9. 100,000 Years From Now: Super Volcanoes Melt Everything
So we have 50,000 years of it being pretty darn frigid outside, by which point folks will probably be wishing for some warmer temperatures (and by "folks" we mean the native North American earthworms who will have migrated up through Canada to escape from the encroaching glaciers, causing a shock to the regional ecosystem. Humans will probably be pretty much done for by then). Be careful what you wish for, though, because scientists predict that by around 100,000 years in the future, Earth will have suffered its first supervolcanic eruption. What makes it so super? Well, said eruption will be large enough to erupt round about 400 km3 of magma. Which is a lot of magma. A lot more magma than we would like to have to deal with, say, in our house or street or life. There are such volcanoes in the mountains of California, but it's been a good 1.1 million years since they erupted. Which means they're just about due a comeback, with some smart people stating that "it's not a question of if - it's a question of when", going on to add that "Super-eruptions are different from other hazards such as earthquakes, tsunamis, storms or floods in that - like the impact of a large asteroid or comet - their environmental effects threaten global civilisation." So yeah, assuming some life had actually managed to make it through the slowly decreasing temperatures that are turning the planet into a popsicle, they will all get fried by a supervolcano. Seems like a pretty conclusive end of the world, right? Nope, we've still got eight more points to go, hot shot. And it's all downhill from here.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
