THE doomsday scenarios are based supposedly on ancient Mayan texts that are said by some to predict the end of the world as we know it.
However, despite being turned into the basis for a Hollywood movie of the same name, the year 2012 may not be the end of everything after all.
The 2012 phenomenon comprises a range of eschatological beliefs according to which cataclysmic or transformative events will occur on December 21, 2012.
This date is regarded as the end date of a 5,125-year-long cycle in the Mayan and Hopi Mesoamerican Long Count calendar.
Various astronomical alignments and numerological formulae have been proposed for the date, though none have been accepted by mainstream scholars.
One interpretation is that the date marks the start of time in which Earth and its inhabitants may undergo a positive physical or spiritual transformation, and that 2012 may mark the beginning of a new era.
Others suggest that the 2012 date marks the end of the world or a similar catastrophe.
Scenarios suggested for the end of the world include the arrival of the next solar maximum, an interaction between Earth and the black hole at the centre of the galaxy, or Earth’s collision with a planet called Nibiru.
But even if the predictions are considered by most to be farfetched, that does not mean they are not believed by some.
According to a poll by Ipsos, a global research company, approximately one in seven believe the world will come to an end during their lifetime.
One in ten believes that the Mayan prediction marks the end of the world while another one in ten acknowledges they have had fear and anxiety issues due to the impending December 21, 2012 doomsday prediction.
Of the countries polled, China had the largest number of Mayan doomsday prediction believers at 20 per cent of those polled while the lowest percentage was from Germany and Indonesia at four per cent.
