2016 has been a mess. The world is coming to an end and we should all start embracing it. After a bottle of wine or two, some friends and I suddenly became experts and came up with some possible ways its going to happen. And I can assure you, this makes for great dinner conversation.
Here's what we narrowed down to the top eight:
1. Zombie apocalypse
People give me a lot of shit for this one but hear me out: I’m using zombies as a blanket term for pandemic threats - a wildly spreading disease that kills everyone on earth (and possibly brings them back to life to further spread the disease) is the most likely way the world is going to end. I'm sorry, it just is.
2. Meteor shower/Space related disaster
A stray meteor crashing into the earth, the sun exploding, the moon spinning off its access and coming straight at us. None of these things are predictable. Space is infinite and unknown... Tell me that's not going to kill us all. It probably killed the dinosaurs and there's no way we're better off then they were.
3. Robots destroying humanity
It's all fun and games until we build a super smart computer that decides human life is too inconvenient. We live in the time of the most rapidly increasing technological advancements, we're about five iPhone's away from the one that's going to destroy human life.
4. Global warming natural disaster
The world's hotter than ever, storms are getting bigger, seas are higher and more acidic (whatever that means) - a variety of super storms occurring at once certainly has the power to take down human life.
5. Aliens
You're probably thinking, "Why aren't aliens higher on the list?" Well I'll tell you. Aliens are going to come to the earth... obviously. We might even be in an ant-farm-like situation while they're watching us for entertainment as we speak. I just don't think they're going to kill us, is all. They'll probably just going to keep us as slaves.
6. Overpopulation/No more food
This one seems really probable, and it is. Theoretically, as the population continues to double every few generations, crop fields will begin to run out of the nutrients necessary for plant growth. As the demand for food grows every year there will be less and less crops to feed hungry mouths. Eventually the human race will run out of food, I just think zombies, space, robots, weather or aliens will kill us first.
7. World-wide nuclear warfare
The world is a ticking time bomb, literally. We are one pissed off politician with a heavy-trigger finger away from a worldwide fallout. With the U.S. having roughly 7300 total warheads and Russia having a staggering estimated 8000 warheads, the end, theoretically, is most certainly closer than we think. Yes it's going to happen but will it wipe out EVERYONE? Those people who get overzealous and build bomb shelters under their houses will still be alive and be annoyingly smug about it.
8. The Rapture
...At least we all hope this one's the least probable. Is the day of judgement upon us? It could be. But that doesn't change the fact that we're too hungover to go to church on Sunday morning.