SmileAlex 2012-05-03 21:20:09


One in seven thinks end of
world is coming: poll


Reuters - Tue, 1st May 2012
02:45 PM
NEW YORK (Reuters) - -
Nearly 15
percent of people worldwide
believe the world will end during
their lifetime and 10 percent
think the Mayan calendar could
signify it will happen in 2012,
according to a new poll.

The end of the Mayan calendar,
which spans about 5,125 years,
on December 21, 2012 has
sparked interpretations and
suggestions that it marks the
end of the world.
"Whether they think it will come
to an end through the hands of
God, or a natural disaster or a
political event, whatever the
reason, one in seven thinks the
end of the world is coming,"
said Keren Gottfried, research
manager at Ipsos Global Public
Affairs which conducted the poll
for Reuters.

"Perhaps it is because of the
media attention coming from
one interpretation of the Mayan
prophecy that states the world
'ends' in our calendar year
2012," Gottfried said, adding
that some Mayan scholars have
disputed the interpretation.
Responses to the international
poll of 16,262 people in more
than 20 countries varied widely
with only six percent of French
residents believing in an
impending Armageddon in their
lifetime, compared to 22 percent
in Turkey and the United States
and slightly less in South Africa
and Argentina.

But only seven percent in
Belgium and eight percent in
Great Britain feared an end to
the world during their lives.

About one in 10 people globally
also said they were experiencing
fear or anxiety about the
impending end of the world in
2012. The greatest numbers
were in Russia and Poland, the
fewest in Great Britain.
Gottfried also said that people
with lower education or
household income levels, as well
as those under 35 years old,
were more likely to believe in an
apocalypse during their lifetime
or in 2012, or have anxiety over
the prospect.
"Perhaps those who are older
have lived long enough to not be
as concerned with what
happens to their future," she
explained.
Ipsos questioned people in
China, Turkey, Russia, Mexico,
South Korea, Japan, the United
States, Argentina, Hungary,
Poland, Sweden, France, Spain,
Belgium, Canada, Australia, Italy,
South Africa, Great Britain,
Indonesia, Germany.

(Reporting by Chris Michaud;
editing by Patricia Reaney)