The end of the world is nigh, again

CHRISTCHURCH – It seems no year is complete without a doomsday prediction or two and – despite every prophecy to date being demonstrably wrong – 2015 is proving no exception, with everyone from evangelical preachers to the New Zealand Skeptics studying the latest predictions of the coming apocalypse.

In the case of the New Zealand Skeptics, it’s because their 2015 Conference has the theme “Apocalypse How?”.

The group will be taking an analytical look at the many and diverse ways in which the world is supposed to end.

Rampant genetic engineering, hurtling asteroids, zombie invasions, pandemics or environmental collapse are some of the possibilites

“We’ve lived through the predicted end of the world so many times,we’ve lost count,” said Skeptics spokesperson Vicki Hyde.

“There’s been the Mayan calendar countdown, the Millenium Bug debacle, the May 21 2012 non-rapturous Second Coming, countless comet and asteroid no-shows, and we’re all still here.”

There have been dire predictions of world doom this coming week based on regular lunar eclipse cycles – and November is predicted to see no fewer than three huge asteroid impacts creating massive earthquakes and a tsunami.

Hyde is confident these latest doomsday dates will pass with no major incident of note, except for the Skeptics Conference.

“Like all our conferences, there will be a lot of education and entertainment. We need to know which end-of-the-world scenarios have any evidence behind them so we can prepare properly.

“We predict that such preparations will not involve digging bunkers, euthanasing pets or wearing white robes.”

The 2015 NZ Skeptics Conference is being held November 20-22, at the Rochester-Rutherford Halls in Christchurch, and is open to all comers– but only if the world has not come to an end by then.