With another New Year’s Eve almost upon us, I have been listening to continuous chatter on the importance of the year 2012. While not paying much attention to it for some time, the claims made about catastrophic occurrences and the end of human civilization are bringing back memories of the millennium end-of-the-world nonsense.

What is the importance of the year 2012? Well, according to the book “Apocalypse 2012,” it is the end of the world as predicted by the Mayans.

Author Lawrence E. Joseph expands on the notion that the ancient Mayans’ calendar ends in the year 2012 because they believed it was the end of an old world and the beginning of a new era. The Mayans predicted that on Dec. 12, 2012, the stroke of midnight would bring about the end of the world as we know it.

How could the ancient Mayans predict such a catastrophic event thousands of years ago?

The answer is not that simple. Ancient Mayans determined the year 2012 through their complicated genius-style mathematics and astronomy involving the Winaq May Kin, what we call the Long Count Calendar.

The calendar counts for 5,200 solar years; our Gregorian calendar counts to 5,125 solar years.

According to Joseph, we are completing, in solar years, the fourth round trip around the sun, which will end on Dec. 12, 2012.

Joseph connects 2012 to disasters such as the tsunami in Thailand, tornadoes and earthquakes. To paraphrase a typical extremist claim: The end of the world is near!

The ancient Mayan calendar stops at Dec. 12, 2012. There is no continuum for the following New Year, or what they called new life. Were the Mayans massacred before they could complete their calendar?

Most likely, the world will continue on to 2013 and beyond. The Mayans probably were not able to continue their exquisite work due to extinction.

Some scientists call the catastrophic series of events global warming or climate change. Could both be connected? That is a question you can answer based on your own ideals and religious beliefs; however, in reality no one can factually prove the end is near. It is a generic claim, which instills fear and curiosity to the mind.

The apocalypse 2012 is another cultic belief that gets people worked up. Obviously, 2000 was not the end of the world, as humans are still walking this earth. What happens in 2012 is yet to be determined, but Joseph might have to start the basis of a new book called, “Oops, the Myths of Apocalypse Book 1.”

Vanessa Guerrero can be reached at [email protected].