If Doomsday interests you, here is an update on what’s supposed to be taking place - take it with a big grain of salt

By Pepper Parr

November 12^th, 2025

BURLINGTON, ON

The day that the worlds comes to an end isn’t something I spend a lot of time thinking about.

Others do.

If Doomsday interests you, here is an update on what’s supposed to be taking place.

2005–2026 21st century

Predicted by: Neil Howe, William Strauss

In their 1997 book The Fourth Turning: An American Prophecy, historians William Strauss and Neil Howe predicted that between 2005 and 2026 the United States would experience a “Fourth Turning” crisis—a period of social upheaval on the scale of the Revolution, Civil War, or Great Depression.

Multiple commentators link recent U.S. crises (2008 recession, 2020 pandemic, political polarization) to this forecast, though no conclusive “cataclysm” has occurred. The cycle is set to resolve by ~2026.

2020–203021st century

Predicted by: Donella Meadows, et al., MIT System Dynamics Group (World3 model team), The Club of Rome

In The Limits to Growth (1972), Donella H. Meadows and colleagues at the MIT System Dynamics Group, commissioned by the Club of Rome, modeled global development using the World3 system. Their “business as usual” scenario projected industrial output peaking around 2020 and population peaking 2025–2030, followed by decline from resource depletion and pollution. Later analyses, including Nebel et al. 2024, reaffirm a similar overshoot-and-collapse dynamic.

Empirical updates such as Herrington 2021 and Nebel et al. 2024 find observed trends still track Limits to Growth “business-as-usual” ranges.

Industrial output growth has slowed since the late 2010s and may be near a plateau, consistent with model expectations, while population continues to rise slowly. The projected 2020–2030 overshoot window remains debated—recent recalibrations reproduce the same pattern driven mainly by resource depletion.