How will the human race end?

The dinosaurs had a nice long 65 million year run, but will homo the sapien last that long? Not likely.

</April Foolz>

Then disease.

The Hollow Men by T.S. Eliot

in high school. Reading it felt like a kick in the stomache; once I tried to do it as a dramatic interpretation for a college theater class, couldn't make it all of the way through the darn thing!

Eliot was so accurate in his psychological prescience.

Nothing major, nothing suden and catastrophic, just a series of events and changes to which humans are unable to adapt.

The bacteria have evolved to defeat our puny antibiotics.
We run out of oil, or it becomes so limited, no one can afford it.

Maybe no one is stupid enough to launch a nuclear attack, but we have several reactor meltdown incidents.

Wars, famine, plague.

Global climate change, not sudden enough to wipe everyone out at once, but enough so that most people can't survive.

Wars and famine as everyone fights for the inhabitable land remaining.

More disease we are unable to combat, just like humans for thousands of years couldn't stop it, we won't be able to either.

With each generation, the population declines as birth rates and life expectancy decrease - due to inhospitable conditions and insufficient food.

I don't know...

...in a tie? But that option is not there. :evilgrin:

;-)

There are so many of us, that killing us all off would be an incredible feat. Super Volcano? We've survived them before. Asteroid/comet collision? Civilization ending, but immediate damage is typiically limited to the hemisphere of impact. Nuclear war? Nukes don't generally target the little mountain villages with 300 people in them, so plenty of rural people would survive. Ice age? Ice ages are actually pretty pleasant. Precipitous drop in fertility rate? This is typically the result of overpopulation and levels off when population levels drop. Alien invaders from space? Makes for nice scifi, but the odds are so remote. Nanotechnology run amok? Grey goo is an overhyped concept that ignored the power consumption requirements that this type of end would require.

On the other hand, it only takes one whackjob with a lab to design an airborn virus that will wipe us all out.

On edit - and it doesn't even need to be bio-engineered (tho there's a good chance it would be)... Mother Nature can cook pretty well on her own sometimes.

RTP

Boy this is getting interesting. The possibilities are endless.

An asteroid strike is usually regarded by the general population as a somber event. It is certainly not thought of as a festive occasion as are more pedestrian cataclysmic occurances such as volcanic eruptions, total eclipses, and raptures. Indeed, there will probably not be much to cheer about as billions of tons of speeding space rock pound into the earth, wiping out civilization and making traffic simply unbearable. Still, it is recommended that we face disaster with style. Perhaps formal or funereal wear is suggested. Certainly, one should take care not to appear too frivolous. I would advise against strapless sandels and plunging necklines, except for the most svelte and photogenic among us. The subject of jewelry, though, would need to be revisited in light of the circumstances surrounding the event. I would suggest wearing somewhat more jewelry than is normally considered smart, if only because one's home, town, and entire infrastucture stand a good chance at being destroyed as the event culminates, because the jewelry might prove handy as leverage should one need to barter for food and weapons following the event, should one be lucky enough to have survived.

On the other hand, an earth-shaking event of this magnitude has not occurred for thousands and thousands of years, and certainly not within the collective memory of humankind. I wonder if this event could be treated more like a debut or a spring garden party. If so, perhaps some fashion creativity is called for. I do like thinking outside of the fashion box! If it's sunny and hot, I'd wear a floral dress or skirt with some fall colors in it — nothing that screams summer, even if it’s ninety degrees! After all, those temperatures should drop rapidly as tons of gas and dust spew into the air subsequent to the asteroid's impact and block the heating effects of the sun.

If it's cool — a twin set and skirt following the same color rules as above. A sheath dress and a shawl is another good choice. Although you wouldn’t be breaking any major fashion rules, I would stay away from the little black dress, especially if the invitation specifically mentions a "garden party" motif for viewing the asteroid strike. In terms of footwear, dark sandals are okay as long as they cover most of your foot, as opposed to a style such as a flip-flop that looks good in the middle of summer, but which might not wear well in the messy rubble that would almost certainly occur subsequent to a major asteroid strike. Slingbacks might be appropriate, too.

It always pays to be prepared by making wardrobe decisions far enough in advance that should one's valet burst into flame before the party, one might still manage to dress oneself properly.

... about 75,000 years ago as a result of the Toba explosion while none of the others have come nearly as close. Some scientists (such as Mike Rampino) claim that event left about 5000 to 10,000 remaining humans on the entire planet. In fact some speculate this event is the reason for the genetically homogeneous nature of Homo Sapiens.

RTP

On Edit - looks like someone voted s-v while I was writing this :)

Many of these have the potential to kill billions and end civilization as we know it, maybe even sending us back to living like we did hundreds of years ago, but to actually wipe out the human race completely?

I think of alien invasions much like the "invasion" of Europeans coming to the American continents. Although many tribes were completely wiped out, not all indigenous people were killed. I think if people from another planet came to earth it would be more like that than like those sci-fi thrillers.

A plague or pandemic is a possibility, but it is unlikely it would kill every single person on the planet.

As for the peak oil theories, some people would survive and start over again.

Global climate change? Humans survived ice ages before (and without electricity). People live in extremely hot climates and have for years.

My vote was for the asteroid. It has historical precedent.

Nuclear war? A more likely possiblity. Even if only a few targets were hit, the fall out would be catastrophic and possibly global. But, I don't think any nuclear attack would really involve ICBMs, but small, local devices in a relatively small area.

Actually I voted for comet/asteroid. But I felt someone had to speak up for the robots.

into robotic bodies we would have to worry about the environment any more! We wouldn't need clean air to breathe or growing plant life to eat. We could poison and polute the earth as much as we wanted!

It's party time!

I'm sure of it.

david

Asteroid as a trigger, plague to wipe out the weak, climate change to finish the job.

I read it in high school--which was quite some time ago. But, I remember that it pretty much starts with galactic-level events, such as thermal death or the sun going supernova and goes down to the planet level, such as asteroid collision. Worth checking out if you can find it.

I'm voting supernova myself ... it could happen any time without warning ... quick and painless.

Ugly fart monsters will arrive in a very correct dreeb mobile powered by anti imagination and fundamentalist self serving debunking crystals.

clearing the way for a hyperspace express route

make friends with the dolphins ;)

Think that evolution will eventually do y'all in.

to type capitals must be difficult when you have to hop on the keys

because I read that thing about the one in Indonesia today... and I think an pandemic would leave enough survivors for the race to go on.

Hey, it's as good a theory as any. :)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1358628

If it's not H5N1, it's a super volcano... I tell ya... I can't for the rapture!

I now understand the need of the 'out clause'!

I read the article and did some reading up on the volcano. It's the mother of all volcano's. I think we need to start rounding up virgins now!

getting out of control. Not a total end to the human race, but an end to civilization as we know it.
I don't know-I just have an insane fascination w/ superviruses.

individualism will be reduced. There will not be a robot takeover, yet the human spirit will be so diminished that we all begin to become robots, aside from the very elite. That is, until the end of the world.

If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever.

I can DREAM, can't I?

...to kill the mother of the guy who will eventually lead an armed resistance agaist them after they successfully take over the world in the aftermath of a nuculer war.

Really.

being a committed fan of Olaf Stapledon, i think mankind will have quite a long run, but by the time 1 million years are reached, we will not recognize what we became.

Bush is the Anti-Christ and we're all washed up. A mad scientist will loan Bush a doomsday machine, after a massive nuclear exchange with China fails to assure mutual destruction. Aliens will try to help us out after a major asteroid hit, but will then change their minds and just takeover, using their highly advanced nanotechnology, which they have allowed to run amok. Fertility rates will drop drastically due to radiation exposure, but it won't matter because Yellowstone is going to blow any day now, taking out Americans, Chinese, nuclear warriors, mad scientists, Bush, aliens, nanotechnology, infertile females, the whole works. Bah bye!