Be afraid, be very afraid.

By now you you've heard more about the upcoming 2012 doomsday (12-21-12 to be exact) than you wanted to know. That's the day that the ancient Mayan calendar ends and has been seen by many as an omen of impending doom. Dumb ol' Mayans. What did they know?

But wait. Did you catch the NBC evening news a couple days ago? Two meteorites passed between the earth and the moon and we had not a clue they were headed this way. One of them was 65 feet wide. That's big enough to put a good sized dent in the hood of your car. But bumping into things from outer space isn't the only thing that could change life as we know it, not by a long shot. Consider the following, all being discussed as the source of the 2012 prediction.

Super Volcanoes: Our own Yellowstone National Park sits atop one of the largest super volcanoes on earth. It's erupted before on the average of every 600,000 years. It's been 640,000 years since it last blew up. Big deal you say? Just another volcano? No, this one would coat Nebraska with two to three feet of ash. And tests show that the ground under Yellowstone is more active now than in recorded history. Hmmm.

Polar Reversal: Yep, that's happened before as well. The north and south magnetic poles swap fields. What's that gonna do for that GPS in your new car?

Rare galactic alignment: Also predicted to happen near the end of the year 2012. Nobody knows what would happen with this one.

Solar Flare: Of all the scenarios for the doomsday, this one actually has the most merit. A giant flare could take out our protective ozone layer and fry us all like worms on the sidewalk. Solar flares happen all the time, just not big ones. Logic would tell us it's just a matter of time.

Then there's the meteors and asteroids. Twice now, in the past couple years, we've had sizable objects pass between the earth and the moon. In space distances, that's like a bullet that misses your head by about an inch. In both cases, there were only a couple days warning. Not that it makes much difference. Where you gonna hide?

Kind of makes you think twice about buying that extended warranty on your new dishwasher doesn't it?