of the Wilkes Basin as an irreversible tipping point in Earth’s climate system.
#9: WR 104
When stars reach the end of their lives, they can collapse into themselves and form black holes or neutron stars. And when this happens, the star explodes and emits an incredible amount of electromagnetic radiation known as gamma rays. This explosion is called a ‘gamma ray burst’. 8,400 light years from Earth sits a triple star system called WR 104. And it’s dying. More research is needed, but it’s believed that the primary Wolf–Rayet star will go supernova in a few hundred thousand years. While it’s extremely unlikely, the resulting gamma ray burst has the potential to hit Earth. And if that happened, it would be very bad news, indeed.#8: Flipping Poles
While Earth has a solid inner core, the outer core is liquid, composed mostly of iron and nickel. Currents within the outer core generate the magnetic field that protects Earth from solar wind and cosmic rays. The magnetic field’s poles are at the far North and South of the planet; however, at irregular intervals, hundreds of thousands of years apart, they trade places, in what’s known as a geomagnetic reversal. It’s a slow process that takes thousands of years to complete. The last reversal occurred 780,000 years ago. We don’t know a lot about what to expect, except that the magnetic field will be chaotic, potentially increasing our exposure to radiation. Then again, maybe nothing much will happen. No one really knows.
#7: Gliese 710
As stars and their planets hurtle around the sun, they sometimes brush by each other - or even crash together. And in the far future, it’s going to happen to us. One star called Gliese 710 is on a direct collision course with our solar system. In about 1.29 million years, Gliese 710 will pass close to the sun, at a predicted minimum distance of 10,520 astronomical units - where each unit represents the distance between the Sun and Earth. The enormous gravitational pull of the star could potentially perturb objects in the Oort Cloud and send comets hurtling our way - for millions of years. If one of them hits Earth, it could cause widespread disaster.
#6: The Big Freeze
So far we’ve been focusing on Earth. But there are even bigger things to think about. There are a few different theories about the ultimate fate of the universe. They depend on the rate of expansion and overall density. One, the Big Crunch, will see the universe stop expanding and start contracting, until it all collapses into another singularity. The Big Rip will see the expansion of the universe eventually tearing it apart. Based on our current knowledge, the most likely scenario is the Big Freeze, in which expansion robs the world of warmth, ending in heat death. Either way, the universe will be effectively dead.#5: Bennu
Discovered back in 1999 and named after an Egyptian mythological bird, Bennu is an asteroid that is headed toward us. We don’t have to worry, as Bennu won’t reach Earth for another 150 to 300 years. But it will cause quite a scare for our great great grandchildren. The chances of the asteroid striking Earth are about 1-in-1,750, so you wouldn’t want to bet on it. But if future generations get really, really unlucky, then the consequences will be catastrophic. It isn’t as big as the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs, but it could still cause widespread devastation.
#4: An Upcoming Ice Age
We’re currently in an interglacial period between ice ages that started about 11,700 years ago. Human activities have also warned the planet, increasing the frequencies of natural disasters and pushing many species to the brink of extinction. However, even assuming we don’t tip our home into a runaway greenhouse effect, we also need to reckon with the next ice age in our planet’s natural climate cycle. According to experts, this may be another 50,000 years off. Global warming could push this to 100,000 years. Afterwards, the world will enter another glacial period. Our species made it through the last glacial period, so there is hope, but we would have to adapt considerably to survive.
#3: Russo-Ukrainian War
The Russo-Ukrainian War began in 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea, but escalated dramatically in February 2022 with a full-scale invasion. Much of the world has united behind Ukraine, but as of writing, the conflict continues, with devastating effects in Ukraine and economic fallout around the world. It’s caused widespread anxiety as many fear the use of nuclear weapons. While stating that he doesn’t intend to use nukes in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has referred to using “all means available to protect Russia”. There are also fears around Russia’s treatment of nuclear power stations in Ukraine, with sites like Zaporizhzhia and Chernobyl of particular concern.#2: The Holocene Extinction Event
We are currently in the middle of another mass extinction event, known as the Holocene Extinction. The Holocene epoch has seen widespread extinctions of both plant and animal species. It’s thought that much of this has been due to human activities, such as hunting and habitat destruction. One frightening 2022 study published in Science Advances estimates that between 13% and 27% of terrestrial vertebrate species will be gone by the end of the current century. Marine life is also at risk, thanks to overfishing, pollution, and climate change. The disruption to ecosystems will be devastating for humans as well.
#1: The Sun Will Destroy the Earth
Turns out, our planetary neighbors are out to get us. The moon has been slowly drifting further away from us, but there is a possibility that its orbit could decay instead, resulting in it crashing into Earth in about 65 billion years. Fortunately, we don’t have to worry about that! Because in about 5 billion years, the sun will have run out of hydrogen and will expand into a red giant. This process will take a further two billion years, and the star will grow over 250 times in size. This is bad news for Mercury, Venus, and Earth, as all three will likely be destroyed. So, in about 7.5 billion years, Earth and its interstellar neighbors will be no more.