The picture of a person with a sign saying "The End Is Near" used to be a joke?

Question

Now it is on the network news every night.

Answer 1

People are silly that way.

Answer 2

Sensationalism sells.

Answer 3

Because, as far as how much we can abuse the environment without incurring major consequences is concerned, the end IS near.

Answer 4

It used to be funny because it was not plausible, let alone measurable and predictable.

"The Southern Oscillation and the solar cycle have significant effects on year-to-year global temperature change. Because both of these natural effects were in their cool phases in 2007, the unusual warmth of 2007 is all the more notable. It is apparent that there is no letup in the steep global warming trend of the past 30 years.  

'Global warming stopped in 1998' has become a recent mantra of those who wish to deny the reality of human-caused global warming. The continued rapid increase of the five-year running mean temperature exposes this assertion as nonsense."

Answer 5

I think Saturday Night Live did it best with this.  

End of the world in 5 minutes, details at 11:00

Answer 6

If its not the environmet issues, its the war issues. Either way, u cant spend your life worrying about things that you cant change. All we can do is live our lives and change the things we can. We are already living in revalations, and Bush was just on the news yesterday talking about a peace treaty being done before he leaves office. In revalations it talks of a 7year peace treaty in relation to the countries Bush was talking about. After the 7 years it will be broken, and all h**l will break loose. New energy ideas are very important because, we are going to need them after everything is wiped out for those of us that survive. It's a time not to worry but, a time to get things right in more ways than one. I always thought that it was a long time away untill I read revalations, and noticed that its talking about right now!!!!

Answer 7

Yea, it's funny to see the doomsayers dust off their sandwich boards.  The last time they used them was in December 1999.

Every cult has their profits of doom.  It's easier to control people when they are in fear.

The urge to save humanity is almost always only a false-face for the urge to rule it. [H.L. Mencken]

"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary." [H. L. Mencken]

Both quotes sound like they are describing Algore.