20 Horrible Ways The Earth Could Die

It's Earth Day which means it's the one day of the year that most of us stop to talk about recycling and carbon imprints and what we can do to save the environment. It's a shame that most of us don't think about saving the Earth year round because according to pop culture, the world is constantly on the brink of cataclysmic disaster. It's not just the environment that could destroy us. Life as we know it on Earth could end at any moment due to plague, aliens, or even the from the threat of trees!

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Whether the Earth dies because the sun explodes and eats it whole or because zombies take over, do you have your survival plan? Because if there's one thing pop culture has taught us is that even when the Earth dies--or civilization merely crumbles--is that there will always be survivors. After all, how can you tell any sort of compelling narrative without a hero?

So take a gander at these 20 ways that film, television and literature supposes the Earth could be destroyed and come up with your survival plan!

(But seriously, we should all think about composting more.)

[Photo Credit: I am Legend via Warner Brothers; The Walking Dead via AMC; Contagion via Warner Brothers; Waterworld via Universal]