Will 2012 mark the end of the world?

Various global issues and ancient texts seem to indicate that the world will come to an end in 2012. The same has even formed the theme of Disaster Master Roland Emmerich’s latest movie, aptly called 2012. While the movie is sort of a modern retelling of the Biblical story of Noah’s Ark, experts justify the world is coming to an end theory with various other theories. Read on to find out what they are, and decide for yourself what you want to believe!

Theory One: Mayan calendar The first to predict 2012 as the end of the world were the Mayans, a bloodthirsty race that were good at two things -- building highly accurate astrological equipment out of stone and sacrificing virgins. Thousands of years ago, they managed to calculate the length of the lunar month as 29.53020 days, only 34 seconds off. The Mayan calendar predicts that the earth will end on December 21, 2012. Given that they were pretty close to the mark with the lunar cycle, it's likely they've got the end of the world right as well.

Theory two: Sun storms Solar experts from around the world monitoring the sun have made a startling discovery. The energy output of the sun is, like most things in nature, cyclic, and it's supposed to be in the middle of a period of relative stability. However, recent solar storms have been bombarding the earth with lot of radiation energy. It's been knocking out power grids and destroying satellites. This activity is predicted to get worse and calculations suggest it'll reach its deadly peak sometime in 2012.

Theory three: The atom smasher Scientists in Europe have been building the world's largest particle accelerator. Basically, its a 27 km tunnel designed to smash atoms together to find out what makes the universe tick. However, the mega-gadget has caused serious concern, with some scientists suggesting that it's probably even a bad idea to turn it on in the first place. They're predicting all manner of deadly results, including mini black holes. So when this machine is fired up for its first serious experiment in 2012, the world could be crushed into a super-dense blob the size of a basketball.

Theory four: The Bible says it. If having scientists warning us about the end of the world isn't bad enough, religious folks are getting in on the act as well. Interpretations of the Christian Bible reveal that the date for Armageddon, the final battle between good an evil, has been set for 2012. The I Ching, also known as the Chinese Book of Changes, says the same thing, as do various sections of the Hindu teachings.

Theory five: Super volcano Yellowstone National Park in United States is famous for its thermal springs and Old Faithful (geyser). The reason for this is simple -- it's sitting on top of the world's biggest volcano and geological experts are beginning to get nervous sweats. The Yellowstone volcano has a pattern of erupting every 650,000 years or so, and we're many years overdue for an explosion that will fill the atmosphere with ash, blocking the sun and plunging the earth into a frozen winter that could last up to 15,000 years. The pressure under the Yellowstone is building steadily, and geologists have set 2012 as a likely date for the big bang.

Theory six: The physicists Physicists at Berkely University have been crunching the numbers. They've determined that the earth is well overdue for a major catastrophic event, that we're all going to die very soon and that their prediction comes with a certainty of 99%; and 2012 just happens to be the best guess as to when it may occur.

Theory seven: Earth's magnetic field We all know the Earth is surrounded by a magnetic field that shields us from most of the sun's radiation. What you might not know is that the magnetic<