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Page added on August 13, 2015
Doomsday predictions come and gone
There’s never been a shortage of gloomy predictions about apocalypses to come. Here’s a rundown of recent cataclysms that never came to pass.
The preppers of Horning’s Mill might seem an oddity in comparison to the millions around the world living without emergency shelters, stockpiles of supplies and plans to escape if a doomsday arrives, but they’re not the first to take threats of a crisis to the extreme.
Nuclear armageddon
In the late 1980s, Elizabeth Clare Prophet started warning people of an armageddon to be triggered by a Soviet Union nuclear strike against the U.S. Worried about impending doom, about 2,000 followers headed for Prophet’s compound near Yellowstone National Park, where they gathered weapons, food and clothing in a concrete shelter.
While millions across the globe were awaiting New Year’s Eve fireworks and midnight smooches to ring in the millennium, technology experts were fretting over a potential glitch with the way computers processed the Jan. 1, 2000, date. With so many systems processing the date, the world went into overdrive taking precautions, including having the TTC stop vehicles for 10 minutes before the new year and having agencies like the Canadian Red Cross advise people to stock up on food, water and flashlights.
Twelve years after Y2K, the globe was aflurry with worries over another doomsday, this one planned for Dec. 21, 2012, when the Mayan calendar supposedly was set to run out. In preparation, more than 30 Michigan schools closed two days before the date, and reality TV stars Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt admitted they spent they blew $10 million because they believe the world would end.
The worries about the Mayan calendar came a year after Harold Camping, who ran a non-profit radio chain, spent millions on rolling out billboards and pamphlets warning about the end of the world. Based on religious and numerical methedology, he believed the Rapture — a return of Jesus whereupon those saved would be taken up to heaven — would occur on May 21, 2011, with massive earthquakes to follow and the end of the world to come on Oct. 21, 2011. Following Camping’s prophecy, some depleted their bank accounts in an effort to make the most of their lives’ savings.
Some have been prepping for peak oil — a point when the maximum rate of crude oil extraction has been hit. When the world hits peak oil, demand will exceed supply, so oil prices will skyrocket and the economy will be in turmoil. With oil proving so integral to industries, some believe it will trigger a crisis and the decay of civilization. In advance, preppers are recommending making trips to long-distance relatives who you might not get to travel to see without gas, and adopting more sustainable lifestyles sprinkled with walking, gardening and cycling.
28 Comments on "Doomsday predictions come and gone"
Davy on Thu, 13th Aug 2015 8:14 pm
Some been prepping because of 7Bil people.
Plantagenet on Thu, 13th Aug 2015 8:26 pm
Peak Oil prepping is just common sense. Biking, gardening and cycling are good for you. Traveling now to see the world and going to see relatives now is never a bad thing to do, whether doomsday comes or not.
Truth Has A Liberal Bias on Thu, 13th Aug 2015 9:27 pm
Unless a few more brand new Saudi Arabias are discovered fairly soon my future on this planet means more and more people and less and less oil. The demand for oil will outstrip the supply, the price will go up, food will become expensive and scarce, and tough times will ensue. Prepping is just common sense. Perhaps there are a few more Ghawars hiding in the cushions of the couch somewhere, but I doubt it. Population will shrink and since few are volunteering to check out early from this mortal coil it’s going to get Hobbesian.
Makati1 on Thu, 13th Aug 2015 10:43 pm
Whether the typhoon comes today or tomorrow is not the question. That it is coming is the problem. Extraordinary efforts are being used to hold on to BAU for a little longer in the hopes that a miracle will happen. E.T. phone home, maybe.
If the truth were pushed like they push vaccines or the latest I-gadget, the world would panic, heads would roll and no billionaire would be safe.
Bring it on!
PrestonSturges on Thu, 13th Aug 2015 10:52 pm
There were the Millerites who expected Jesus to return in 1844 who later became the Second day Adventists IIRC, and Hal Lindsey predicted the Rapture would occur in 1988 in The Late Great Planet Earth and other books.
dohboi on Thu, 13th Aug 2015 11:53 pm
All irrelevant. My mom keeps telling me that if I keep throwing my knife at my feet I’m going to hit one of my toes one day. She hasn’t been right so far, so that means there is 0% chance that the knife will ever pierce one of my toes, right?
That is the dismally low level of logic being displayed here. Notice also that ‘doom’ is not defined. For many, climate doom has already come and gone, and them with it in many cases…
Apneaman on Fri, 14th Aug 2015 12:09 am
Because the made up for profit Mayan Hoax never happened, nothing bad can ever happen to me.
Even the though from day one anthropologists who had spent their entire adult lives studying the Maya had repeatedly told the press that it was bunk – universities even put out their own debunking press releases – the dopamine apes did not want to hear it.
dohboi, it’s not low – it’s nonexistent. Dead apes walking.
Apneaman on Fri, 14th Aug 2015 2:01 am
Doomsday is the ultimate strawman.
There will be no doomsday because doomsday is a creation of story telling apes. There has never been a doomsday on this planet and there never will be. There has been 14 extinction periods in the history of life on this planet and 5 of them were mass and we are now into the 6th and it is unstoppable and so is a bare minimum of another 1 degree C warming even if we stop in the next 5 minutes. Ocean acidification has some inertia as well, but not like the others. Not that it matters since we ain’t stopping nor are the feed-backs. Doomsday – No. Beginning of the next great die back or die off – Yes.
Global Mass Extinction: No Species Safe, Say Scientists
http://www.techfragments.com/3675/global-mass-extinction-environmental/
meld on Fri, 14th Aug 2015 3:42 am
“the economy will be in turmoil. With oil proving so integral to industries, some believe it will trigger a crisis and the decay of civilization”
So this happened, and is happening and will continue to happen. It’s good to be right 🙂
Rodster on Fri, 14th Aug 2015 4:31 am
“warming even if we stop in the next 5 minutes. Ocean acidification has some inertia as well, but not like the others. Not that it matters since we ain’t stopping nor are the feed-backs.”
That’s really the point, that no matter what it’s full steam ahead until the biosphere collapses. And we are well on our way to offing ourselves from this planet.
Apneaman on Fri, 14th Aug 2015 5:02 am
Volcanic Vents Reveal Bleak Future For Oceans
“In the quest to learn what the oceans will look like if we don’t cut back on carbon dioxide emissions, scientists have turned to volcanic vents, which pump carbon dioxide into the waters around them. The news is bad, according to two papers published in the same edition of Nature Climate Change. Few species adapt to the relatively acidic conditions the CO2 produces.”
http://www.iflscience.com/environment/volcanic-vents-reveal-bleak-future-oceans
rockman on Fri, 14th Aug 2015 6:31 am
Oh yes…great similarities between the Mayan calendar event and the world’s energy situation. Can’t believe I didn’t see it sooner. LOL.
Davy on Fri, 14th Aug 2015 7:16 am
Rock, I wouldn’t underestimate the work of the ancients to understand something beyond our current abilities to understand underlying patterns to life. It is the poor applications of things like the Mayan calendar that are what we need to be laughing about. In any case doomsday is a process not an event. Even if tomorrow we have a NUK war to “End All” it will have been a process that got us here.
rockman on Fri, 14th Aug 2015 9:24 am
Davy – true. of course the typical problem wit any “dooms day” prediction or argument against one is that there is no definition of “dooms day” per se. One can claim the world (at least some portion of it) has been experiencing its own dooms day since time began. I doubt few that survived the Black Plaque would consider those time to be rather doomerish. Just mike so many folks in Syria today.
penury on Fri, 14th Aug 2015 10:07 am
I am convinced that a mass extinction is happening. The oceans are transforming sea life is being extinguished. Humans will either adapt or die off. The entire event will exceed my lifetime and possibly many thousands of years. Change happens, the fact that humans have squandered the resources of the planet will not affect the planet. As G. Carlin said “save the world? The world is fine, but humans are going away.
Outcast_Searcher on Fri, 14th Aug 2015 10:10 am
The author is ignorantly comparing apples and oranges.
The potential for a serious Y2K problem was real. That’s why millions of serious I/T folks around the world (like me) did a LOT of Y2K prepping (mostly serious testing) to ensure it would NOT be a problem. Just because the usual suspects in the “selling short term doom for large profits” newsletters, etc. took advantage of the layman’s uncertainty about Y2K doesn’t change this.
Peak oil is based on a physical limitation. Since it’s being used FAR faster than it’s being recreated, it’s simple arithmetic that oil WILL peak at some point. Just because there are lots of short term doomers who have been (wrongly) proclaiming they can pinpoint the peak or that the peak is constantly in our face doesn’t change the simple fact of peak oil’s reality.
Comparing these things with religious mythology is just downright silly, if you want to have a shred of credibility. Are you writing for entertainment and to get paid short term, or to be a credible data source?
paulo1 on Fri, 14th Aug 2015 10:46 am
Talk about flippant. This boy flunks philosophy 101.
Great comment, Plant. Right on!! It is just commen sense. After all, there are limits as far as I can determine, even to bullshit articles like these.
BobInget on Fri, 14th Aug 2015 10:46 am
Twelve years ago I was so certain Israel and the US were going to bomb Iran, I foolishly picked a date certain and published it on the net.
Never good at learning from mistakes, I (we) keep predicting. When will we ever learn?
The latest mass hysteria in the financial world centers around oil. It’s like yelling at the TV,
I can’t stop.
My latest ‘predictions’
Fire-sale!
With crude trading between $42 and $43 existing stockpiles won’t last much longer.
Because hundreds of billion dollar projects have been cancelled or delayed, so will ‘on time’ delivery recoveries.
Funding is rapidly being withdrawn. The word is out. Oil price recovery will be years away. No one explains where the planet finds 95 million barrels times seven till then.
To continually deny consumption increases, focusing selectively on a SINGLE supplier, will prove disastrous. What we need is a gradual oil price recovery. Instead, we are headed toward economy slowing, rapid advances.
BobInget on Fri, 14th Aug 2015 11:09 am
The secret to posting predictions must be to leave the date ambiguous.
Instead, I’ll repost news of economic trends that contradict what so called ‘experts’ are predicting.
Factory Production in U.S. Gains on Stronger Auto Assembly
By Shobhana Chandra
(Bloomberg) — Factory production rose more than economists forecast in July as automobile assembly jumped to the highest since 1978, indicating American manufacturing is regaining its footing after a slowdown.
The 0.8 percent increase was the biggest since November and
followed a revised 0.3 percent decline in the prior month, the
Federal Reserve reported Friday. Total industrial output, which
includes mines and utilities, climbed 0.6 percent as oil
drilling rose for the first time since September.
Rising purchases of automobiles and a broad-based increase
in retail sales in July signal assembly lines may remain busy in the second half of 2015. Improving U.S. demand will help cushion
factories from weakening global markets, the stronger dollar and the slump in oil prices.
Posted note:
This week’s news, China’s devaluation, should have been of greater interest around these parts. It should have been obvious , China launched a salvo over the bow of USD supremacy.
It’ll be a gradual adaptation, from dollar to yuan.
If you keep track of such matters, mark this week as the beginnings of change.
Rodster on Fri, 14th Aug 2015 11:24 am
“The secret to posting predictions must be to leave the date ambiguous.”
The problem with picking dates today is that the entire global, financial, banking and economic system is totally corrupt and rigged. It’s like trying to beat the dealer in “three card monte”. The best you can do is to warn others and prepare for impact whenever that day arrives.
BobInget on Fri, 14th Aug 2015 1:02 pm
” Why do ya play cards over-to Hank’s place when ya know the game is fixed?”
“Why? It’s the only game in town”
This very day I’m playing a risky game on the NYSE and Toronto exchanges.
Rodster is right of course. Timing is the only issue.
Short sellers are advantaging themselves in a dangerous game. Yours truly is watching Canada’s oil companies get slaughtered.
Only a few individuals know when oil prices begin to turn. They ain’t tellin.
My ‘job’ is to believe in what I say here and elsewhere. Canada becomes my prime investment target when plummeting oil prices
are doing falling knife tricks on oversold, totally undervalued oil and gas companies.
1) I don’t believe there is ‘too much oil’.
2) I do believe world (and US) consumption
is growing faster then supply.
3) I do believe most energy writers today have
strong, for profit agendas. (including myself)
4) In the past year the planet added millions of new food eating, water using people.
5) Bottom line.. I don’t doubt climate changes, mass migrations, oil wars, occurring real time.
(I do not use a screen name.)
BC on Fri, 14th Aug 2015 2:16 pm
It should be doomsdays instead of doomsday: it’s an ongoing process requiring prepping with copious amounts of liquid calm at every opportunity. 🙂
Running out of liquid calm is the ultimate doomsdays scenario. 😀
Dredd on Fri, 14th Aug 2015 3:35 pm
More civilizations have come and gone than that:
“In other words, a society does not ever die ‘from natural causes’, but always dies from suicide or murder — and nearly always from the former, as this chapter has shown.” – A Study of History, by Arnold J. Toynbee “
Davy on Fri, 14th Aug 2015 4:24 pm
BC, “doomsdays” has an effective ring to it. I will add that to my innumerate word salad prattle. It should be good prattle irritation for the Marm.
No, seriously your point is something I continue to point to and that is collapse is a process not “the” event but multiple events puntuated by calm. I liken it to some of the Vietnam documentaries of soldiers in the bush. Hours of boredom punctuated by pants pissing excitement.
Our excitement is just beginning. This is all the more reason to prep and opine doom.
Apneaman on Fri, 14th Aug 2015 5:45 pm
2015’s Cruel Climate Count Continues as NASA Shows July Was Hottest On Record
“uly of 2015 Hottest on Record
Now, in a record-shattering hot year featuring extreme weather weirdness and an emerging monster El Nino, yet one more record has fallen. For according to both NASA and Japan’s Meteorological Agency (JMA), July of 2015 squashed and smashed previous record hot Julys 2011 (NASA) and 1998 (JMA) to take the title as hottest July yet.”
“2015 On Track For Hottest Year By a Wide Margin
Focusing in on the NASA measure, we find that January through July temperatures are setting a course for a record shattering 2015. Overall, global temperatures during that seven month period were 0.8 C above NASA’s 20th Century benchmark and about 1 C above 1880s values. A level of heat that, if it were simply maintained, would beat out previous record hot year, 2014, by a substantial margin (0.07 C).
To the layman, these may seem like small numbers except when one considers that just 3.5 C of cooling from Holocene climates means the start of a new ice age. In just 135 years we’ve hit 30 percent of the difference between the Holocene and an ice age — but on the side of hot. Moreover, an annual temperature climb of 0.07 C equals 7 degrees Celsius warming if maintained for one Century. So a one year jump in that range is a pretty wide margin, especially when we consider that we’re now experiencing back-to-back hottest years on record”
http://robertscribbler.com/2015/08/14/2015s-cruel-climate-count-continues-as-nasa-shows-july-was-hottest-on-record/
ghung on Fri, 14th Aug 2015 10:44 pm
Doomsday is a purely human construct. I seriously doubt any other earthly species contemplates the point when their specie is snuffed out.
Silly us.
Apneaman on Sat, 15th Aug 2015 12:00 am
Cockroach Worried About What Kind Of Kitchen Cupboard He Leaving To Children
http://www.theonion.com/article/cockroach-worried-about-what-kind-kitchen-cupboard-51089
peakyeast on Sat, 15th Aug 2015 5:27 am
The doomsdays are already here. They are just unevenly distributed. 😉