How Americans think the world will end, in charts

[eridani]

http://www.vox.com/2015/3/12/8194903/apocalypse-causes-poll

Americans have varying ideas on how the world will end, from nuclear war to a direct act of God to zombies.

About two-thirds of Americans told online pollster YouGov that they have given little or no thought to preparing for the apocalypse. But when asked to elaborate on the most likely end-of-the-world scenario, Americans showed off their partisan differences — and some similarities.

David Mendoza at the Mendoza Line charted the YouGov survey's findings on how people think the world will end:



More graphs for population subsets at the link

[Kalidurga]

1. Alien Zombies

But, seriously I don't think there is going to be some big event that ends humans. Humanity will end in a whimper. The earth will keep spinning until the universe dies or it gets pulverized by something.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

2. I can't recall, but I think there's a stage of solar evolution a few billion years down the road

in which the sun expands enough so that the earth gets baked to a cinder. If we're not off by then, we're toast. (If we manage to last even anywhere near that long, which I don't think we will.)

[Kalidurga]

3. Well I won't be around for the end days.

My kids probably won't either. I don't think humans are going to completely die out until earth is gone. Unless humans move to another planet far far away.

[Coventina]

11. Commie-Nazi Zombies!!

http://www.criticalcommons.org/Members/ccManager/clips/simpsonss09e23_mcbaincommienazis.mp4/view

[rock]

4. Most likely, Climate Change

As I've said before, if the politicians found aout that a ice berg was headed straight for them, they would run in a circle bumping into each other until the berg ran over them.

[yeoman6987]

27. I doubt climate change

The ice melting has been going on since day 1. Remember the entire United States was under ice not long ago. We also were one big chunk of dirt until we were spilt seven times. Earth will go on after we are six feet under.

[forsaken mortal]

39. civilization

The question isn't about if the Earth will continue going on, it's about what will cause the collapse of civilization basically. Climate change definitely has the potential to take a swing a sledgehammer against civilization.

[rock]

43. What you said

I look at an apocalypse as being about man (i.e. civilization).

[el_bryanto]

5. Nuclear war? They tried that in the movies and it didn't work. nt

[RedCappedBandit]

6. Well, people are silly.

Realistically, the most likely "apocalypse" type scenario is that critical resources like water will dwindle as a result of climate change and stability will suffer.

Judgement day? lol.

[CanonRay]

7. At least Climate Change is equal to Judgement Day

I guess that's something.

[ladjf]

8. The Sun will kill everything on Earth in about 900 million years. nt

[PowerToThePeople]

18. yup, when our sun goes nova, earth ends.

Humans will likely have been extinct for hundreds of millions of years prior to that.

[ladjf]

24. All true. And there are other possibilities. Yet,

I think it is beneficial for humans to clearly realize that life on Earth has a definite "shelf life" based on immutable laws of physics
rather than some vague subjective notions about how life will end. And it sure as hell isn't going to happen in few hundred years.

Even a nuclear Holocaust wouldn't kill everyone, just change the demographics drastically.

[Ichingcarpenter]

9. Here is a political philosophic map explaining various idealogues

[ieoeja]

10. All of the above.

I don't think the Alien Zombie god will send his Zombies to incite worldwide revolution that the powers that be will attempt to put down using nuclear weapons causing global climate change or something else.

[Calista241]

12. It'll probably be a combination of that stuff.

Water shortage leads to war, which leads to a nuclear exchange, which leads to Denzel Washington in the Book of Eli movie.

[Amishman]

13. False Vacuum Collapse

That or strangelets

LHC will doom us all

Also disappointed that zombies didn't rank higher. More people need a sense of humor it seems.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

14. How 'bout a giant asteroid?

Or maybe Galactus?

[MisterP]

15. I vote "Lord Asriel's even-crazier followers start blasting interdimensional portals

willy-nilly as the wars on their timeline heat up"

interesting to see Judgement Day at only 16% (besides, we've ); also surprising for me is revolution so much higher than aliens since our culture's been fixated on alien invasions since the Xipehuz

[Spirochete]

16. Destroyed by the Vogons

has my vote.

[hifiguy]

29. Excellent!

The highway has to go somewhere, I guess.

[olddots]

17. constipation

[hatrack]

19. How about the sun running out of hydrogen in a few billion years?

We know that's how the world will end, but apparently they couldn't include that as a category.

Pathetic.

[NCTraveler]

20. How do they define the world ending?

It would be impossible for most of the items mentioned to actually end man kind, much less the world.

[Erose999]

21. The awakening of Cthulu, and the vengance of the Old Ones.

[MosheFeingold]

22. I'm leaning to multiple causes

Notably some sort of economic collapse (caused by anything from drought, to stupid management of the economy, to an EMP blast over the middle of the country turning off all the lights forever), followed by world war or series of wars that is/are at least part nuclear, followed by disease (indeed perhaps strains developed as an agent of war).

All will combine to pretty well screw things up.

I don't think we will last long enough for climate change to have a material impact.

[VScott]

23. If the Yellowstone super volcano lets go...

(actually it's when... it's about 40,000 years overdue), game over.

[lpbk2713]

25. I have no doubt we will be responsible for our own demise.

It will be in the form of some disease or pestilence or a combination thereof.

We will contaminate the air we breathe, our water, our food crops and we will lower the standards for medicines and other health items so that the manufacturers can have a bigger profit margin. Rodents and insects will carry more pathogens simply because the world they live in will have more available. It's only a matter of time IMO.

[hifiguy]

26. Moon Nazis, of course.

More seriously, some sort of limited nuclear war or man-assisted plague that wipes out about 80% of the population. I want to believe in the Roddenberry scenario that a humane, democratic socialist planet-wide government can arise out of that. But it will only if the right lessons are learned and humanity transcends greed, religion and capitalism.

[Bosonic]

28. Pick your Era

I pick 10^30 years hence; or never.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_far_future

[HereSince1628]

30. Americans ignore space aliens at their own peril!

Science GUY Says SO! SCIENCE!! Sort of...well with reference to sort of...well that sort of xenophobia is outta this world, unless it's a radio show on halloween.

[nichomachus]

31. It's actually the wrong question

Most of these things won't end the world. They will end the human race, but the world would survive all of them -- except the fairy tale Judgment Day stuff. Aliens don't figure in. Why would they invade? If they're got the technology to get here, there is nothing here that they want or need. We're really not that important.

On our current trajectory, humans are looking at mass extinction in 100 - 200 years. This will be due to climate change, our already poisoned food supply, war, nuclear waste, lack of potable water, you name it.

However, once we're gone, the earth will actually heal itself and thrive. Until the sun decides to give up the ghost a few billion years hence.

[upaloopa]

32. I think it is pretty elitist to think the end of

human civilization will be the end of the world.
I think after we are gone the earth will repair itself and exist long after we are gone.

[ruffburr]

36. Thank You !

The planet will heal and remain, humans not so much

[yuiyoshida]

33. Well I would think a fairly large Asteroid

slamming into the earth like it did during the age of the Dinosaurs would be a significant concern. Could you imagine the Tsunami caused by an asteroid slamming into the Atlantic or Pacific?? God, would that be scary to see your death coming that way!

[Politicalboi]

34. Climate Change IMO will do us in

I think we'll be lucky to get 30 mores years out of this mess. The chain reaction to rising temps and bugs and viruses that couldn't survive before will thrive. When our oceans die we die. Oceans create clouds, no clouds no rain, no rain no life.

[KansDem]

35. I think it will be an alien invasion of zombies and something else that will land on Earth...

...for a worldwide revolution declaring judgment day for climate change and instead of an apocalypse we'll have nuclear war.

[lumberjack_jeff]

37. Gray goo / Pandemic

The former really would be the end of the world, the latter just the people on it.

[Agnosticsherbet]

38. In a few billion years, the sun will expand to a red giant start.

engulf the eath, a creamate the planet.

The matter left over form the eath, including us, will likely join with the panatary nebula that is left behind when the sun collapses to a white dwarf.

We may become part of other suns, other planets, and even other life.

Ultimately, the heat death of the universe will lead to all mater ceasing to exist.

[forsaken mortal]

40. fossil fuels

Earth's gas tank isn't infinite the way conservatives like to pretend it is. Once we run out of vast reserves of hydrocarbons, civilization as we know it will disappear unless we stop being stupid and start pouring serious research into alternative energy.

[tularetom]

41. The world will end when the sun expands and turns it into space dust

Life on earth will end a few million years before that happens and human life will probably be among the first life forms to face extinction. I envision a sort of reverse evolution or devolution as humans adapt to changing climatic and geological conditions, until we're all basically anaerobic bacteria just before we become cinders.

[bigwillq]

42. I think I took this survey.

I take many YouGov surveys.

I said "Climate Change"

I think the world will 'end' because of some weather-related event.

[marlakay]

44. I belong to yougov too

I don't get these cool surveys, mostly get asked about products and some polical stuff.

I feel split on this question part of me thinks what you said and other part of me thinks some idiot who doesn't care if people live or die will some day get nukes.