The apocalypse may be a popular subject of sci-fi films, but there are some very real scientific theories in danger of becoming reality.
These include being blown to smithereens as an asteroid smashes into Earth and a highly infectious pandemic that wipes out huge swathes of the global population within days.
However, the most probable is the eruption of a supervolcano, according to a feature in How It Works , which details seven of the most devastating scenarios and threats facing mankind.
A SUPERVOLCANO BLOWS
Supervolcanoes are the leviathans of volcanism.
Defined by their ability to blast more than 240 cubic miles (1,000 cubic kilometres) of material into the air, they are a thousand times larger than the 1980 Mount Saint Helens eruption – the most destructive volcanic eruption in recorded US history.
Geologists have never witnessed a supervolcanic eruption, but by looking at remnants of previous cataclysms, they can piece together alarming details.
These eruptions could rain debris and fiery destruction on a geographical region as large as Europe, but it would be the gases they inject into the stratosphere that could spell disaster for humanity.
During a super-eruption, a scalding plume of gas would belch almost to the edge of space.
Levelling off, it would spread out around the globe, forming a veil of sulphate aerosols that would persist for several years and trigger a volcanic winter.
The veil would reflect and absorb incoming solar radiation, warming the upper atmosphere and preventing heat from reaching the surface.
The result would be extreme instability in the climate system.
Surface temperatures would tumble rapidly, leading to agricultural collapse and famine and some even speculate these conditions could lead to the onset of an Ice Age.
Thankfully, such catastrophic super-eruptions are rare.
The last we know of occurred 27,000 years ago in New Zealand.
But they are inevitable and critically, we have no idea when the next one will strike and absolutely no way to prevent it.
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