The End is Near...or is it?

“The end is near”

“Save Yourselves”

“The sky is falling”

You've probably heard these quotes before, and with 2012 already upon us, the more relevant they’ve become. Do you believe all the hype centered around the Mayan predictions for 2012? Do you really think your time is limited here on Mother Earth?  If these events sound foreign to you, then you’re not alone. In an online survey conducted among people living in the US, less than 26% were aware of any predictions involving the end of the world in 2012.

Popular movies such as Doomsday, Apocalypse Now, 2012, and The Day After Tomorrow are capitalizing on these theories. The storylines are not just mindless thoughts from scriptwriters, however, as many have been taken from actual beliefs and hypotheses.

The Mayan calendar predicts that the end of the world will happen on December 21 2012. This isn’t just any day selected at random; the Mayans had quite a sophisticated system that led them to predict this ill-fated day promising death and destruction.  Mayan mythology focused on astrological events and mathematical equations. Their 5,126-year-long cycle, also known as a Great Cycle, concludes on December 21st and this will mark the end of an era. It remains unknown if the conclusion of this era is defined by the end of time, or the rebirth of a new world.

The Mayans weren't the only ones who determined that December 2012 marked the end of time. Another well-known theory comes from a famous French prophet named Michel de Nostredame, otherwise known as Nostradamus, who also found this month and year to have great significance. He believed that a large comet would either hit the Earth or come very close and wipe out all of mankind. Nostradamus' writings were never particularly clear and are often left open to interpretation. However, the accuracy of his previous predictions has led people to believe that he may be onto something.

Over 38% of respondents to an online survey believe that 2012 holds some significance,  but what can be done to prepare for Armageddon? You need not look far, online garage sales offer services to post and sell all of your worldly possessions, timers can notify you of the exact number of hours, minutes and seconds left before the end, and if you really want to raise awareness, t-shirts and other memorabilia are available to commemorate this event.

Whilst surveys reveal that many people believe that 2012 will be eventful, it remains unclear just how much of an impact  these predicted events will have on life as we know it.