4 years and 172 days until the end of the world?

what will happen in 2012?
According to their calendar, the Maya believed that their world would end on Dec 21, 2012. Of all the dates put forth by prophets and cultures for a doomsday, this is one with an authentic, almost eerie feel to it. But what will happen? A global cataclysm is a possibility that I focus on - but nobody knows for sure what will happen..


Every so often a force from space causes global cataclysms and mass mutations.

The Anicent Mayan Calendar ends in 2012. We would be very foolish to ignore this warning, a doomsday date that may have been given to the Maya by others
Pole shifts have occurred in the past and will occur again. There is no known terrestial mechanism that can cause pole shifts, so the trigger could well be extra-terrestial. With the universe being the mystery that it is, we should accept that anything is possible.
Mass extinctions and rapid evolution occur at the same time as cataclysms. Rapid evolutionary change can only be achieved via extremely high rates of mutations, and by mutations that are not random. Unicorns and dragons once actually existed, they were mutant strains that didn't survive very long.
Cosmic rays cause mutations. A huge influx of cosmic rays would cause high rates of mutations. Although scientists are unsure about where all the cosmic rays come from, the source might be the same as what powers the pole shifts.
The ancients were aware of the dangers of cosmic rays and cataclysms and encoded information about them into their calendars, myths and monuments. I also believe that pyramids may have been designed as cosmic ray shelters.