7 Doomsday Scenarios You Probably Shouldn't Worry About (And 2 You Really Should)

But You Really Should Worry About...

2. Climate Change

Never mind aliens, nukes and asteroids, the end of the world is quite possibly already happening. Unlike an alien, nuke or asteroid, however, we're all still bickering about it instead of doing something.

Look, climate change is a divisive subject, and needlessly so. The scientific consensus is that it's happening and oh my god it's such bad news.

One of the reasons the subject is so divisive is the fact that the Earth has been through stages of warming and cooling before (although this time it's definitely our fault). The problem with this argument, however, is that it doesn't change the fact that it's still going to be a disaster for humans. Sure, the planet has warmed and cooled before and is still here to tell the tale, the difference now is that we are here this time, and we might not do so well.

Many scientists and anthropologists think that the rise of humanity was made possible at all by a period of climate stability over the last 10,000 years. This period of consistent temperate climate allowed us to develop agriculture and build civilisations. However, that same civilization borne of stability is now creating the massive instability that threatens to bring it tumbling down. We're talking the four horsemen of the apocalypse here: Pestilence, War Famine and Death.

So yes, as people will often smugly point out, the planet might actually be capable of weathering major climate upheaval, but humanity, unfortunately, is not.