There’s nothing like a big-budget blockbuster focused around some wild apocalyptic event that threatens to wipe out the entire human race.
But once you strip away the special effects and outlandish plot twists, it’s actually horrifying to soberly consider how we might all realistically bite the dust.
With that lovely thought in mind, we considered a few remarkably plausible scenarios in which humankind could end as we know it.
A black hole
Ever heard of wandering black holes? Well, it turns out there are a whole bunch of those rogue matter-suckers in our galaxy, and any one of them could potentially end everything for us.
For a meticulously detailed account of what might happen if the Earth were gobbled up by one, check this out.
Alien invasion
If you buy the Drake Equation, it’s only a matter of time at this point before we discover life elsewhere in the universe, but the real question is, will they find us first?
And frankly, if Stephen Hawking is concerned it won’t be a friendly encounter, we all should be.
Global pandemic
Considering how hypermobile society is today, the threat of a fast-spreading devastating disease is greater than ever.
Modern medicine can treat and contain a whole swath of illnesses that nearly wiped out humanity in the past (lookin’ at you, Black Death), but it’s tough to tell what horrible, untreatable mutant virus may be lurking in the wings.
Artificial intelligence
As much as we love our computers and robots at this stage in our technological evolution, there will come a day when they become so powerful that they not only exceed human intelligence, but become capable of expanding their own intelligence to a point where humans are not only redundant, but in their way. That would be very bad.
Biological warfare
All it takes is a mad scientist with money to engineer a vicious virus or bacteria with the potential to obliterate our entire civilization.
And considering the advancement in DNA manipulation technology that exists today, it’s not unreasonable to imagine a truly horrifying scenario.
A nuclear war
A single nuclear bomb hitting a large city would certainly wipe out an unthinkable number of people, but it probably wouldn’t end civilization.
However, it’s the retaliation of another nuclear bomb that could do us all in. An all-out nuclear bomb off would quickly encircle the earth with devastating levels of radiation and soot, rapidly and dramatically changing the climate in such a way that it’d cause a worldwide famine, among other less-than-ideal scenarios.