Cosmic collisions are also a potential threat to the future of our planet. We’re all familiar with the 10-kilometer-wide asteroid that knocked out the dinosaurs about 65 million years ago, but apparently, something much smaller could easily destroy humans. “The impact site would be obliterated, and massive earthquakes and tsunamis could radiate across the planet. But the lingering effects would prove most devastating,” Julia Rosen writes for Science. “Models suggest that, depending on the speed and angle of approach, an object as small as 1 kilometer wide could throw up enough pulverized rock to block out the sun for months. Adding to the pall would be soot from wildfires ignited by debris falling back to Earth.” Thankfully for us, an event such as this isn’t likely to occur for many more millions of years.
Another possibility that could lead to the destruction of our planet is a super-volcano eruption. “A super-volcano is one that produces an explosive eruption of more than 450 cubic kilometers of magma—roughly 50 times more than the eruption of Indonesia's Mount Tambora in 1815, and 500 times more than the Philippines' Mount Pinatubo in 1991,” Rosen writes. Some locations where super-volcano eruptions could possibly occur are Toba, the Yellowstone hot spot in the United States, the Long Valley Caldera in California, the Taupo Volcanic Zone in New Zealand, and a few spots in the Andes. None of these pose an imminent threat, but if one of these bad boys were to blow, everything within a hundred kilometers or so would be incinerated, and ash would rain over continents.
Are you feeling positive about the end of the world, or has this list made you stressed and anxious about it? I have to admit that I’m feeling oddly at peace about our planet potentially blowing up any day now, because if we all go down, at least we’re all in it together. Keep upvoting the photos that you find particularly bizarre, and feel free to share your thoughts on the end of times in the comments below. Then, if you haven’t already, feel free to check out Bored Panda’s last article featuring Pictures of the End right here! (Hurry, read it soon! You never know how much time we have left!)
