What kinds of catastrophe could hit us? Here's a list, tell me if I've missed anything out, and which ones you think are more likely to happen than others- 1- Chernobyl-type nuclear plant accident, but on a much bigger scale, poisoning an area as big as the USA or the whole of Europe and Asia. 2- Massive meteor or asteroid strike wiping out millions with blast and tsunami, and kicking up enough dust to black out the sun for years and causing crop-killing temperature drops. 3- World War 3 exchange of nuclear weapons poisoning virtually the entire planet. 4- A plague wiping out most humans on earth after accidental release from a bio research lab, or a deliberate release by terrorists to wipe out the population of a specific country, or perhaps a virus naturally evolves that has no cure. 5- EC Event (Economic Collapse) triggering total breakdown of law and order resulting in looting gangs etc. 6- EM pulse (from a solar flare or nuclear bombs) blows out the electricity grid and electronics, it'll be bad but hopefully the govt will have contingency plans to get it fixed and relief food and medicine convoys up and running. 7- Mega-earthquake bigger than anything the earth has experienced before, demolishing a whole bunch of cities across countries or continents. 8- Mega-tsunami triggered by gigantic quake at sea, wiping out coastal areas for a hundred miles or more inland. 9- Runaway volcano that carries on spewing out dust and ash for months, throwing a grey wind-carried shroud around the planet blocking out sunlight and triggering subzero temperature drops. 10- Haywire weather (nonstop storms, tornadoes, hurricanes, blizzards, floods etc) caused by global warming, pollution, ozone depletion etc 11- City Lockdown by the Authorities where citizens are ordered to stay indoors for whatever reason such as a terrorist manhunt or whatever which could last days/weeks 12- Homeland Race War big armed gangs go around burning homes and killing anybody of a different race
Number 12 sounds like what the left wing is gearing up for. More realistically though, would be more like number 4
They have no interest in "Harvesting" us....we do not taste good and are useless workers. They instead are feeding us the technology to self destruct with the creation of a transdicatrian portal implosion with the SHC. This has the added benefit of eliminating any atmosphere allowing the proper introduction of Methane/Xenon mix required for actual life.
technology is our weak point alright, we seem to not be able to see the bad ramifications of the future of the devices we make out of it.
Yes that's another possible catastrophe. We could even speculate that they've already been here for thousands of years, not as physical beings, but as invisible "alien parasites" that seek to implant themselves in human minds to bend the victims will to their own. The oldfashioned word for them is "demons". The Bible therefore is a "Spiritual Survival Manual" that helps us get into right mindset to resist them by radiating only good vibes that they can't home in on, as they probe our minds looking for personality flaws- Spock- "We're being probed captain, source and origin unknown" Kirk- "Shields up, red alert!"
A la the opening scenes in the Tom Cruise version of War of the Worlds? That's very thought-provoking.
You missed the worst one possible, the Gamma Ray Burst. It's probability of one hurting us is effectively zero and that is the only good thing about it as there is literally no chance of surviving it, since it would rip the atmosphere away; and no warning possible, as it travels at the speed of light. When they were first discovered it was thought they might be an especially grim and rather scary explanation of the Fermi Paradox but scientists now believe our galaxy doesn't have the right kind of stars so the bursts are rare indeed in the Milky Way. Still they can happen and we can only hope one won't at a distance where we would be damaged https://www.nbcnews.com/science/how-monster-gamma-ray-blast-started-why-we-were-spared-2D11632748
Oh don't worry about all that stuff - NASA's on it. Or will be now that you've given them some new ideas!
Astronomers (Not NASA) have "Been On" this for decades and noted the worst effects would be felt within a 500 light distance and the beam is primarily a Jet of energy rather than a bubble. There are no stars in our region capable of this type of destruction so we are relatively safe. While I realize YOU do not accept anything involving science others do.
IMO the volcano scenario is pretty likely. We might have to live on peas again... Peas porridge hot, Peas porridge cold... Peas porridge in the pot, Nine days old. Some like it hot; Some like it cold. Some like it in the pot, Nine days old. --Mother Goose
NASA was among the first to look at it carefully, as it was thought that the bursts might have been indications that atom bomb treaties were being violated. Generally the scientific community seems to have slacked off on looking into them and who can blame them. They are the disaster's disaster, the most total and complete catastrophe possible, swift and certain universal death with even any thought of warning being utterly impossible, Certain things just don't bear that much looking into.
The most likely is that we will continue populating to massive levels and using too many resources and the earth will create a deadly virus to cull the herd and bring the population back into normal ranges. It self-heals like that. We can already see how unsanitary heavily populated areas are and plus there is a history of this happening. The next likely is probably a super volcano going up. While the actual event of the eruption isn't something that will kill a lot, the inability of society to deal with the breakdown of our systems, even for a short time, will lead to the majority of millions of deaths. Governments will probably cease to exist at that point until enough time passes and enough people are killed for humanity to rebalance itself.
Well, strike 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 can be eliminated right away. Might as well talk about the core of the planet no longer rotating and needing to send down a probe to get it started again. 4 is the most likely, as that has been the largest killer in the history of the planet. And it has been a century since our last real plague, so we are overdue. But nothing from a bio lab or terrorists (who do not have the funds for that kind of project). We can already see attempts of virus to "escape" and infect the planet. From H1N1 and Spanish Flu, to HIV, Ebola and other SHF. It is simply a matter of time before a virus eventually jumps to humans that is slow enough spreading to affect a large amount of the population before it becomes fatal. Thankfully for humans at least, this has not happened in a century. Either they take to long to become fatal (HIV), or they kill so quickly they burn themselves out before it spreads widely (Ebola). Volcanos do not go "run away". The closest event to what you are trying to describe are the Siberian Traps. And while they were part of a player in the Permian-Triassic Extinction, they were only a part. At that time the planet was struck 3 blows. First there was an asteroid impact (most likely off the East coast of South America), and massive volcanic events in Canada, China, and Siberia. Add to that the fact that Pangaea did not allow for ocean currents like today, and you end up with a damaged ecosystem with a run-away greenhouse effect. The rest are all just really bad movie plots.
Or maybe just a slow catastrophe like overpopulation depleting resources, increasing pollutants, and leaving the environment less able to support such a large population.
