How life on earth could end, pick the one you think is most likely and Why?

[igame]

1) Artificial intelligence

It has been suggested that learning computers that rapidly become superintelligent may take unforeseen actions or that robots would out-compete humanity.Because of its exceptional scheduling and organizational capability and the range of novel technologies it could develop, it is possible that the first Earth superintelligence to emerge could rapidly become matchless and unrivaled: conceivably it would be able to bring about almost any possible outcome, and be able to foil virtually any attempt that threatened to prevent it achieving its desires. It could eliminate, wiping out if it chose, any other challenging rival intellects; alternatively it might manipulate or persuade them to change their behavior towards its own interests, or it may merely obstruct their attempts at interference.

2) Climate change and ecology

It has been suggested that runaway global warming (runaway climate change) might cause the climate on Earth to become like Venus, which would make it uninhabitable. In less extreme scenarios it could cause the end of civilization, as we know it

3) Global pandemic

A less predictable scenario is a global pandemic. For example, if HIV were to mutate and become as transmissible as the common cold, the consequences would be disastrous.

4) World population and agricultural crisis

The energy for the Green Revolution was provided by fossil fuels in the form of fertilizers (natural gas), pesticides (oil), and hydrocarbon fueled irrigation. David Pimentel, professor of ecology and agriculture at Cornell University, and Mario Giampietro, senior researcher at the National Research Institute on Food and Nutrition (INRAN), place in their study Food, Land, Population and the U.S. Economy the maximum U.S. population for a sustainable economy at 200 million. To achieve a sustainable economy and avert disaster, the United States must reduce its population by at least one-third, and world population will have to be reduced by two-thirds, says the study.
The authors of this study believe that the mentioned agricultural crisis will only begin to impact us after 2020, and will not become critical until 2050. Geologist Dale Allen Pfeiffer claims that coming decades could see spiraling food prices without relief and massive starvation on a global level such as never experienced before.

5) Cosmic threats

A number of other scenarios have been suggested. Massive objects, e.g., a star, large planet or black hole, could be catastrophic if a close encounter occurred in the solar system. (Gravity from the wandering objects might disrupt orbits and/or fling bodies into other objects, thus resulting in meteorite impacts or climate change. Also, heat from the wandering objects might cause extinctions; tidal forces could cause erosion along our coastlines.) Another threat might come from gamma ray bursts.
The Cretaceous-Tertiary asteroid, is theorized to have caused the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. If such an object struck Earth it could have a serious impact on civilization. It is even possible that humanity would be completely destroyed; for this to occur the asteroid would need to be at least 1 km (0.62 mi) in diameter, but probably between 3 and 10 km (2–6 miles).[66] Asteroids with a 1 km diameter have impacted the Earth on average once every 500,000 years

6) War and Nuclear Winter

The nuclear winter scenario predicts that the huge fires caused by nuclear explosions (from burning urban areas) would loft massive amounts of dense smoke from the fires, into the upper troposphere / stratosphere. At 10-15 kilometers (6–9 miles) above the Earth's surface, the absorption of sunlight would further heat the smoke, lifting some, or all of it, into the stratosphere, to where the smoke would persist for years, with no rain to wash it out. This aerosol of particles would block out much of the sun's light from reaching the surface, causing surface temperatures to drop drastically

[Job for a Cowboy]

None, humanity will survive. If a meteor hit the earth and 99% of the population was killed off, there would still be tens of millions of humans left alive. And if even more were killed, there would be thousands hiding out in bunker shelters.

[Sarahstrasza]

Humans could only survive in a bunker for so long. We aren't built Roach Strong.

[Maharishi]

What's your definition of end of the world? End of the human race? And if so, would you consider a transhuman evolution to be the end of our world?

[Deleted]

out of those i think nuclear war or overpopulation are most likely, but i still dont think either would kill everyone off.

[elgato]

Other:

To just say "life" you are being vague. The planet has gone though something like six massive extinctions. So it's safe to say that life will continue to exist on this planet for a very long time. Life will end once the planet itself can no longer support it, and seeing how the planet has always recovered, it would have to be from an outside source, mainly, the sun expanding and heating the planet beyond the point of supporting life.

I didn't choose "cosmic threats" because the sun expanding isn't a threat, its an inevitability.

[Deleted]

Totally betting on Skynet.

[jibbyjackjoe]

Zombies. Maybe not in the brain sucking way we think of them in the movies. But, some sort of parasite that enters our systems and causes us to kill each other, mindlessly and without remorse.

AI was a close, close second.

[theyogurt]

honestly I am a huge fan of end of the world type movies and Ive thought about this topic quite a bit. First of all, all of your scenarios are valid assumptions. In my opinion, I think the most likely would be some sort of global pandemic. With the rise of everyone using sanitizers for freakin everything nowadays and with almost all soaps and cleaners being 99.9% effective in killing bacteria and viruses, I mean think about it, every store now has sanitizing wipes at the entrance for carts and stuff. Peoples immune systems will be getting weaker and weaker and wont be able to fight off any infections. I think its just a matter of time before the viruses and bacteria evolve enough to make them immune to it. Then were going to have some huge pandemic spreading worldwide and no way to stop it.

edit: im not a scientist or anything but from what i understand viruses and bacteria do and can evolve and morph

[igame]

None, humanity will survive. If a meteor hit the earth and 99% of the population was killed off, there would still be tens of millions of humans left alive. And if even more were killed, there would be thousands hiding out in bunker shelters.

A large enough impact would cover the atmosphere with dust which would completely block off sunlight. Bunkers will not guard against cosmic threats.

[Job for a Cowboy]

Zombies. Maybe not in the brain sucking way we think of them in the movies. But, some sort of parasite that enters our systems and causes us to kill each other, mindlessly and without remorse.

AI was a close, close second.

I can think of a whole huge group of people who do that already, although you could say they're infected, just not with a parasite.

[igame]

What's your definition of end of the world? End of the human race? And if so, would you consider a transhuman evolution to be the end of our world?

An interesting line of thought but we all know evolution takes too long and is too unpredictable. A more likely scenario might be humans and machines combined into some form of cyborg race because with the advances in limb implants etc, it is only a matter of time we are able to create certain parts of body which funtion better than the real ones and grant us more strength etc?

[Maharishi]

An interesting line of thought but we all know evolution takes too long and is too unpredictable. A more likely scenario might be humans and machines combined into some form of cyborg race because with the advances in limb implants etc, it is only a matter of time we are able to create certain parts of body which funtion better than the real ones and grant us more strength etc?

That's what transhumansim is. Eventually becoming "post human" by the integration of biological and technological manipulation.

[anveena]

War/nuclear winter, the more countries that obtain nuclear weapons the more likely we are to have a nuclear exchange between countries. An going by our past as a race we see how violent we truly are, it's only a matter of time before a we have another huge war.

[theyogurt]

and also on a another note, the world and all its inhabitants will cease to exist eventually. The sun will burn out and go supernova but that wont be for like millions or years or something like that. Its a question what will, if anything, happen before that? :\

[igame]

That's what transhumansim is. Eventually becoming "post human" by the integration of biological and technological manipulation.

Ah, interesting indeed but wouldn't even transhuman species still be vulnerable to some of the threats listed above?

[DarkBlade6]

IMO Life will always stay on earth as long as it isnt destroyed or moved really far away from his orbite. But thats inevatable the sun will destroy it at some point.

[Maharishi]

Ah, interesting indeed but wouldn't even transhuman species still be vulnerable to some of the threats listed above?

To clarify my point, I think achievement of a "post human" state is the most likely outcome of humanity. I was asking whether you think this borgification would constitute an "end of life" scenario for your poll.

[StationaryHawk]

War/nuclear winter, the more countries that obtain nuclear weapons the more likely we are to have a nuclear exchange between countries. An going by our past as a race we see how violent we truly are, it's only a matter of time before a we have another huge war.

Basically what I believe. The human race will destroy itself eventually, likely through the use of nuclear weaponry (assuming a more deadly weapon is not invented prior to this). If this doesn't wipe out ALL life on Earth, it will certainly be wiped out when the Sun explodes.

[Lagwin]

1) Artificial intelligence, i cant really see that causing much of a problem...an outside chance that it might go pear shaped but if the AI was that intelligent it would get the fuck off earth

2) Climate change and ecology, climate change on the scale of Venus would need an outside factor i think other than that it's just going to be the typical hot /cold cycle

3) Global pandemic, again i doubt any pandemic would kill of the human race in it's entirety...there's always someone who's immune...even to HIV

4) World population and agricultural crisis, again no...at best it would cause a shit ton of wars and kill a load of people but once the population was down to a sustainable level the problems would stop

5) Cosmic threats, it's possible that this would be the one to wipe the human race out but the chances are really remote

6) War and Nuclear Winter, a nuke war would kill a lot of people but there are likely going to be places that are not hit or effected though it could come pretty close