Is the World Going to End in 2012?

Recently, there has been lot of talk over the 'news' of world ending in the year 2012. A Hollywood film too was released with the '2012 apocalypse' as its theme, on 13th November, 2009. The truth however is, that there is no concrete evidence or a theory, which supports the argument that world is going to end in 2012.

Is the World Going to End in 2012?

The arguments/theories regarding the 2012 apocalypse need to be understood from various angles. It is important that we understand the truth by considering scientific research rather than believing in rumors and hoaxes about the world's end.

Pole Shift Theory
Predictions are made about the earth's poles shifting suddenly. As per these theories, the polar shifts would cause the mantle and crust to spin around the inner, liquid portion of the earth. Scientists have dismissed any such sudden shift. However, have agreed upon the fact that subtle shifts could take place. Such kind of shifts are attributed to radical changes in the mass distribution of the earth. The cause of change in mass distribution could be the melting of ice caps. Adam Maloof, a geologist from the Princeton University says, that earth has undergone drastic changes in the process of rearrangement of continents earlier. However, the pace of these changes was too slow for humans to feel them.

Myths about Mayan Calendar
The year 2012 is the last year in the 'Mayan' or 'Mesoamerican Long Count calendar'. It is said that the 5,125 year old cycle of the Mayan calendar ends on 21st or 23rd December, 2012. However, the studies conducted by archaeologists suggest that 21st December, 2012 though is termed as a momentous day, the Mayan calendar doesn't end on this day. It is just the beginning of a new cycle. As per the Mayan calendar, December 2012 marks the end of an era which began on August 11, 3114 B.C. Therefore, the day succeeding the so-called 'apocalypse' will just be 'Day Zero' or 13.0.0.0.0 in the Mayan calendar.

Galactic Alignment
According to some sky-watchers, a special kind of galactic alignment would take place in December, 2012. Sun's path would cross through the midpoint of our galaxy (Milky Way). This alignment would exert galactic forces on the earth leading to pole shift. As per the scientists (Morrison) from NASA, such alignments occur at the time of every winter solstice. These alignments are of no significance from the point of gravitational pulls, planetary orbits or solar radiation. Therefore, the chances of such alignments causing any damage to the earth from the point of astronomy are zero.

Jain Beliefs and Apocalypse
According to Jain beliefs, 'time' is divided into sections on a cosmic wheel. This cosmic wheel is also known as 'Kalachakra'. The wheel of time moves from one phase to other, seamlessly without creating any kind of apocalyptic changes. The two halves of this cosmic wheel are 'Utsarpini' (ascending time cycle) and 'Avasarpini' (descending time cycle), each divided into six sub- sections. The quality of life (natural resources, natural disasters, etc.) degenerates in the descending time cycle; the ascending time cycle is opposite to that of the descending. As of today, 2,537 years of the fifth 'ara' (sub-section) of the 'Avasarpini' have elapsed; still 18,463 years of the fifth ara plus 21,000 years of the last (sixth) ara are yet to elapse. At the end of the sixth and last ara, the time wheel would just reverse into the ascending cycle ('Utsarpini') without any drastic changes. The apocalyptic consequences are therefore, not given importance in Jainism.

The question, of whether the world is going to end in 2012 has been answered with a big 'NO' by the scientist fraternity. Most of the changes that are going to take place in the earth's crust are subtle and won't lead to natural disasters of any kind. Thus, one should stop believing the rumors about 2012 and continue with life as usual.