Survey Finds 39% of US Adults Think World Is Ending
Before December 21, 2012, some people waited nervously for what they thought would be the end of the world.
Online, they talked about a Mayan calendar, which was said to have predicted that the world would end on that date. And the more they talked about it, the more they worried.
But when the day arrived, nothing happened. Everyone woke up as normal and the world relaxed — sort of.
Although fears of 2012 are long gone, 39% of US adults think we are living in "the end times," meaning the end of the world is coming soon. That's according to Pew Research Center.
Religion often plays a part in these fears, says Pew, because predictions of the end of the world are found in many religious texts.
More than 10,000 Americans with different religious beliefs took part in the 2022 survey, which was part of a larger survey about religion and the environment.
About 47% of Christians said they believe we are living in the end times, with 49% saying we aren't.
Numbers were lower among non-Christians, with about 30% of participants from other religions and 23% of participants with no religious beliefs saying they think the world will end soon.
According to the researchers, fears about the world ending are often linked to people's views on climate change.
While many of the participants in the survey think climate change is a serious problem, others were less concerned about it. This was especially true among people who have a "premillennialist" view — the belief that Jesus will return to Earth one day and the world will deteriorate until then.
