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00:00 Do you ever feel like this could be the end times?
00:03 That true Armageddon might be just around the corner?
00:06 It seems as though it's hard-wired for human beings to always assume on some level that
00:11 the world really will fall to ruin just at the exact moment that they happen to be alive.
00:16 But actually, with this generation in the modern world, could that fear actually be
00:21 more justified than it ever has been before?
00:25 In this video, we're revealing multiple, scientifically predicted global disasters
00:30 that are coming over the horizon in the very near future, including events that specifically
00:35 could happen in the years 2040, 2030 and 2025.
00:41 This is Unveiled, and today we're taking a closer look at reasons why the world really
00:46 could end in the next twenty years.
00:48 Do you need the big questions answered?
00:50 Are you constantly curious?
00:52 Then why not subscribe to Unveiled for more clips like this one?
00:55 And ring the bell for more thought-provoking content!
01:02 Computer modelling is a key tool for modern-day scientists.
01:05 We can now use digital projections to predict a number of things, including what the weather
01:10 will be like, the effectiveness of a new medicine, how an upcoming space mission will play out,
01:15 and how a city could evolve in the future.
01:17 But sometimes the data that a computer reports back to us is cause for real concern.
01:31 The World 1 Programme was commissioned by a group known as the Club of Rome and developed
01:35 by MIT scientists back in 1973.
01:38 It was a computer model to show the way in which certain aspects of human civilisation
01:42 - including population growth, energy use and quality of life - were trending into the
01:47 future.
01:48 At the time, it attracted some attention because it saw mostly bad things ahead for us.
01:54 Pollution levels, for example, were forecast to skyrocket to the point that they would
01:57 end up killing off massive sections of the global population.
02:01 But ultimately, it perhaps didn't worry people enough in the early 1970s.
02:05 And when, in 2018, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation re-released news footage showing
02:09 its original coverage of the story, the World 1 Programme again made headlines across the
02:14 planet.
02:15 This time because much of what it had predicted to happen appeared to be coming true.
02:19 It suggested, for example, that the global population would rapidly grow from the seventies
02:24 until at least 2020… which it has done.
02:27 It also noted how the level of natural resources available to us would steadily decline in
02:31 the same period… which rings true, as well.
02:34 It predicted that the somewhat hard-to-quantify metric of "quality of life" would also
02:39 steadily fall, so that by 2020 it would match levels last seen in around 1920.
02:44 The jury's out on that, but either way, the outlook from 2020 onwards wasn't good.
02:50 The World 1 Programme foresaw that by the year 2040, pollution levels would dramatically
02:54 rise beyond all other metrics.
02:57 As a direct result, it predicted that the global population would dramatically fall
03:00 from its 2020 peak, largely because of the pollution and a runaway human lifestyle.
03:06 And finally, it said that "quality of life" would drop even further for those that still
03:10 survived.
03:11 At its bleakest, the World 1 Programme predicted the end of civilisation by 2040, midway through
03:17 the twenty-first century.
03:19 In the 1973 ABC feature, the reporter had gone on to refer to the then-unknown 2020s
03:24 as a quote "highly critical period", as a specific time when living conditions could
03:29 very quickly plummet.
03:30 And it could be argued that this general message does reflect the current state of the world,
03:35 with issues around climate, population and equality tending to dominate the big questions
03:39 of today.
03:40 Now, we're grappling with the realities of various climatological tipping points…
03:44 so much so that we're increasingly starting to look at the wider solar system for potential
03:49 planets to escape to, should we need to.
03:51 As a society, we're increasingly influenced by the idea that an apocalypse could be just
03:56 around the corner… which is ultimately what the World 1 Programme claimed to be the case.
04:01 Elsewhere, the Doomsday Clock is probably the most prominent measure we have for how
04:05 long we've potentially got left.
04:08 Managed by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, it's regularly updated to reflect current
04:12 threat levels.
04:13 In the year 1991, it was at seventeen minutes to midnight - the farthest from midnight it's
04:19 ever been since it was created in 1947.
04:21 Interestingly, at roughly this time, the early nineties, with the World 1 Programme, it was
04:26 predicted that the population metric would surpass the quality of life metric for the
04:30 first time… and, also, that the pollution metric would start its rapid, unsustainable
04:35 rise.
04:36 And, since 1991, the Doomsday Clock has generally matched the predictions of World 1 in that
04:42 its outlook has gotten gloomier and gloomier.
04:44 Crucially, in 2020, the clock was moved the closest to midnight at one hundred seconds,
04:50 too.
04:51 So, we can see that its projections do still tally with the World 1 Programme in that today's
04:55 era is deemed a vital time before a perceived, oncoming, imminent disaster.
05:00 Among the reasons cited for the 2020 change to the clock, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
05:05 highlighted a failure by world governments to lessen the threat of nuclear war… as
05:09 well as a continued failure to address climate change.
05:12 The stark reality, then, is that for all the modern world's advantages, we're still
05:16 never without the knowledge that a horde of weapons could one day end it all in minutes.
05:21 And then, there's the increasing risk that the general conditions of Earth could turn
05:24 against us, too… with devastating consequences.
05:28 So, with all of this in mind, how far should we really be preparing for the end of days
05:32 within the near future?
05:34 As part of the original ABC feature on the World 1 prediction, expert analysts from the
05:38 Club of Rome had suggested that international blocks could be one of the best ways forward.
05:44 And to some degree, we have seen the international map evolve in this way - particularly with
05:48 the United States, China and the European Union.
05:51 The same analysts also called for the world's biggest polluters to significantly reduce
05:56 their output, though… and the results here haven't been as straightforward.
06:00 Thankfully, in recent years, we have seen a greater emphasis on climate issues than
06:04 perhaps ever before in international law, with the Paris Agreement tying most of it
06:08 together - since the First Nations signed it in 2016.
06:12 But in most cases, we're yet to see whether the various ecological targets set by countries
06:16 all over the world will be met.
06:18 And there have already been some high-profile withdrawals from the Paris Agreement - most
06:22 notably the United States, which withdrew in 2020 but rejoined in 2021.
06:27 According to data from the Union of Concerned Scientists, there is, then, still great reason
06:32 to be, well, greatly concerned.
06:34 The Union estimates that 28% of CO2 emissions now come from China.
06:40 The US is second, with around 15%.
06:42 At the time of the World 1 programme, however, the United States had been highlighted as
06:46 the greatest producer of pollutants in the world.
06:49 So, we can see how, just in this one instance, the landscape has changed in the years between
06:54 1973 and now.
06:56 Interestingly, though, the US is still ranked within the top five countries for carbon emissions
07:00 per capita, while China falls outside the top ten for this particular measure.
07:04 But, in general, it really matters not which country is contributing what.
07:09 From an international perspective, it's clear that global carbon emissions are continuing
07:13 to rise year on year.
07:15 And that's bad news for everyone.
07:16 Nevertheless, it's not all doom and gloom.
07:19 And again, the situation has changed considerably since the results of the World 1 programme
07:24 were first made public, with more and more modern services, companies and initiatives
07:28 aiming to push humanity into a cleaner and safer future.
07:32 According to the International Energy Agency's Global Energy Review 2020, for example, almost
07:37 28% of the world's electricity generation now comes from renewable power sources.
07:43 And while the growth rate for renewables has slightly dropped since 2018, the percentage
07:47 share that renewables have in the total energy market has continued to increase.
07:52 During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, the IEA also claimed that renewable energy
07:57 had emerged as the "most resilient energy source against lockdown measures".
08:02 Those who worked on the World 1 predictions in the 1970s called for global action to try
08:07 to combat the alarming trends that their programme had unearthed.
08:10 So, perhaps this recent increase in the uptake of renewables is an example of such action
08:15 taking place.
08:16 The big question now is; are we too late?
08:19 And if not, can we continue making steps in the right direction?
08:22 For now, few scientists or authorities would confidently claim that the world really will
08:27 end in the year 2040.
08:29 And in fairness, even the World 1 programme didn't forecast total extinction for humankind.
08:34 Just the total breakdown of human civilisation and a catastrophic drop in population.
08:39 Still, it should be unnerving to all of us that so far, our recent history has so closely
08:44 mirrored what an MIT computer predicted would happen in 1973.
08:48 And therefore, its predictions for the next twenty years can't be discarded.
08:52 Instead, they serve as a dire warning for everyone on Earth.
08:56 According to the study, there could be dark days ahead for us… but the hope for many
09:00 in science and technology is that all is not lost.
09:03 Just yet.
09:04 What do you think of the World 1 prediction?
09:06 Will it continue to come true so that the world ends within twenty years?
09:10 Or is the outlook brighter now than it was back then?
09:12 We've certainly seen supposed dates for the end of the world come and go before now…
09:17 but even if we do survive to see 2041, perhaps this is one foreboding forecast that we should
09:23 be paying attention to.
09:29 There are some things about life on Earth that seem like they will never change.
09:33 Like the role of the moon being a fine example of something that we just never seem to question.
09:39 When night falls, it's there.
09:41 It's always been there.
09:42 And presumably, it always will be.
09:45 But actually, the moon hasn't always been a fixture of the sky above this planet.
09:51 Not quite.
09:52 And according to one model, its mere presence could one day soon cause us some very big
09:59 problems.
10:09 Humanity has a long history of being fascinated by the moon, but only in the last few decades
10:15 have we begun to truly understand it.
10:18 We know that moons in general aren't rare, with multiple other planets in just the solar
10:23 system also having them, and some of the outer planets boasting considerably more of them
10:29 than we do.
10:30 We also have a leading theory as to how our moon came to be, the Giant Impact Hypothesis,
10:37 which says that sometime around 4.4 billion years ago, a now-lost protoplanet smashed
10:44 into an early version of the Earth and the moon formed out of the debris.
10:50 Regardless of how it arrived, though, we know that the moon has been there, watching over
10:56 Earth for literally billions of years.
10:59 It's part of the furniture, cosmologically speaking, and yet over time, its role and
11:04 position have gradually and quietly changed.
11:09 We know that, thanks to the effects of the gravitational binds between it and Earth,
11:14 the moon's orbit has altered over time.
11:17 Not by much, but it means that with every passing year, century, and millennia, the
11:23 moon slowly inches further and further away from Earth itself.
11:29 The moon's axial tilt has also shifted by about 6 degrees over billions of years, too.
11:36 And while these developments aren't exactly fast-paced and might never be described as
11:41 dramatic, they do still show how the moon and the Earth are deeply linked to one another.
11:48 They don't just exist side by side, and that has ramifications for Earth as well.
11:55 Reports first emerged in mid-2021 that an upcoming "wobble" in the moon's orbit
12:01 could cause major disruption and maybe even worldwide devastation in or around the year
12:07 2030.
12:09 These reports weren't so much based on specific new data, but rather on a wealth
12:14 of predictions made by a number of leading bodies, including, most notably, the world's
12:20 foremost space agency, NASA.
12:23 The idea that the moon's movements could one day wreak havoc on Earth has actually
12:27 been around, known about, and relatively feared for a while now.
12:32 It's just that today, in the 2020s, the time is fast approaching when the issues
12:37 could begin to truly reveal themselves.
12:40 We know that the moon is, of course, intrinsically linked with how the tides work on Earth, with
12:47 its gravity essentially dictating when tides are high and when they're low.
12:52 For the most part, it's a fairly predictable arrangement, and we humans have learned to
12:57 live and work with it.
12:59 But actually, as the moon and the Earth move through space, there are periods when the
13:04 bind that exists between them is stronger or weaker, and when it's stronger, a period
13:10 that peaks once every 18 years or so, the tides can be much more severe.
13:17 And so, at that point, the predictable rhythm can become a little more concerning.
13:22 In or around the year 2030 is then when scientists next expect a spike in tidal activity thanks
13:30 to the moon, which is why so many headlines have earmiked 2030 as a potentially apocalyptic
13:37 year.
13:38 But is there really so much to worry about?
13:41 Can we really go as far as to say that the moon could cause the end of the world within
13:47 the next decade?
13:49 Ultimately, the chances are still good that there will still be people on this planet
13:54 to experience the delights of, say, the year 2030 or the year 2040.
14:00 But the sensationalist, Armageddon-inducing warnings still have a valid point to focus
14:05 on as well.
14:07 As with so many future-thinking science stories these days, the problems that could be created
14:13 as a result of the moon's movements through space in relation to Earth are made potentially
14:18 so much worse thanks to clear and present problems with our environment.
14:24 Surging tides without global warming can cause a lot of issues already, but with global warming,
14:31 those issues could get truly out of hand.
14:34 According to a July 2021 NASA release, while there's nothing new or dangerous about the
14:40 regular and expected moon wobble itself, what is new and potentially dangerous is that next
14:47 time it will combine with rising sea levels resulting from the planet's warming.
14:53 Consider the fate of the Thwaites Doomsday Glacier.
14:56 Thwaites Glacier is one of particular concern to climate scientists because of the threat
15:01 that it could one day soon disintegrate.
15:04 Rising water temperatures are causing it to melt from below, resulting in an increasingly
15:09 vulnerable ice shelf.
15:11 And if that ice shelf were to break, melt, and succumb to the sea, then it could contribute
15:17 around two feet to global rising sea levels.
15:22 That means it could directly impact thousands of flat and coastal towns and cities.
15:28 And what's more, according to some predictions, the breakup of Thwaites could happen in as
15:33 little as three to five years.
15:36 And it isn't just Thwaites either, as there are other similarly significant, potentially
15:42 devastating predicted glacier events tabled for the next few years as well.
15:48 That's perhaps already worrying enough, but now add into the equation that the moon's
15:53 imminent wobble is predicted to happen shortly after those potential glacier events.
15:59 That could mean stronger tidal surges in the future, carrying much more water.
16:04 Quickly, we begin to see how the problem could grow, and to make matters worse, literally
16:10 billions of people currently live in at-risk areas.
16:14 Which is the nature of human society to have historically built along the coast.
16:19 But it's not a good combination, and in 2030, it could reach some sort of tipping point.
16:25 And if not 2030, then perhaps 18 years later, in or around 2048.
16:33 But is there anything we can do about it?
16:37 The first thing might be to improve our sea defenses, and there are examples of this happening
16:43 all over the world map, as various structures are built and waters are diverted in a bid
16:48 to lessen the blow.
16:50 In the long term, the movement of communities away from at-risk areas might need to be seriously
16:56 considered too.
16:57 Although clearly this would represent a massive logistical headache, considering the major
17:03 cities like New York, Shanghai, Mumbai, and so many others fall within the "at-risk"
17:09 bracket.
17:10 One thing's for sure, there's very little we can ever do to change how the Moon behaves,
17:16 nor how it directly affects what happens on Earth.
17:20 Without suddenly developing the planet-moving capabilities of something like a Kardashev
17:25 Type 3 civilization, we are, unfortunately, at the Moon's mercy.
17:31 But of course, if we can't prevent the tides from happening, or prevent the wobbles or
17:36 changes that they routinely go through, what we can at least try to do is keep the sea
17:42 levels from rising too far.
17:45 Most scientists agree that there's no one quick fix to preventing glacier melt, and
17:51 that there's no easy answer as to how to slow down rising seas.
17:55 But equally, small changes made by many people, we're told, have a major impact.
18:03 And bringing down global temperatures to save or even restore the ice we're currently
18:08 losing could gradually make a monumental difference.
18:12 It can feel at times as though the future is a pretty bleak place, and predictions of
18:17 catastrophe within the next 10 years aren't exactly going to help improve that pessimistic
18:22 outlook.
18:23 But the reality still may not turn out to be quite as bad as some currently fear.
18:29 At least, not this time around in the wobble cycle.
18:33 The hope of the likes of NASA and others is that data regarding how the Moon works should
18:39 be listened to by every generation as we plot our way through the next decade, and then
18:45 the one after that, and then the one after that.
18:49 More often than not, there are things we can all do to improve our futures.
18:59 What would happen if space turned against us?
19:02 What chance would we stand against the almighty power of the cosmos?
19:05 When we think about world-ending events that could strike our planet from afar, it's
19:09 usually asteroids that are at the top of the list of things to worry about.
19:13 But really, there's another threat lurking on the horizon, and scientists fear that it
19:18 could be about to unleash itself.
19:20 In early 2021, news broke of the first-ever confirmed space hurricane.
19:35 This spectacular space weather event was actually recorded back in August 2014, as a swirling
19:41 600-mile-wide mass of electrons that had gathered hundreds of miles above the North Pole.
19:46 At the time, and although it had reportedly raged for more than eight hours, it passed
19:50 by mostly unnoticed.
19:52 As it was the height of summer, there wasn't even much by way of an aura in the Arctic
19:56 sky to hint that the hurricane was taking place.
19:59 The people of Earth went about their daily lives as usual, and besides some mild interference
20:04 felt by a limited number of satellites, all was well.
20:08 But these things come and go in cycles, and scientists believe that the next peak will
20:12 come in the year 2025.
20:15 So what should we expect?
20:17 According to some, the effects next time could be much more severe.
20:20 Really, a space hurricane is but one of a range of space weather events that do and
20:25 will bombard our planet.
20:27 And almost everything that happens in the upper atmosphere can be traced back to the
20:31 sun.
20:32 It may be a vitally important part of the solar system, but so much about the sun is
20:37 still shrouded in mystery.
20:39 In more recent decades, we've studied it in greater detail, and know now more than
20:43 ever about how its energy fuels our planet.
20:46 But for all the hope and goodness that the sun throws our way, its extreme power is also
20:51 incredibly dangerous.
20:53 And were it not for the Earth's magnetic field and atmosphere, our world would be far
20:57 different and far less liveable than it currently is.
21:00 In September 2020, a group of scientists from NASA and NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
21:06 Administration) released details to the public of what's known as "Solar Cycle 25".
21:12 It was deemed that by then we had passed through the solar minimum - the time when solar activity
21:17 is at its lowest - which was in December of 2019.
21:21 From that point, activity had gradually increased, so much so that scientists knew that we had
21:26 entered into a new cycle.
21:28 The Solar Cycle 25 Prediction Panel was set up to, unsurprisingly, predict what the sun
21:34 would have in store for us.
21:35 But most importantly, it gave us all a date for our diaries - July 2025.
21:42 Because that's when it's thought the solar maximum will arrive again - the point at which
21:45 solar activity reaches its peak.
21:48 So what do we mean by "solar activity"?
21:50 It's primarily measured based on the number of sunspots that are visible on the sun's
21:55 surface.
21:56 Sunspots are temporarily darker regions seen on the sun that are often accompanied by or
22:00 followed by various solar phenomena, including increased radiation, solar flares, and coronal
22:07 mass ejections, or CMEs.
22:09 More often than not, solar flares erupt from the sun and Earth is unaffected, as they lash
22:14 out into another region of space and toward other planets instead.
22:19 But sometimes a flare or CME shoots out of the sun in precisely our direction - and that's
22:24 when there could be trouble ahead.
22:26 The space hurricane mentioned at the top of this video took place around the last solar
22:30 maximum - in Solar Cycle 24, in 2014 - with it taking around eleven years to move through
22:37 each solar cycle.
22:39 History shows us that the effects on Earth were minimal, but we do know that the hurricane
22:43 was powered by the sun.
22:45 The electrons that rained down within it were brought here in plasma carried along by solar
22:50 winds.
22:51 Two years earlier, though, in 2012, we famously had an even closer call when a coronal mass
22:56 ejection shot out towards Earth - but thankfully missed a direct hit by a margin of about nine
23:01 days.
23:02 Again, most of humankind was blissfully unaware of the cosmic near-miss happening in the space
23:07 above us… but that doesn't mean that there isn't cause for concern.
23:12 Scientists are increasingly interested in space weather because the potential impact
23:16 it could have on our daily lives is going up and up.
23:19 That's because so much of our technology now relies on what's happening high in Earth's
23:24 atmosphere, where all our satellites orbit.
23:27 The electron rain of a space hurricane, for example, may never cause physical destruction
23:31 on the ground in the same way as the rain and winds of a traditional hurricane can…
23:36 but equally, a traditional hurricane doesn't reach high enough to threaten widespread GPS…
23:41 or the internet.
23:43 Storm surges can cause local blackouts, sure, but space weather has the potential to cause
23:48 international blackouts - and not just in the expected ways, either.
23:52 The 2012 CME that just missed us was billed by many as a "Carrington-class superstorm",
23:58 referring to the "Carrington Event", a massive solar storm that struck Earth in September
24:03 1859.
24:05 This event set the bar for the future of space weather, at the time causing widespread electrical
24:10 disruptions.
24:11 But, of course, Earth was a very different place back then, and widespread electrical
24:16 disruptions could never have quite the same impact as they would do today.
24:20 Were a powerful enough "Carrington-class" event to happen tomorrow, then, the destruction
24:25 it could cause could be immense.
24:28 Say all or most of our satellites were frazzled, there'd be huge losses across the board
24:33 in communication technology, leaving us without even basic phone signals.
24:38 That's annoying if you were planning on phoning friends later that day, but it's
24:42 critical if you're trying to run a business that relies in any way on digital connections.
24:47 Or if you were in sudden need of the emergency services.
24:50 Most organisations have backup systems and generators, but the instantaneous links that
24:55 we've all come to expect would be gone.
24:58 In this scenario, you might be inclined to just sit back and watch TV and wait for this
25:02 all to blow over.
25:03 Except, you couldn't do that, because TV wouldn't work without satellites.
25:08 Most of the internet would be down, too, and what was left of it would be extremely slow.
25:13 Credit and debit cards wouldn't work, and neither would ATMs.
25:16 You'd find yourself in the middle of a personal financial crisis, but it would be nothing
25:21 compared to what's happening at the banks themselves, or on the stock markets.
25:25 The blackouts here equal economic disaster on a global scale.
25:30 Finally, while all of this is unfolding, satellite navigation is down and GPS systems are out.
25:36 Could you confidently find your way across country, or even across your city, without
25:40 some form of maps app to guide you?
25:43 Now you'd have no choice but to try.
25:46 But the scariest part isn't unfolding on the ground.
25:49 It's in the skies.
25:51 With up to 20,000 planes in mid-flight at any given moment, and with all of those relying
25:56 on GPS, when their maps go blank, it's an unparalleled disaster.
26:02 Some flights might be able to safely land, but many others unfortunately wouldn't.
26:06 Importantly, this is an absolute worst-case scenario.
26:10 Nobody is currently predicting that this will happen in 2025, or in any other year.
26:15 But the tension around space weather is growing because of our increasing reliance on satellite
26:21 technology.
26:22 What's clear is that we can't do anything to stop solar storms or coronal mass ejections…
26:28 but at the same time, it feels almost impossible that we would slow down our technological
26:33 growth.
26:34 And that's why there have been various predictions that 2025 could be an especially problematic
26:39 year.
26:40 Between now and then, scientists definitely expect solar activity to increase to its next
26:46 peak before dropping off again, as it has done for every solar cycle before now.
26:51 The early predictions are also that there will be more activity in this cycle than there
26:55 was in the previous one, solar cycle 24.
26:58 However, most projections don't see a dramatic difference.
27:01 And many early reports have solar cycle 25 as still being weaker than average, as still
27:06 seeing less solar activity than most.
27:09 But still, there's no doubt that by 2025, the world will be ever more reliant on satellite
27:15 technology… so anything that even threatens it is a major concern.
27:20 Will a genuinely deadly solar storm happen?
27:24 It's possible.
27:25 It's not guaranteed, but it is possible.
27:28 Now it's up to Earth to prepare itself, just in case.
27:36 365 days.
27:39 One journey of the Earth around the Sun.
27:42 At whatever time, on whatever day you're watching this right now, you know that the
27:47 same time and date will come to pass next year, and the year after that, and the one
27:53 after that, and so on.
27:56 But what if, actually, that wasn't the case?
27:59 What would happen if humankind learned that this really was the end times for our planet?
28:16 Picture the scene.
28:17 Wherever you are, whatever you're doing, you become aware of sirens blaring out.
28:23 Of breaking news bulletins interrupting TV and the radio.
28:27 Of a sudden onrush of social media notifications, each more panicked than the last.
28:33 Of people rushing to the streets outside, a frenzy of screams and tears, and confused
28:39 and frightened faces everywhere you turn.
28:41 The truth has just been revealed.
28:44 The apocalypse really is upon us.
28:47 The world will end in one year's time.
28:52 Exactly how such a scenario would ever come to pass is unknown.
28:56 There are a few possibilities, though.
28:58 In one, an unstoppable asteroid or rogue planet is spotted racing through the solar system
29:04 towards us, with enough power to break our little world into tiny fragments.
29:10 In another, an alien civilization first reveals itself to us, and then, bizarrely, issues
29:18 us a one-year notice before they destroy everything we've ever known.
29:23 In another, some kind of supremely bad human being gains control over the entire planet's
29:29 nuclear arsenal, and sets them all to explode in 52 weeks exactly, for no apparent reason
29:37 other than the neatness of the plan.
29:39 We could, then, be imagining some kind of genuinely possible natural and scientific
29:46 setup, or something more akin to a science fiction fantasy.
29:50 But nevertheless, what would happen next?
29:54 What would happen if the global population knew that its time on Earth really was running
30:01 out?
30:02 In a purely practical sense, the economy collapses, first of all.
30:07 Far fewer people are going to turn up for work in a world that's as good as dead.
30:11 And no one is going to be that interested in buying stuff, especially not for the long
30:16 term, when the long term isn't even going to happen.
30:19 If you knew there was only one year left until genuine Armageddon, would you bother making
30:25 the Monday morning commute?
30:27 Would you diligently continue to pay your rent on time?
30:31 Not likely.
30:32 Instead, we, the helpless human beings, would probably switch from doing the things we should
30:38 do to doing the things we want to do.
30:42 So what does that look like?
30:45 For many, the shock and fear over our impending doom would really rob them of the freedom
30:50 to choose how they feel.
30:52 All stages of grief would set in, and on a global scale, the collective panic would rise
30:58 and rise as the few remaining weeks ticked by, which would turn some of us into angry
31:04 and selfish versions of ourselves, while others might change in the opposite way, becoming
31:09 more grateful and kind.
31:11 It's often predicted that in the face of disaster, humans would turn to looting, violence
31:17 and chaos.
31:18 And in some ways, predicted with good reason, desperate times can lead people to acting
31:24 out of character.
31:26 But actually, there's evidence to suggest that humanity wouldn't turn ugly.
31:31 In January 2018, a false alarm was issued across Hawaii, incorrectly warning residents
31:37 to seek immediate shelter due to an incoming ballistic missile threat.
31:42 In reality, there was no incoming weapon, and everyone was safe.
31:47 But, and although the error was righted within just a few minutes, in the short time that
31:52 people really did think their lives were at risk, there were no reported instances of
31:57 unsavory behavior.
31:59 In fact, there were only accounts of people trying to help one another.
32:04 Based on that case study, it turns out that humanity isn't so bad after all.
32:10 But of course, today's question is a whole other ballgame.
32:14 Here we're not talking about just a few minutes of terrifying uncertainty.
32:19 We're imagining day after day, along a certain road to death.
32:25 How do you fill that time?
32:27 Although the global economy will have quickly broken, whole industries could still pop up,
32:33 seeking to make the best of the moments that are left.
32:36 Try before you die goods and services, non-stop pleasure cruises, life after earth contingency
32:43 plans.
32:44 Clearly, the opportunity for scams would be unprecedented.
32:48 In that there'd be no time or particular desire for policing.
32:52 But on the other hand, without money in the traditional sense, what could a scammer hope
32:58 to gain?
32:59 Perhaps we'd more likely see the emergence of close-knit communities, built around like-minded
33:06 people who all want the same or similar things out of their final days alive.
33:12 There might be a group of storytellers, traveling across North America for example, or a band
33:18 of divers congregated at the Great Barrier Reef.
33:22 A troop of musicians somewhere, spending their final year playing all their favorite pieces.
33:29 Or a set-up of athletes, organizing one final Olympic Games.
33:34 Any and all would be surrounded by animals roaming free, released from farms and zoos,
33:41 as nature returns to the wild as much as we revert to our instincts.
33:46 Perhaps no one would feel the need to join together more, however, than the scientists,
33:52 engineers, and technologists.
33:54 Because they, more than anyone, might believe that the end of the world can be stopped.
34:00 For this reason, some versions of the internet might remain.
34:04 Some forms of communication might still work.
34:08 The need to coordinate efforts would drive some to try to preserve the connections between
34:13 us.
34:14 Because in whatever form the apocalypse were to take, knowing that it is exactly one year
34:19 away would work like the ultimate deadline.
34:23 A before and after moment beyond anything else.
34:27 Could science and technology deliver a solution before that deadline came to pass?
34:34 It's a sure bet that many would try.
34:37 While some turns to nature and physics, however, others would turn to God.
34:42 The world's religions will have encountered perhaps their most trying time in history.
34:48 Those dedicated preachers who remain loyal to their cause would now be tasked with navigating
34:53 their followers through the world's end.
34:57 Armageddon wouldn't only be a looming threat on the horizon anymore.
35:01 It would be there, happening, in front of everyone's eyes.
35:05 Would faith in the rapture be enough to see them through?
35:09 Would the image of heaven remain strong?
35:12 Would tensions break out between those who believe and those who don't?
35:16 Or between those who believe one thing and those who believe another?
35:20 This would be religion's ultimate test.
35:23 More broadly, how does the picture change as we move into the final month?
35:29 If it were an asteroid strike that was coming, then that fatal rock might now be visible
35:34 in the sky.
35:36 If it were some kind of alien attack, perhaps the ship is hovering over us.
35:41 By now, Earth and human civilization could be a very different place.
35:46 Ruin will have already started to set in, given all of the upheaval of the eleven months
35:52 before.
35:53 If there are people still frantically working to try and stop what's to come, then their
35:58 numbers will likely have dwindled.
36:00 Their scope will likely have narrowed.
36:03 And whatever communication links might have remained between them will probably have failed.
36:08 Likewise, all over the map, it could be as though the world were shutting down, eking
36:14 out its final pangs of energy before the screen goes blank.
36:19 Now is the time to tell people you love them, to rebuild bridges with friends you regret
36:25 losing, and to finally cut yourself some slack too.
36:30 Given the immense hardships that will have unfolded since our date with destiny was signed,
36:35 the unfortunate reality is that the global population will have already dropped.
36:39 By this point, food would be low, clean water would be scarce, energy and warmth would be
36:45 difficult to come by.
36:47 Homes and shelters would still stand, but as hollowed out husks of what they once were.
36:53 Other buildings, like offices, train stations, museums, and schools would be abandoned, or
36:59 else will have been fortified in one last desperate bid to kick against the inevitable.
37:05 What do you think you'd be doing with one month left to go?
37:09 How about one week?
37:10 On the final day, there's really no telling what Earth would feel or look like.
37:16 But what remains of humankind would be united under this single, monumental, and inescapable
37:23 event?
37:24 Families might gather together as one.
37:27 Friends might spend their last moments having one final catch-up.
37:31 Or the end of all things might actually be an entirely lonely place, with only your own
37:37 thoughts for company.
37:39 You will have made it to the final showdown, and so you look up to the sky and wait.
37:46 So what's your verdict?
37:48 Do you think the doomsday predictions covered in this video will actually come to pass?
37:53 Or are you still expecting humanity to live to fight another day?
37:56 One thing we can say is that there are some serious challenges fast approaching for our
38:01 species.
38:02 From climate ruin, to the threat of war, a misbehaving moon cycle, to the potential for
38:07 deadly space weather events, we need to at least be on our guard.
38:11 The
38:33 universe that we call home is a pretty amazing place.
38:37 But the fragility of our planet in amongst all the rest of the cosmos is always abundantly
38:42 clear.
38:44 And that's why the world really could end in the next twenty years.
38:48 What do you think?
38:49 Is there anything we missed?
38:50 Let us know in the comments, check out these other clips from Unveiled, and make sure you
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