The world is said to end precisely at 6 p.m. in every time zone on December 21, 2012. The
Mayan calendar states that this date is the end of a 5,125 year cycle. Some call this the
2012 Phenomenon, 2012 Apocalypse, the end of the world, and the most recent, the
beginning of a new era. There have been several books, movies, and hour long tv specials
about this phenomenon, but is the world really going to end?

“[The world will not end because] the date keeps changing and in the past cultures they
believe the world ended lots of times,” said Community High sophomore Keegan Mackin.
Lydia Evans, also a sophomore said, “The world has been prophesied [to end] before. I
don’t understand why now.” Just like Mackin and Evans, Marcy McCormick, FOS (science) teacher at Community High, says, “We’re gonna find that tomorrow is just going to be another day.” Many people think that the world ending is just a myth or that the inscription was read wrong, but there are people who believe the world is
going to end.

In 1994 and 2011,  Harold Camping,an 89-year-old Christian fundamentalist and co-founder of Family Radio Network, predicted the world would end, better known as the “rapture,” yet we are still here. In 2000 there was a prediction that all the computers across the world would shut down, yet we still have the internet. There were 

many more similar predictions. We’ve seen and lived through the predictions of the world ending, but they all seem to have failed, so what makes 2012 any different? The most likely answer is that this time there is proof. Unlike the 2000 prediction, which was based on speculations, archaeologists have found an ancient Mayan text that talks about the “end date.” Though there is proof there is the “end date,” there is no written prediction for “the end of the world,” yet people are worried that the world will end.

There is worldwide panic, but the one country that stood out was Russia. According to the nytimes.com, a priest was summoned to a women’s prison after it was said that they were having “collective mass psychosis.” In addition The New York Times wrote that citizens in a
town east of Moscow left shelves that contained matches, kerosene, sugar and candles bare. There are some other countries like France, in which authorities are going to bar access to the Bugarach Mountain to keep out people who believe it is a sacred place that will that will protect them.

The most surprising place that is not panicking is Yucatán State in Mexico, which has a
large Mayan population. Instead of stocking up on matches, kerosene, sugar, and candles
like some in Russia are, Yucatán State’s citizens are preparing for a Mayan culture festival
that will happen on Dec. 21, 2012. To show that the world did not end and everything went
well they will also have a follow up festival in 2013.

We know that the Mayan artifact says there is a “end date,” but most people don’t know
how the world is going to end. Some people speculate that the sun will somehow draw the
black hole in our galaxy toward the Earth and create havoc. Other speculations include that
the planet Nibiru (also known as Planet X) will collide with Earth. NASA says, as quoted on
latimes.com, “the world will not end in 2012.” NASA also says “astronomers would have
been tracking it for at least the past decade, and it would be visible by now to the naked
eye,” so if the world was to run into Nibiru we would already be able to see the planet by
walking outside.

In addition to the scientific aspect NASA’s website also comments on the Mayan calendar
itself: “Just as the calendar you have on your kitchen wall does not cease to exist after
December 31, the Mayan calendar does not cease to exist on December 21, 2012,” said
the website. Though scientists believe the world will not end, the Griffith Observatory will be
open one minute after midnight to prove the world did not end.