The Doomsday Clock famously depicts how close humanity is to the end of the world.
Every year, scientists at the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists publish their judgement of how close the clock’s hands sit to midnight. In this metaphor, midnight represents the risk of impending global disaster.
- Hundreds of snakes awoke early from hibernation. Had they predicted the deadly earthquake that followed?
- Mega volcanoes, asteroid impacts and global cooling: The five deadly mass extinctions that changed life on Earth as we know it forever
However, it’s far from being the only doomsday prophecy in the world – from ravens leaving the Tower of London to an enormous Antarctic glacier dubbed the ‘Doomsday Glacier’.
Doomsday prophecies
Ravens leaving the Tower of London
“If the ravens leave the Tower, the kingdom will fall...” So goes the legend of the ravens at the Tower of London.
The historic palace is home to at least six resident ravens. According to its official website, Charles II is thought to have been the first person to insist on the ravens being protected, after being warned about this prophecy.
However, the Tower of London’s historian has theorised that this popular mythology was actually a Victorian invention.
As the Tower ravens have been enlisted as ‘soldiers’ of the Kingdom since World War II, they can be dismissed for poor conduct – as one, Raven George, was for attacking TV aerials. But while some of the ravens have gone on the run (with Raven Grog last seen outside an East End pub in 1981), all six have not been missing at once.
- Crows have a reputation for being smart, but are they actually clever?
- Scientists wore Dick Cheney masks and were mobbed by crows – here’s why
Shooting an albatross
This seabird has long been associated with sailors, after its appearance in Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.
In the poem, the titular mariner shoots down an albatross while at sea. This curses the ship and causes its crew to face hardships. The mariner is forced to wear the dead albatross around his neck, with the bird becoming a metaphor for a psychological burden that feels like a curse.
This has been referenced in popular culture across TV, film, theatre, comedy and video games. However, it’s unlikely that this would have discouraged sailors at the time, as they often ate seabirds while at sea.
- Discover the birds with the biggest, most enormous wingspans – including one as long as a car
- Built for a life above the waves, this legendary long-distance glider has the world's biggest wingspan and can soar for thousands of kilometres without stopping
Doomsday fish surfacing
In ancient Japanese legend, a large fish known as “ryugu no tsukai” (which translates as “the messenger from the sea dragon god’s palace”) would travel up from the deep sea to warn humans when an earthquake was coming.
This led to oarfish being thought of as harbingers of doom. While this is unlikely to be true, an unusual circumstance occurred in 2011. Twenty oarfish stranded in the months before an earthquake and tsunami in Tōhoku (in Honshu, Japan) killed over 19,000 people.
In August 2024, beachgoers also found an oarfish that had washed up in California. Two days later, an earthquake struck.
- Discover the weird 'doomsday' fish, the eerie sea serpent-like monster that, according to legend, can 'foresee' deadly tsunamis
- Eerie and elusive 'doomsday fish' washes up on beach in Mexico
Doomsday glacier melting
Thwaites Glacier is a 40-mile-wide glacier found in the Antarctic. And while it isn’t the largest of its kind, according to the British Antarctic Survey, it’s “one of the most remote, rapidly changing and unstable glaciers” found there.
Located on the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, it’s approximately the size of Great Britain. It earned its nickname of ‘Doomsday Glacier’ because it is rapidly melting; the total collapse of Thwaites Glacier would trigger a dangerous rise in sea levels.
BBC Science Focus reports that complete meltdown would add half a metre to already-rising global sea levels – enough to submerge Manila and Bangkok, as well as parts of the Netherlands and eastern England.
While it’s unlikely that the total meltdown of the Doomsday Glacier can be entirely prevented, geoengineering projects are being researched in attempts to slow down its melt.
- Why scientists just drilled 1,000m to the bottom of the ‘Doomsday Glacier’
- Refreezing the Arctic, brightening the clouds so they reflect the sun's rays – the crazy but serious geoengineering ideas that could save our planet
Cockroaches and nuclear apocalypse
Cockroaches are associated with the end of the world for their supposed reputation to survive a nuclear apocalypse.
This association likely came after unverified reports of cockroaches emerging from the rubble left in the wake of the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
However, scientists agree that a cockroach’s nuclear resistance is exaggerated. While their resistance to radiation is far greater than humans, they can only survive between six to 15 times more than the lethal dose for humans.
If you’re looking for a more nuke-proof creature, the tardigrade can survive up to 1,000 times the lethal radiation dose for humans.
Demon Cat sightings
The Demon Cat is thought to haunt the corridors of the USA’s White House and the United States Capitol. When the Demon Cat appears on the ground floor of the White House, the apparition is said to foreshadow a horrifying event.
The first ‘sighting’ of this creature dates to the mid-1800s. A White House guard allegedly witnessed the Demon Cat before the 1929 stock market crash; another White House nightwatchman saw the Demon Cat prior to the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
