Popular culture has had a long-held fascination with doomsday scenarios. Books, movies, and news media have speculated on how it could come about and we love to let our imaginations run wild with images of burnt out cities, and small bands of people scavenging for supplies while evading cannibal gangs that want to rape and eat them.

But how likely are we to realistically see The End Of The World As We Know It?

Scientists from the Oxford University’s Future of Humanity Institute and the Global Challenges Foundation have performed serious research on the matter and have compiled a report of possible ways that human civilization might end.

“We were surprised to find that no one else had compiled a list of global risks with impacts that, for all practical purposes, can be called infinite,” said co-author Dennis Pamlin of the Global Challenges Foundation. “We don’t want to be accused of scaremongering but we want to get policy makers talking.”

Here’s the list of existential threats, ranked from least to most probable.  Let’s begin…

The 12 Most Likely Causes of the Apocalypsebycfotografem