Joseph is not the only one who predicts something similar. Millions of people from five continents are convinced that our civilization will become extinct within five years. Or, at least, that we say goodbye forever to our current lifestyle.

That night, the solar system stands between the Earth and the core of the Milky Way for the first time in 26,000 years. And above all, at that moment will expire on schedule made two millennia ago by the Mayan astronomers, who prophesied all sorts of calamities for the ill-fated date.

Fireball:

Few things excite both human beings as a good Armageddon. We seem obsessed with redeeming our sins in a fireball. Thus, five years of the new world order, has mounted a successful industry around this time.

Of the top ten results of Google, nine contain dire predictions for humans and tips to protect yourself from the fury of God. The other is dedicated to the Olympic Games in London.

Meanwhile, Hollywood blockbusters and prepares two on the subject and U.S. stores are full of books analyzing the phenomenon. One of the most successful, “Apocalypse 2012″ (Ed. Blades of light), signed by Joseph himself, this week has come to our country.

This formerly of “New York Times checked the plausibility of these theories ancient sources and reviewing the latest scientific studies. “There is a three chance that within five years suffer a catastrophic transformation of our societies”, predicts. “That does not mean we all die, but we have to say goodbye to the world as we know it.”
It is curious to success in our society of these prophecies of questionable credibility.

It is as if the alleged imminence of disaster relief to tense citizenship in a world of unfathomable complexity. “We need to feel that everything makes sense,” says Paul Boyer, a historian at the University of Wisconsin and a specialist in prophecies. “Many prefer a catastrophic end to believe that the world is a purely accidental creation.

In addition, apocalyptic theories allow you to enter the select circle of those who know what is happening and therefore more likely to be saved. ”

For 2012, the club is formed by an unexpected coalition of Christian fundamentalists, experts of the Mayan civilization, hippies suspicious of technological and scientific advances reported wear our planet.

Although part of his circle of followers, Joseph makes every effort to disassociate himself from the most bizarre of this movement. “I have not had any divine revelation or the aliens have contacted,” he insists. “But I’m one of those skeptics who deny any notion that is not fully supported by tangible evidence.”

Time to extinction:

In his book, Joseph looks at various scenarios that could bring humanity to extinction. For example, remember the majestic Yellowstone volcano stars catastrophic explosions in cycles of 600,000 years, but it takes about 640,000 not erupt. Or that, after analyzing the fossil record, the University of Berkeley concluded that every 65 million years is a disaster that settles the vast majority of terrestrial species, the same period of time since the dinosaurs disappeared.

Few doubt that, sooner or later, our species will face an event of this nature. But if Joseph handles temporary fans so wide, where does your obsession with 2012 as the date of the disaster?

Here comes into play the main thesis of the book: that the end of humanity probably will be due to increased activity in the Sun “If only a Mayan prophecy foretold the end of the world, this issue would not have worried,” he says. “What convinced me that the situation is alarming was its coincidence with alarming phenomena on the solar surface.”

Our nearest star was not so revolt from 14,000 years ago, when the last Ice Age. And Joseph said that when the sun king sneezes, the Earth catches pneumonia: a couple of years ago, a week of intense solar storms coincided with Hurricane Katrina.

 And that the sun then crossed a valley in their activity: the peak will occur within a few years, exactly in 2012. Enough for the author to predict all types of disasters: his main concern is that a solar storm scorched the satellite network that enables the operation of modern societies.

Of course, no shortage of astrophysicists that these predictions are branded as alarmist. Or those skilled in Mesoamerican cultures that emphasize the Maya prophesized the end of the world within five years, but a mere “change of cycle.” But Joseph follows his own, hidden behind the argument that prevention is better than cure. “All I ask for improvements to the emergency services, to be published confidential data on solar activity and that people prepare for the worst, both materially and spiritually”