A hypothetical
disaster is any sort of major world disaster, human-wrought or natural, for
which there is no known historical or geological evidence but scientists
have speculated to be possible.
List of Hypothetical Disasters:
Mega Earthquake
A Mega Earthquake is an earthquake exceeding magnitude 9 on the richter
scale. Earthquakes of up to magnitude 9.5 (for example the Great Chilean
Earthquake) have been recorded.
Megatsunami
Very large tsunamis can be triggered by meteorite impacts or landslides
into a sea. Geological evidence shows megatsunamis have happened in the past.
One candidate landslide site is in the Canary Islands, with potential to send
a catastrophic tsunami to the East Coast of the USA.
Large meteorite impacts
The effects of large meteorite impacts can have global effects — tsunamis,
fires, and nuclear winter. Meteorites are believed to have killed significant
numbers of species in the past, famously the mass extinction of dinosaurs
some 65 million years ago.
Super Hurricane
A Super Hurricane (or Typhoon or Cyclone) is a very powerful tropical cyclone
with winds that can be at or over 200 mph and sometimes a mass that can be
over 1,000 miles wide in diameter. Such storms have been theorized since the
1800's, but have never been observed. Since the 1960's numerious storms in
the Pacific were said to have winds above 200 mph but they are difficult to
verify due to the techology at the time.
Extreme Firestorm
Extreme Firestorms are disaters in which the fire consumes a very large
area. Hypothetically many movies and novels described the world being consumed
by a huge firestorm. In modern terms, an extreme firestorm is a fire destroying
an entire city, state or country.
Massive Pandemic
A massive Pandemic is a serious outbreak of a potentially fatal disese.
Pandemics have occurred in the past; e.g. Black Death in the 1400s and the
Spanish Flu of 1918. Many scientists believe that there will be another great
Pandemic or Epidemic in the near future, quite possibly an outbreak of avian
influenza.
Supervolcano
A very large volcanic eruption can cause a nuclear winter effect on a global
scale. The Yellowstone Caldera is a famous repeating supervolcano.
Astrophysical events
It has been theorized that at least in one occasion mass extinctions, the
Ordovician-Silurian extinction events, were caused by a hypernova. The explosion
of a nearby hypergiant star (100-200 times bigger than our own Sun) can generate
a gamma-ray burst with potential to destroy the majority of life on Earth.
Other cataclysmic stellar events may have similar effects, such as the merger
of two neutron stars. The processes that produce high energy gamma-ray bursts
are unknown.
Mega Heatwave or Greenhouse Effect
A Mega Heatwave is an extreme kind of heatwave that affects a large area.
This disaster can last for months or years compared to normal heatwave and
can happen in a sudden or steady rate (The Greenhouse Effect for example).
The effect of a mega heatwave is severe drought, famaine, melting of the polar
ice caps and loss of plant and animal life.
Global warming is believed to be slowly melting the polar ice caps. Sea
levels around the world would rise by several meters, permanently flooding
large areas of land. Global warming can also affect ecosystems, killing species
and causing draught and famine. This disaster is not likely to occur suddenly,
but over decades or centuries.
Third and Fourth World Wars
World Wars III and IV are hypothetical wars to follow World War II. The
numbering of the next World War is, however, disputed because some people
believe that the Cold War was World War III and the War on Terror is World
War IV.
Political Collapse, Mass Civil Disorder
Political Collapse and Mass Civil Disorder are disasters that occur when
a government is overthrown by force and a country is thrown into chaos or
even civil war by the after effect. Such disasters has happened in the past,
most recently in Iraq.
Widespread Economic Collapse
An Economic Collapse is a sudden and simultaneous downfall of an economy
worldwide. Economic collapses has happened in the past (e.g. Wall Street Crash
of 1929) but not on a global scale. It can have widespread results like the
Great Depression of the 1930's. A possible senario is that one country expriences
a economic crisis which causes a chain reaction until the whole world experiences
the direct and after effect. This can happen in days, weeks or months.
Terrorism
Terrorism has long plagued humankind on a local scale. With the possibility
of weapons of mass destruction falling into terrorists' hands terrorism has
the potential to affect ever larger populations.
Sudden mass migration
As an effect of another disaster, large numbers of people from one country
can flee to neighbouring countries. This sudden migration can cause a widespread
humanitarian problems, or trigger civil unrest. One disaster can thus trigger
an even more serious one.
