The end of the world is still coming soon, thanks to technology, the Rapture, floods, prophecies and predictions. Here are the 13 reasons why the world is still doomed:
1. Plague of Locusts
Madagascar has been infected by a huge swarm of locusts: a sign of the apocalypse straight out of the Old Testament. A February 2012 cyclone flooded southwest Madagascar, creating prime breeding conditions for the country's locusts. Now, half of Madagascar is infested with locust swarms and, considering that each swarm can devour 100,000 metric tons of green vegetation a day, the threat of environmental catastrophe and even famine on the island country is dire. Even more so, what will happen if this plague spreads to the mainland?
On the day Pope Benedict XVI resigned, a bolt of lightning struck the dome of St. Peter's Cathedral. This led some doomsayers to invoke the prophecy of Saint Malachy, the 12th century Archbishop of Armagh, who held a vision of 112 popes of the Catholic church, and that when "these things are finished, the city of seven hills will be destroyed and the dreadful judge will judge his people." Perhaps when Francis I is finished, so is the world?
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3. Dead Animals in China
If you were disappointed when December 22, 2012 rolled around and the world continued to spin, don't despair. In early 2013, nearly 13,000 dead pigs were found floating in China's Shanghai River. Then, more than a thousand dead ducks appeared in the Nanhe River. While infectious diseases have been ruled out in the latter case, two of the deaths have been attributed to a new strain of avian flu. Perhaps all these dead animals are a sign of something terrifying in the works.
4. Pond Circles
This phenomenon might be blamed on aliens if it didn't take place in Eden (Eden, New York, that is). During the late spring cold freeze, a pond in this upstate town developed perfect circular holes in a frozen pond. Science states that slower-moving water is more resistant to freezing than completely still water and that the holes may be result of underwater spring currents. But this combined with the crazy shift in weather patterns and a town that is named for the spring from which all life (Biblically) that once flowed makes us wonder.
The end of the world might not come with a bang but with a sizzle. A recent study said that the Earth is the warmest it's been since the end of the Ice Age. If carbon dioxide levels continue to increase at current rates, in eighty years, the Earth will be at temperatures not seen since humans first developed agriculture. That might end up being the last bit of agriculture our species ever sees, as, even now, current weather conditions have meant a huge drought in the middle of the U.S. that started in the spring of 2012 and is predicted to continue throughout 2014.
6. Sunspot Solar Flare
In the case of a perfect (sun) storm, a "once in a generation" space storm is supposed to take place sometime in 2013, the peak of the sun's 11 year-solar activity cycle. The current generation of satellite navigation technology has never experienced these conditions. Radio systems have been known to suffer signal delay while the effect on GPS navigation, cell phone activity, and other wireless systems is uncertain. It could be that one solar flare could knock us all back into the Dark Ages or the 90s.
Forget the teenage pregnancy problem — what about the prepubescents who are getting pregnant? A report in February of this year of a nine-year-old in Mexico giving birth to a six-pound boy is just one of the many shocking examples of babies having babies. In 2012, it was a ten-year-old in Colombia and in 2010, a nine-year-old in China gave birth. Could we be looking at a rash of immaculate conceptions?
8. Hal Lindsey
Even if the signs aren't visible on the nightly news, we have seer Hal Lindsey to tell us that the end of the world is upon us. Known for his doomsday predictions in the 70s, Lindsey's greatest "hit" came when he published a notorious prophecy in The 1980s: Countdown to Armageddon, stating that 1981 would bring about a pre-tribunal rapture. This was due to Israel's then upcoming 40th anniversary as a reestablished nation. According to Lindsey, Jesus committed to return within a "generation," which would include, of course, 2013.
9. Dr. F. Kenton Beshore
Building on the predictions of Hal Lindsey, Dr. F. Kenton Beshore, president of the World Bible Society, has claimed that the 'Rapture' is likely to happen between 2012 and 2021, and that the subsequent second coming of Jesus Christ is on track to happen between '18 and '28.
10. The Arrival of the Jewish Messiah
Considered second only to the Torah in Rabbinic Judaism, the Talmud stated that the Jewish Messiah is to appear 6,000 years from the start of Creation. According to the Hebrew Calendar, "creation" started only 3,760 years before the start of the Christian era. While we celebrate 2013, the Hebrew year is 5773. To translate these doomsday dates to the Gregorian calendar, the arrival of the messiah is scheduled for 2240 CE. A thousand years after the Messiah's arrival, the world is scheduled to end in 3240 CE.
11. End Times Magazine Is Still Publishing
End Times Magazine has seen signs that the End of Days is nigh: from the conflict in Israel to additional religious signs that might indicate the End of Days, you can subscribe to End Times Magazine or listen to Baxter's syndicated radio program or attend one of his weekly "prophecy conferences," which will probably be available for you until Baxter gets it right and the end of the world finally does come.
12. Technology Will Take Over the World
Some people are willing to simply predict the end of the world, while others take a more active role in creating their version of it. Enter Google Director of Engineering, Ray Kurzweil, whose 2005 book The Singularity Is Near predicts that the technological singularity, where super intelligence is be created through artificial means, will occur in 2045. And, as a prominent figure in a top tech company, Kurzweil may have the power to turn his prediction from fiction into self-full filling-fact. Not that he would...
According to Temple at the Center of Time by David Flynn, Sir Isaac Newton determined that the world would end in 2060. After mistakenly predicting the end of the world would occur in 1660 (due to rash of fires, floods, and plagues that year), Newtown recalculated based on the coronation of Charlemagne by Pope Leo III and a line in Revelation stating that the antichrist would arrive 1,260 years afterward. Correcting Newton's math, Flynn states that the year is 2013.