Morning all! or evening or if you live on Mercury, it would be 59 days until it's lunch again. Today I'm going to start the blog series called "ways to end the world" that you may have seen in my blog teasers of my year anniversary of being on IGN and the start of something on a video game site... that has nothing much to do with video games. 0_0 In IGN years, I'm still an infant. It's based off the programme known as 10 ways the world could end, exploring the natural, astronomical and Human causes where you can view the 2 parts here. 
Although with my list so that I can see what other people think, whether people agree or disagree and what your lists would be. Unfortunately it will only be a list of 5 events but since it's a series, it will go as far as a new century (100 years) of events for each blog. That doesn't mean I'll be writing 1,000,000 words for each blog every 100 years and no, I won't try to sound like Brian Cox. 
He's not exactly my role model when it comes to spacy or info stuff.
So enough of the introduction! I'll start from the lowest to the highest of the most likely events that could threaten Humanity's existence and future but I won't try to talk too scientificy just in case you get bored taking a liking to Call of Duty and I will use some wallpapers and a few clips so that you don't turn in to zombies.
As the drums role to find out what the lowest of the most likely is, I may get a little criticism for it but oh well. So here it is. The fifth of my most likely is...
5. Alien invasion/Contamination
Now I don't necessarily mean aliens as in the usual abductors in black suits or the common rogue Jar Jar Binks species but also little green aliens. Literally, as in little microbes and bacteria that could really... live anywhere in space. 0_0 That's right! Many people disbelieve in alien life and automatically think that they can't exist because of the state of our own Solar System. However remember, we are still a very young species in terms space faring (good news for the galactic empire) and we have discovered that life doesn't really need the essentials like Humans do. Areas thousands of miles deep in the ocean away from the sunlight or within pools of sulfuric acid where water becomes acidic, life seems to thrive everywhere on Earth with a newly found species known as extremophiles which basically has no boundaries of life and death. Frozen landscape, still alive. Asteroid impact, still alive. Thrown in to the vacuum of space... still alive!!!... I think, but what does this all mean for Humans?
Well lets take a current day example. One of Jupiter's moons known as Europa, is constantly being stretched and squeezed by the mother planet's gravitational force and radiation. So the core and inside of the planet begins to heat and bubble up. Like something out of a sci-fi movie.
(I think this is the wrong world... but it sure makes a nice place to hide ice lollies!)
However despite delays to send a probe to gather valuable data, we can only speculate but most scientists and astronomers alike, consider a 99% chance that there is liquid water beneath the surface, teaming with microbial life... and the possibility of the extra-terrestrial Loch Ness monster! 0_0 Yes there is that dark, disgusting 1% where it could just be a squishy sleet like the unfortunate yet inevitable times when snow starts to melt.
However who knows?! Maybe Europa doesn't even exist and it was just out imagination or it turns out to be a warship created by the order of Darth Vader. I mean lookat the comparison of Saturn's moon, Mimas and the Death Star.
However if we do discover life, no matter what it is, it will answer one of the Universe' greatest mysteries, are we alone? Say if we did find microbial life, we will likely develop techniques to capsule it within satellites and somehow bring them back to Earth. Not to mention the massive feats of penetrating through the ice but this would be put to high amounts of study... but as we start finding more of this microbial life, there is the chance of it becoming more dangerous. As Humans develop more technology or discover a more of a material, it's much easy to spread creating disease and maybe even changing the structure of Human DNA. Drugs like steroids were originally used to win sporting event in the Cold War. Now it's easy for drugs and medication to be bought from the internet (I don't recommend you do this at all). Think of what would happen if this happened with alien life. Life beyond Earth will not behave in the same ways as life as we know it. It could damage Human genetics and other forms of life. Biologists and scientists always use procedures to protect themselves when examining asteroid fragments as to not affect the material but also not to become contaminated. No it's not with the use of clothing such as...
Although I only ranked it as No.5 as it's still an unknown. I believe that life started from space with the impacts of comets since they many microbes can survive in harsh environments including the vacuum of Space, underwater thermal vents with high amounts of energy to survive around and within volcanic water pools of sluge. However it's still not fully clear whether any of these microbes could cause significant harm or affect the changes in evolution and still a skeptical subject as there is a 0.01% chance that the theory where life came from asteroids and comets.
So after a long talk about life in the biological context, here's the next choice on the list...
4. World War 3
Now I'm not gonna say the Americans, Russians, Chinese and North Koreans will be the next stars of a new Call of Duty game but rather why would a war start in the first place. Well funny facts is that many people believe the cold war and terror wars make up world war 3 and 4 already. Some people think the next world war will be world war 7? 0_o Well the reason I included this may not a surprise to many. War can not be as easily created with more sophisticated societies. It's much less based on ideologies, territories, religion and ethnic groups for already developed countries (MEDCs).
So how then could a war start? Well I think the choices become more limited if it's not caused by the Arnie terminator or an alien invasion but not impossible. As we become more globally connected, it allows us to become more innovative but also more dependant on each other like with the recession and many shortages in oil, food and even water supplies are being drained dry. This could result in the very own water and food wars brought about from starvation, lack of resources and pure desperation due to climate change and global warming and increasing population which has lead to the end of many civilizations so these aren't a very good combination of scenarios you would want to experience.
It could also be down to individual uprisings since like with the alien contamination, many weapons can be bought from many areas around the world and within developing countries (LEDCs), this has taken a toll for the worst.
The USA and Russia alone has hundreds of nuclear, biological and other forms of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). With all the amount of nuclear weapons used, it could kill 8 billion of the Human population which is already over the current amount representing it's destructive power. Although many people think that once someone starts firing missiles like a headless chicken, it will create a chain reaction which would eventually lead to a scenario equivalent to the extinction of the Dinosaurs. I do not believe this and here's my reason. It would be unlikely to fire weapons all over the place. As a species, we have gained more knowledge in to what the potential of world changing weapons could do and our newly found capabilities to create war on a global scale. With this in mind, the radiation and the gases produced would create what's called smog (a white gas that blocks sunlight) so that we'll once again end up in another ice age and another icy wallpaper!
The higher the amount of smog produced, the less heat is allowed to reach the Earth's surface so temperatures will plummet globally and with the increased rate of surface albedo (white surfaces that reflect heat energy and radiation), we might have to wave goodbye to our neighbour star and close friend with the tourism industry for say... maybe a few hundred to thousand years... if we're lucky. Most likely tens of thousands of years. This will shortage agriculture and food supplies everywhere as global temperatures struggle to remain above freezing but whether Humans can survive depends on if we're able to develop new lives underground with out latest technologies. Essentially becoming a snowball Earth and by the time, it's safe to move out again, the world may have a completely different face. Like say an iceberg has hit Scotland! 0_0
So in the end, world war 3 ranks as the 4th highest out of the events that could threaten Humanity within the next century and now's on to the next event...
3. Human desperation for survival
Now many of you may be thinking that world war 3 is part of this but I believe it is divided in to 2 sections. WW3 would be the offence and may be caused by many other reasons but this factor is out of good will which you may not think that's a bad thing but sometimes the things that we intend to mend, we could actually make worse.
Just think, our world's still changing, the recession's causing a great deal of damage on the stock markets resulting in businesses to collapse and a zombie economy (zombie economy being businesses only just staying a float, not that we need to worry about our brains), climate change is creating severe weather patterns with biomes shifting and new wildlife and vegetation migrating to the area and global warming creating a rise in sea levels where many places like the Maldives... are doomed!!! However do not threat! Humanity is able to speed up these changes but also slow them down so that we can save the world. Yay!
Well not so fast! You may have seen in the second part to the episode where geoengineering is used so that we can control global patterns and environments. This is only briefly taught in schools if at all but that doesn't make it less any less hazardous. Say we blocked the sunlight reaching the northern area of the Atlantic ocean or produced some sort of chemical in to a region where global warming is having a large impact on it's native population, we could end up freezing the whole northern hemisphere (this would be cool boarders for real!) and bizarre environments, possibly creating a death toll in the food chain and thus creating starvation for all of us!
At the moment, geoengineering is in the talking stages however there are these several designs and artwork that depicts what it could look like.
Even if it is dangerous to tamper with environments and cycles we don't fully understand, if Humans feel unable to cope with survival in the next few decades, there's there no doubt that we may attempt it not matter what the cost which is why it ranks as number 3 on the list.
2. Cybernetic revolt
A famous form of fiction and also a favourite of one of my genres, a cybernetic revolt represents when advanced technology and machinery alike, turns against us whether because they believe we're a threat or to protect us from creating harm amongst other species or something and with the increased amount of technologies being developed, it's no wonder that scientists and experts are taking a keen interest of the possible advantages but also many of the dangers that cybernetics could bring.
We have moved from large bricks as phones for communication to small mobile phones which can fit in the palm of your hand and we have transferred from having memory cards, to HDDs. However there is the notion that not only is technology becoming more insightful and advanced than ever before, it's speeding up. With that in mind, the creation of artificial intelligence as early as 2020, most commonly known as an AI, is in no doubt just a few years away. It will be a great achievement for Humanity and technology but at what cost? If not handled properly, it could bring the very end of the Human race and maybe all life since it would out think us in almost every way. On the episode, there is a quote, "When we create an AI for the first time which turns out to be evil, the safe assumption is that we've already lost." This I do believe is partly true since we could just create another form of AI to combat it although it could be programmed to evolute in it's own cybernetic ways and take control of other systems and multiply so that if we do survive, we'l be left like cavemen driven out of urban areas of development and possibly even enslaved.
However it may not be an intentional factor but maybe still be threatening to Humanity's existence. As we create technology, Human jobs are lost and replaced by more efficient machinery so many people will be left jobless, homeless and then eventually, the whole labour force could be run robots. This is the worst case scenario but is still possible. The line between Human and AI may blur when our virtual world becomes our world and we become lost within everything to do with the real world because it offers us to escape from reality and in to our dreams. Maybe it's already happening... Minecraft!!!
There is really nothing we can do to stop this development in technology unless Humanity wanted to stop advancing or take the time to think about alternatives to help improve with everyday life and infrastructure... like superpowers!!! At the end of the day, it just depends on whether we can keep up with technology... or become outrunned by our very own creations!!!
This leads on to the final event that could threaten Humanity and could be what I may receive the most controversy for but oh well, I'll say it anyways. The most likely event to threaten Human kind within the century is...
1. Human devolution... in a way
This is probably making you scratch your heads right now but think that we have become much more reliant on technology yes but less passion for many things in life. This doesn't apply to every Human being. I know that there are always people willing to put the work and effort in to things whereas many others become lazy (possibly includes me) because of the increase in entertainment and the fact that we are less reliant on many things to keep us alive such as we no longer have to work for food or risk losing our lives in the caveman context but could this make us arrogant? With the increased technological efficiency, we may start to use devices such as video games and films much more often which does actually have an affect on the brain by essentially reducing it's learning power and possibly by as early as 2050, we may even merge with cybernetics which links in with un-intentional factor.
This is what I believe to be the most threatening to Humanity's existence. I think that it will be the most controversial since people will be affected by technology in different ways but you can't deny that technology seems to be taking over and with the next generation of Humans, we could be see an even greater affect of the way Humans are brought up and eventually lost in the virtual world which seems to be closer than we realize.
So that's it I'm afraid. If you have something to say, please don't hesitate to write in the comments below. I would appreciate any feedback since I'm not sure whether my blog post maybe confusing for many. If you think it should be more upbeat and less scienticificy as well as if you would like to see more of these kinds of blogs, let me know.
Have a good day!