Moments in history when mankind was on the verge of death

• The moments of history when mankind was on the verge of death

list of moments when mankind was on the verge of death terrifies. We humans often do not realize how fragile our lives. In fact, shocking, how often do we bring the situation almost to self-destruct.

And today we are trying to deal with potentially dangerous situations, such as global warming caused by climate change, or the possibility of a second Cold War between the US and North Korea.

However, despite many setbacks, humankind again and again wins. We've been through war, epidemics and natural disasters, and, for the most part, we came out of these upheavals unscathed.

This does not mean that we were not close to death. History shows that the end of the world many times knocking at our doors. So far we have been very lucky. We'll tell you only about some situations, when the world almost collapsed and could have happened and so, turn the situation is a little different.

Faulty computer chip in the NORAD

The Cold War lasted from 1945 to 1990, and there was a time when it seemed that the whole world hangs in the balance. Naturally, nothing illustrates this better than the many fears of nuclear war that occurred in moments of particular tension.

One such moment came June 3, 1980. At 3 am the adviser of the US President for National Security Zbigniew Brzezinski entered an emergency telephone call, warning him about the inevitability of a major nuclear strike.

All the defense forces of the country have led to a state of readiness. In minutes, Air Force bombers were ready to take off, and nuclear missiles ready to launch.

Fortunately, quickly established that the attack - just a false alarm, and counterattack could stop before it was struck how some serious damage. After some time, it was discovered the culprit - a faulty computer chip in the Pentagon, the cost of 46 cents. The eruption on the island of Thera

One of the largest volcanic events in the world in the history of mankind was in the time of the eruption of the Minoan civilization. It happened at Thera island in the Aegean Sea in the middle of the second millennium BC.

It is estimated that the destructive power of the eruption was equal to the force of 40 nuclear bombs exploding in unison. Curiously, the eruption was 100 times more powerful than the eruption of Mount Vesuvius that devastated Pompeii in 79 AD.

Needless to say, this was one of the key catalysts of death Minoan civilization of early Bronze Age.

The eruption on Thera destroyed the city of Akrotiri, Santorini modern, and has caused the earthquake and tsunami that almost destroyed the surrounding islands, including the densely populated island of Crete.

It has also created a huge cloud of volcanic ash that settled all over Europe and changed global weather conditions in the coming years.

Asteroid 2018 GE3

The idea that a giant asteroid smashes into our small planet and sends us on the way of the dinosaurs, is terrible. But even more terrible that it almost became a reality April 14, 2018.

First mentioned in the review of Catalina Sky Survey, the asteroid 2018 GE3 flew past Earth just a few hours after its discovery. At some point, the asteroid was only 192,317 kilometers from Earth, it is less than half the distance between the Earth and the Moon.

Estimated diameter asteroid was from 48 to 110 meters, it is currently considered the largest known object, passed so close to us. There is no doubt that if he encountered the Earth, the destruction would have been astronomical.

The irrepressible super-flu

Although Dr. Yoshihiro Kavaoka not trying to resurrect long-extinct reptiles, its study of H5N1 avian flu in 2011, of course, raised some serious questions about how far people can go in the name of science. Modified strain of bird flu virus, Kavaoka tried to create a new hybrid strain of the virus, which could circumvent the human immune system. The most frightening thing was how close he came to the goal when the study was closed due to the fact that it represented a threat to the health of all mankind.

Kavaoka managed to create a virus that is transmitted through the air between test animals contained in the individual cells, and it was thought that the virus did not have just one mutation, after which he would have been so deadly to humans, the body just could not fight it.

Genetically modified bacteria

The mid 90s of the twentieth century - a time of countless scientific achievements around the world. Many discoveries, but also many failures. One such failure could have an astronomical consequences for all mankind, and it happened in one of the most seemingly minor categories: bacteria.

Genetically modified bacteria, to be precise. Created by the German biotechnology company, Klebsiella plantikola was supposedly beneficial microbe that turns dead plant matter into ethanol, which can then be used anywhere - from the refueling of cars to alcohol production.

Scientists were very pleased with the success of their project, and by 1994 they had a working strain of bacteria, ready for field trials.

Fortunately, independent testing at Oregon State University found that the manufacturer somehow missed. They found that the bacteria plantikola not wait until the plants die, to start them to ferment, and soon every plant in which it was tested, perished.

To make matters worse, plantikola was based on bacteria that are present in the expansion of each type of land plants, which could lead to mass extinction of plants and the devastation of farms and forests around the world. Needless to say, field trials were canceled, and all the plans for the unintentional creation of a global plague plant have been suspended indefinitely.

Black Death

One of the most destructive epidemics in human history was the Black Death. So-called mass outbreak of the bubonic plague, which broke out in Europe and Asia in the middle of the XIV century.

It was believed that the outbreak began in China, and then slowly moved to the west with fleas and rats sick, leaving death and suffering.

In Europe we heard about the so-called "the great sea" in the years preceding its penetration to the west, but were not prepared for what was about to happen.

In 1347 on the Black Sea in the Sicilian port of Messina arrived several ships with the dead sailors on board. The living were seriously ill and covered in sweat.

Ships quickly sent out of the harbor, but the damage had been caused. Plague lightning covered the rest of Europe, destroyed by 1351 almost a third of its population.

By the time the Black Death finally subsided, it led to the deaths of 75 to 200 million people in Eurasia and the rest of the world.