Editor’s note: This post is courtesy of Dan Sullivan at the website www.SurvivalSullivan.com. The website offers good guidance when it comes to urban survival, practical gear, weapons, and basic survival skills.. The best thing to be in life is prepared. If you never need it.. you had it. If you need it and never had it, you’ll wish you did.. Visit www.SurvivalSullivan.com — it’s a great website with great information .. without further delay or consternation, here is the information supplied from Dan Sullivan
5 Ways the World as We Know it could End
We all think that we live in a world that’s safe, but the reality is, a total disaster only needs to happen once. Just because we’ve been safe until now, that doesn’t mean things couldn’t change…
In what follows I’m going to give you 5 ways in which the way as we know it would end and, although 4 of the 5 scenarios are unlikely, the 5th one is actually one I worry about.
#1. An Asteroid Hitting Earth
We all know that it doesn’t take a large asteroid to completely destroy the planet. The effects would be devastating even if you lived on the opposite side of the Earth from the point of impact.
I’m sure the smaller ones would be destroyed by NASA and other space agencies before they reached us, but the ones that most likely wouldn’t are the large ones. We just don’t have the right technology to do it so, should one be on a collision course with Earth, we’re as good as dead.
Still, fear not, because the odds of this happening are extremely small. While there’s a huuuge number of asteroids floating around in space, space itself is extremely big. We would also get time to at least try to deviate its course.
#2. WW3
The prospect of a 3rd global war was there ever since the 2nd one was over. Despite our advancements, it seems there will always be leaders in certain countries willing to go to war. Countries such as North Korea, Russia and Saudi Arabia have leaders that don’t seem to fully share our values, and to want world peace, unless it’s on their terms.
If you live in the US or Australia, you’re safer than most citizens of this planet. If you’re Swiss, you’re probably safe too, due to the country’s neutrality. Switzerland had no military involvement in neither WW1 nor WW2.
Still, no place on earth is safe from war, and we have to agree that Russia is the strongest military power capable of starting it. Vladimir’s Putin obvious moves to gain back lost territories such as the Crimea Peninsula are proof that he’s willing to go to great lengths to what appears to be a restoration of the old USSR.
Let’s also consider the possibility that the wars and conflicts in the Middle East can also spark a world war, primarily because both the US and Russia are fighting for control in the region. You never know which “insignificant” even can be the trigger. Let’s also not forget about Turkey, another strong military power that would definitely help things escalate faster if war broke out in this region.
#3. A Solar Storm Could Wreak Havoc
A solar storm is simply a very strong activity inside the sun, which culminates with a CME (coronal mass ejection), which, if we’re unlucky, would head straight towards Earth.
This may shock you but there’s a 12% chance it could happen by 2020 (and I’m sure the odds will continue to exist after that). We were actually very close in 2012, but we apparently missed it. They say we get a 12 hours’ notice, but we wouldn’t be able to do much, except avoiding planes, cars and any other means of transportation that involves an electrical component.
Although your body won’t feel the EMP, many are convinced that all electronics will be fried, and that there’s nothing we can do to repair them. We’d have to rebuild them from scratch, though I’m not sure the countries on the side of the Earth that will be affected will be able to do that on their own. In any case, it would be a long process.
Another side effect of this would be a halt in transportation, which means food trucks will stop coming, leading to riots, starving mobs and so on.
#4. The Sea Level Could Rise by 200 Feet
This is one of the worst-case scenarios of climate change. Cities such as New York, Amsterdam, Tokyo and Shanghai will be completely submerged under water. Of course, this would happen over the course of hundreds upon hundreds of years, but the problem is that it’s irreversible.
#5. An Economic Collapse
We’ve seen what happened in 2008. The financial crisis not only came without warning but it also seriously affected the entire planet, completely destroying countries such as Greece.
Now, what would happen if a similar collapse 2 – 3 times bigger would occur? Given the global political turmoil, the war in Syria, Brexit and the fact that we’re more divided than ever, it would be A LOT worse. Dozens of millions would starve and the most fortunate will be the ones that have a garden and a few animals that would provide a steady food supply.
As you may or may not know, no country can produce everything on its own. As you may or may not know, a halt in transportation system (food trucks, ships etc.) would mean people will begin to starve within days. So out of all the disaster scenarios in this article, a global economic collapse is by far the one with the biggest chances of happening.
Dan Sullivan
