Sunspots and Pole Problems
So if the apocalypse is set just in time for holiday shopping season three years from now, how exactly will the world end? One theory that actually has some traction in the scientific community is that a solar flare will cause a sudden shift in the magnetic orientation of the Earth's poles, causing all kinds of planetary problems like volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. NASA is predicting strong solar activity around 2012 and there's evidence that the magnetic poles are slowly weakening, something that reportedly presages a reversal. Of course, most scientists think that this reversal will take centuries, not days, to occur.