Doomsday was supposed to happen in 1999, when we discovered the West Nile virus in the United States. When summer passed and the world didn't end, we pushed the apocalypse back to 2000, and we focused all our fears on the dreaded Y2K.

Once we made it through the first days of the new millennium, we quickly convinced ourselves that the Bird Flu epidemic would surely bring an end to civilization. Somehow, we managed to muddle through all of this, only to face the ancient Mayan prophecy, which purportedly claimed that the world would end in 2012 (hey, we still have that bad movie as a reminder!).

Now, my throat may be a little scratchy from seasonal allergies, and I might have a burn on the top of my mouth from drinking tea that was a tad too hot, but other than that, it seems that I've managed to make it through the end of the world relatively unscathed. In fact, it seems that nearly everyone made it through these doomsday scenarios pretty much intact. So although I hate to make sweeping generalizations, I have to say that we might be just a *little* too obsessed with the end of the world. Below are some things that could actually pose a threat to Earth, and when we might need to start worrying about them (Click for a larger image).

Image via BBC Future

SEE ALSO: Timeline of the Far Future


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