British Astronomers Warn World May End This Century

By on May 12, 2011 in News 49

3170001703_118ba4869dTop U.K. astronomers give civilization only a 50 percent chance of surviving to 2100, reports Scottish STV. To voice the obvious questions: How can anyone calculate the date of the apocalypse, really? And, what does the end of the world mean for the Royal Family?

The end of the world is nigh. That’s what top astronomers will claim during a debate to end the 2011 Edinburgh International Science Festival.

Lord Martin Rees, the Astronomer Royal, believes civilisation has only a 50 per cent chance of surviving to 2100 without suffering a man-made catastrophe. And the Astronomer Royal for Scotland, Professor John Brown, has an equally bleak outlook, fearing a random event from outer space is the most likely cause of our demise.

Despite having widely differing views, these two titans of astronomy between them offer global warming, over-population, terrorism, an asteroid falling to earth and a solar blast as potential reasons to panic.

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  • Dee Bobby

    Miserable cunts. Problem with trend predicting like this is it doesn’t allow for novelty. I think its more the case that they find the idea of the earth going on long after their dead more disturbing than the end times.

    • http://hormeticminds.blogspot.com/ Chaorder Gradient

      This just in: the world is going to end soon, so don’t bother being creative or trying to help out, we’re all doomed anyway. Just continue consuming consuming consuming.

  • Dee Bobby

    Miserable cunts. Problem with trend predicting like this is it doesn’t allow for novelty. I think its more the case that they find the idea of the earth going on long after their dead more disturbing than the end times.

  • Dee Bobby

    Miserable cunts. Problem with trend predicting like this is it doesn’t allow for novelty. I think its more the case that they find the idea of the earth going on long after their dead more disturbing than the end times.

  • http://twitter.com/irisphant iris

    Well then, lets PARTY!

  • http://twitter.com/irisphant iris

    Well then, lets PARTY!

  • emperorreagan

    I think that it’s important for people to be reminded about the fragility of human life and civilization, especially in an era where our governments seem to hold little regard for being stewards of the earth or of their respective nations.

  • emperorreagan

    I think that it’s important for people to be reminded about the fragility of human life and civilization, especially in an era where our governments seem to hold little regard for being stewards of the earth or of their respective nations.

  • AbrahamLincoln

    If you believe that we aren’t going to be in some way, fucked, by 2100, then clearly you need to get your head checked.

    Everyone knows it’s coming. There are others who believe otherwise – simply because they don’t see the signs. Over-population will not cease, and remember, if the population doubles, then so does every single misfortune we produce. Every single one, will double. Intake will increase, devourment will increase.One who think that we would reach a point of further advancement and relish in our luxuries further, but I don’t see it, honestly. I’d love for us to get to other planets and preserve our race, maybe one day we’ll have a future of equality without war. Maybe the generations to come will be more fucked than any of us, partially due to the people we were raised by. You know what. I care, but I don’t care anymore, in the sense that I know that it’s going to happen, our sheer unraveling, and/or extinction, or few of us left.

    • DeepCough

      See, Doomsday is just what the doctor ordered.

    • FoolishHueMon

      Enforced population control is the answer…it will solve most of these issues. We could have the population under control within one generation. As soon as boys hit puberty, they make a sperm donation (or two or three) to be put on ice and then get their tubes tied/snipped/whatever. Want a kid later on down the road? You must apply for a parental license. Easy. Simple. What’s the big deal?

    • http://hormeticminds.blogspot.com/ Chaorder Gradient

      Can you see why all the “evil” people in the world go straight for population control?

    • quartz99

      Well, here’s the thing. I can see civilization rapidly falling apart and people being forced to fight over scarcer and scarcer resources, but that will generate a changed civilization, not a complete loss of humans, one that will be started with a lot of people starving to death and a lot of people getting killed in the fighting. That will take some of the population pressure off. It will look a lot more like the third through sixth centuries than anything else. Odds are good there will be at least a couple epidemics of diseases we thought we’d mostly eradicated as well, as the medical establishment crumbles and fewer people around the world are receiving vaccinations (both from the “vaccinations make you sick!” crowd and just from simple lack of supply of the vaccinations). Whether that civilization will retain high technology or not is probably based on who survives, and it doesn’t look great for the smart people in breeding terms (watch the early part of Idiocracy for a very graphic portrayal of why. Funny movie, in an “I have to laugh or I’m going to cry” sort of way). But, eventually, after a few centuries of loss of civilization, enough advancements will start being made again by people believing things can be better that civilization will start to rise again. The only real question is how advanced will they get before _they_ start to fall again.

      History plays this same timeline out all over the world at different rates and in varying amounts. The only thing that’s unique now is that a significant portion of the world is connected instantaneously, so where these declines were regional and people could leave to go to a different region to escape shortages and deeper stratification of society, there’s no where to run to this time. Part of me is actually kind of curious to watch this playing out around me… I bet there’s a thesis paper in there for an anthropologist or historian…

    • Navysealteam7

      I HOPE something catastrophic happens to all the of the over-bred stupid humanimals walking around out there. If people can’t help but reproduce instead of working on bettering themselves then f*ck em’.. We’ve used to many resources and life has already become a drag with so many bipedal animals shitting on everything. The earth needs blood sacrafices!!!

  • AbrahamLincoln

    If you believe that we aren’t going to be in some way, fucked, by 2100, then clearly you need to get your head checked.

    Everyone knows it’s coming. There are others who believe otherwise – simply because they don’t see the signs. Over-population will not cease, and remember, if the population doubles, then so does every single misfortune we produce. Every single one, will double. Intake will increase, devourment will increase.One who think that we would reach a point of further advancement and relish in our luxuries further, but I don’t see it, honestly. I’d love for us to get to other planets and preserve our race, maybe one day we’ll have a future of equality without war. Maybe the generations to come will be more fucked than any of us, partially due to the people we were raised by. You know what. I care, but I don’t care anymore, in the sense that I know that it’s going to happen, our sheer unraveling, and/or extinction, or few of us left.

  • Kolchak31

    Will the world end before 2100? Beats the hell out of me, I’m living moment-by-moment like everyone else. I’d say something truly unpleasant is probably going to happen, sooner rather than later, but really, what’s the point of worrying about it? Live your life, be a good person, do what you can to make your inner space and the space around you a little better. Maybe that’ll help. If not, remember the old Viking credo – When the Last Dragon comes for you, all that matters is that you stand tall and spit in his eye.

    • Padraig22

      really like your style, aint run out of spit yet!

  • Kolchak31

    Will the world end before 2100? Beats the hell out of me, I’m living moment-by-moment like everyone else. I’d say something truly unpleasant is probably going to happen, sooner rather than later, but really, what’s the point of worrying about it? Live your life, be a good person, do what you can to make your inner space and the space around you a little better. Maybe that’ll help. If not, remember the old Viking credo – When the Last Dragon comes for you, all that matters is that you stand tall and spit in his eye.

  • DeepCough

    See, Doomsday is just what the doctor ordered.

  • http://hormeticminds.blogspot.com/ Chaorder Gradient

    This just in: the world is going to end soon, so don’t bother being creative or trying to help out, we’re all doomed anyway. Just continue consuming consuming consuming.

  • FoolishHueMon

    Enforced population control is the answer…it will solve most of these issues. We could have the population under control within one generation. As soon as boys hit puberty, they make a sperm donation (or two or three) to be put on ice and then get their tubes tied/snipped/whatever. Want a kid later on down the road? You must apply for a parental license. Easy. Simple. What’s the big deal?

  • http://hormeticminds.blogspot.com/ Chaorder Gradient

    Can you see why all the “evil” people in the world go straight for population control?

  • Anonymous

    Well, here’s the thing. I can see civilization rapidly falling apart and people being forced to fight over scarcer and scarcer resources, but that will generate a changed civilization, not a complete loss of humans, one that will be started with a lot of people starving to death and a lot of people getting killed in the fighting. That will take some of the population pressure off. It will look a lot more like the third through sixth centuries than anything else. Odds are good there will be at least a couple epidemics of diseases we thought we’d mostly eradicated as well, as the medical establishment crumbles and fewer people around the world are receiving vaccinations (both from the “vaccinations make you sick!” crowd and just from simple lack of supply of the vaccinations). Whether that civilization will retain high technology or not is probably based on who survives, and it doesn’t look great for the smart people in breeding terms (watch the early part of Idiocracy for a very graphic portrayal of why. Funny movie, in an “I have to laugh or I’m going to cry” sort of way). But, eventually, after a few centuries of loss of civilization, enough advancements will start being made again by people believing things can be better that civilization will start to rise again. The only real question is how advanced will they get before _they_ start to fall again.

    History plays this same timeline out all over the world at different rates and in varying amounts. The only thing that’s unique now is that a significant portion of the world is connected instantaneously, so where these declines were regional and people could leave to go to a different region to escape shortages and deeper stratification of society, there’s no where to run to this time. Part of me is actually kind of curious to watch this playing out around me… I bet there’s a thesis paper in there for an anthropologist or historian…

  • Rudituzla

    maybe there will be a nice plague before long that will thin the herd to manageable proportions and reduce us to an earth-friendly pre-industrial lifestyle.

  • Rudituzla

    maybe there will be a nice plague before long that will thin the herd to manageable proportions and reduce us to an earth-friendly pre-industrial lifestyle.

  • Larchoye

    garbage.

    Yes all this shit is possible. When the fuck wasn’t it?

    “Terrorism” is going end the fucking world? “Over-Population” is going to end the world? Or do you mean lead to an extinction event… Because I’m pretty sure the planet will still be around for quite a while- unless the sun goes nova, or the planet falls into a black hole. “Over-Population” causing “NO population” does not compute- could someone please confirm this for me?

  • Larchoye

    garbage.

    Yes all this shit is possible. When the fuck wasn’t it?

    “Terrorism” is going end the fucking world? “Over-Population” is going to end the world? Or do you mean lead to an extinction event… Because I’m pretty sure the planet will still be around for quite a while- unless the sun goes nova, or the planet falls into a black hole. “Over-Population” causing “NO population” does not compute- could someone please confirm this for me?

  • http://twitter.com/saysomethingwit Billie Nash

    No, they will probably drop the big one at the the million man march in Palestine that’s coming up this weekend. Woops, didn’t mean to scare anyone.

  • http://twitter.com/saysomethingwit Billie Nash

    No, they will probably drop the big one this week-end at the the million man march in Palestine that’s coming up this weekend. Woops, didn’t mean to scare anyone.

  • Padraig22

    really like your style, aint run out of spit yet!

  • Tchoutoye

    What do they mean by the “World”? Human civilisation, the species Homo sapiens sapiens, the complex global ecosystem, the planet itself? Surely the planet itself will survive most (if not all) of the catastrophe scenarios outlined in the article.

    I always considered “world” to mean the planet earth, but I just looked it up and it actually comes from the Germanic
    wer meaning
    “man”. So I guess they mean mankind and its culture, the end of which would certainly be a boon to the planet’s ecosystem.

  • Tchoutoye

    What do they mean by the “World”? Human civilisation, the species Homo sapiens sapiens, the complex global ecosystem, the planet itself? Surely the planet itself will survive most (if not all) of the catastrophe scenarios outlined in the article.

    I always considered “world” to mean the planet earth, but I just looked it up and it actually comes from the Germanic
    wer meaning
    “man”. So I guess they mean mankind and its culture, the end of which would certainly be a boon to the planet’s ecosystem.

  • store

    The problem with Over-population being a problem we need to solve is that it under-population has already become a problem in certain countries like Japan and many countries in Europe. People need children to take on other burdens: the elderly, taxes, human services and so on. Over-population (although real) is more of an issue of ownership of power and resources, than a literal decrease. For example in China the government is building ghost cities with malls and condos (that no one can afford) to raise it’s GDP. Clearly the country is over populated, yet it still has literal resorces in both land and materials to create cities; the problem is most of it’s people have to live in small shanty towns on the outskirts of these cities while huge skyscraper condos sit unused.

  • store

    The problem with Over-population being a problem we need to solve is that it under-population has already become a problem in certain countries like Japan and many countries in Europe. People need children to take on other burdens: the elderly, taxes, human services and so on. Over-population (although real) is more of an issue of ownership of power and resources, than a literal decrease. For example in China the government is building ghost cities with malls and condos (that no one can afford) to raise it’s GDP. Clearly the country is over populated, yet it still has literal resorces in both land and materials to create cities; the problem is most of it’s people have to live in small shanty towns on the outskirts of these cities while huge skyscraper condos sit unused.

  • Anonymous

    We are all radioactive now, all we have to do is wait for the fallout to take its toll. Or we wait for Mother Nature’s big test the Red Meteor, Apophis. http://www.theyfly.com/The-Adventures-of-Billy-Meier.html

  • Anonymous

    We are all radioactive now, all we have to do is wait for the fallout to take its toll. Or we wait for Mother Nature’s big test the Red Meteor, Apophis. http://www.theyfly.com/The-Adventures-of-Billy-Meier.html

  • Guest

    We are all radioactive now, all we have to do is wait for the fallout to take its toll. Or we wait for Mother Nature’s big test the Red Meteor, Apophis. http://www.theyfly.com/The-Adventures-of-Billy-Meier.html

  • Jackedu317

    the entire earth will be covered in nuclear waste within months… no one is talking about it… north america will be barren in a couple years… soon nothing will grow, and what does grow will be poison… good luck to all… we’re gonna need it…

  • Jackedu317

    the entire earth will be covered in nuclear waste within months… no one is talking about it… north america will be barren in a couple years… soon nothing will grow, and what does grow will be poison… good luck to all… we’re gonna need it…

    • Hadrian999

      im dieing to know your source, or are you just looking forward to the new Fallout: New Vegas expansions?

  • Hadrian999

    im dieing to know your source, or are you just looking forward to the new Fallout: New Vegas expansions?

  • chubby

    As a native american, just a few generations ago, my ancestors lived in a way that could be sustained for all practical purposes, indefinitely. Assimilation is real, domestication is not just for animals. I have tried hard to learn skills my ancestors utilized as apart of their everyday life. One could surmise many many things from this situation, that the “stronger more advanced” peoples deserve their place, it could also mean that the worse of all the peoples of the earth were put in charge as a punishment (God fate etc, Im native here, mysticism and such is in my blood), but whatever it is, we are definitely headed somewhere we believe doesnt require responsibility to each other, doesnt need scrutiny or action on our individual behalf. Maybe Im wrong, maybe somehow we will last another thousand years, somehow change the tide with technology, but I woulndt bank on it….

  • chubby

    As a native american, just a few generations ago, my ancestors lived in a way that could be sustained for all practical purposes, indefinitely. Assimilation is real, domestication is not just for animals. I have tried hard to learn skills my ancestors utilized as apart of their everyday life. One could surmise many many things from this situation, that the “stronger more advanced” peoples deserve their place, it could also mean that the worse of all the peoples of the earth were put in charge as a punishment (God fate etc, Im native here, mysticism and such is in my blood), but whatever it is, we are definitely headed somewhere we believe doesnt require responsibility to each other, doesnt need scrutiny or action on our individual behalf. Maybe Im wrong, maybe somehow we will last another thousand years, somehow change the tide with technology, but I woulndt bank on it….

  • Navysealteam7

    I HOPE something catastrophic happens to all the of the over-bred stupid humanimals walking around out there. If people can’t help but reproduce instead of working on bettering themselves then f*ck em’.. We’ve used to many resources and life has already become a drag with so many bipedal animals shitting on everything. The earth needs blood sacrafices!!!

  • Simiantongue

    The picture int he article is from the movie “The Quiet Earth” 1985, a B movie but I really liked it nonetheless.

    If the dominoes are falling in the demise of the human race there are few things I am reasonably sure of. We don’t yet recognise which dominoes, or sequence of events, will be the demise of Humanity, it will hit us out of right field, it will be something that we didn’t see coming, and finally, before the last human fades into the darkness it will be known that one of the lesser Baldwin brothers was directly responsible.

  • Simiantongue

    The picture int he article is from the movie “The Quiet Earth” 1985, a B movie but I really liked it nonetheless.

    If the dominoes are falling in the demise of the human race there are few things I am reasonably sure of. We don’t yet recognise which dominoes, or sequence of events, will be the demise of Humanity, it will hit us out of right field, it will be something that we didn’t see coming, and finally, before the last human fades into the darkness it will be known that one of the lesser Baldwin brothers was directly responsible.

  • Anonymous

     Some of yous clowns are worse than the nutjobs in this article.  So much for poking fun at the people who think the world is going to end with you guys talking about population control.  Silly rabbit, we weren’t put on this earth to control our own population.  There’s natural selection for that.  
    “and remember, if the population doubles, then so does every single misfortune we produce.”

    Isn’t this all it takes to start exterminating fags, jews, and niggers?  Or some other minority of your liking?  You can’t consider population control without deciding who shouldn’t be a part of the population.  And to someone else who mentioned getting our tubes tied: Uh, how about you simply keep it in your pants?  Cheaper and less painful.  Freezing everybodies sperm and eggs?  I can imagine what kind of debacle that would be.  This coming from those who think we are using too many resources (paying no mind to the resources we probably shouldn’t be using in the first place).  So, pretty much, we should free up our resources to be used by something else?  (Sounds like a budget plan) Or are you suggesting surplus and putting an end to starvation?  I didn’t pick that up.

    “Everyone knows it’s coming.”

    What’s coming?  The end?  Couldn’t “the end” also be confused with the collective feeling we have that something is about to change?  Since nobody really knows what exactly is coming, can’t we just assume that it is something awesome?  The glass can be half full.

    “Maybe the generations to come will be more fucked than any of us, partially due to the people we were raised by.”

    Pull up your bootstraps and quit whining and blaming people.

    “You know what. I care, but I don’t care anymore, in the sense that I know that it’s going to happen, our sheer unraveling, and/or extinction, or few of us left.”

    I don’t believe you once cared at all, actually.  You seem to kind of get off that you have all the answers and take some kind of sick enjoyment in the fact that something horrible *may* happen and actually it kind of sounds like you hope for it, which makes you no better than those awaiting the return of the messiah just for that “I-told-you-so” moment.  Somebody should kick your ass off your high horse.  With all your nagging, can you even propose a logical solution?  Or is it just straight to wiping people out and wallowing in your misery as a human on this planet?  

    P.S. @quartz99:disqus 
     Vaccinations do make you sick, but more importantly, not all vaccines are necessary, such as a flu vaccine.  I never get a flu vaccination.  I never get the flu.  But I’m not trying to convince you otherwise.  Go ahead and get the shot, but just know, that we all have that choice to make for ourselves as well.

  • GoodDoktorBad

    My main fear about the end of the world is that I won’t live to see it…? 

  • Anonymous

    My main fear about the end of the world is that I won’t live to see it…?