By Jenie Michael

Staff Writer

Between 2000 and 2010, there have been a recorded 10,986 natural disasters. According to the United Nations ISDR, about 780,000 people have lost their lives in natural disasters in the last ten years. This is up fifty five percent from the 1990s. In just 2010, there were twenty two recorded earthquakes with a rating over 7.0, twenty one recorded hurricanes in just the Atlantic Ocean. The rise in natural disasters has been astounded many geologists and scientists, and breaking records at the same time. Could the apocalypse be on its way?

“I don’t think that everyone and everything will completely die, but then again we’ve been having a ton of extinctions from oil spills and such so…I don’t really know what to think,” said freshman Caroline Canning.

According to the Bible, “no man shall know” when the Apocalypse will happen. However, the rumored date is December 21, 2012, because that is the last date recorded on the Mayan calendar.

While it is the Bible that gave humans the idea of an apocalypse, it has become very much a part of today’s pop culture and society. There have been an endless number of movies, books, songs, and more each having something to do with the end of the world. Many have created facebook groups, blogs, etc regarding 2012 as well.

“This 2012 stuff has become a charlatans dream. By scaring everyone, they are able to sell books and ideas,” Said sophomore Jordan Freudlich of Boston Latin HS.

While there are many who believe the myth, most are skeptical. But as 2012 date approaches, more and more people have been building bomb shelters and storing food and other vital supplies in an effort to survive to see 2013.

The below is an image of a shelter meant to protect people from the apocalypse. It is built below ground and includes an air filter from the surface of the Earth, as well as spaces for food, water, batteries and emergency oxygen, if the filter were to fail for some reason.

However, with the rise of natural disasters, and the decline of economies everywhere, is it possible that the Mayans could be right? The calendar created by the Mayans cannot tell the date past December 21st of next year. Is this because they knew there would be no need for a calendar past such a date?

“My calendar runs out every year, and I just buy a new one. The world doesn’t end annually,” said Janet Keirstead, English teacher.

The definition of the apocalypse according to the Encarta Dictionary is “a book of the Bible that includes a description of the end of the world.” The end of the world. But what does that mean? How can the world just end?

Cory S. Powell, a science writer and Senior Editor at Discover Magazine as well as an adjunct professor of science journalism at New York University, is skeptical to the notion of the apocalypse, but can figure multiple possible scenarios which could end in the demolition of our planet. For instance, giant solar flares (or coronal mass ejections) could fry first the ozone in just a couple of hours. Another possibility that’s been theorized is the reversal of Earth’s magnetic field. Other ideas include asteroid impact, black holes, gamma ray burst, global epidemics, global warming, ecosystem collapse, to name a few.

“The idea that the world will just spontaneously end is rediculous. However, it is realistic to consider that we might kill our world with all the damage we’ve been doing to it,” said freshman Court Fiore.

At this point, the world can only wait to see what will happen on December 21, 2012.