In recent years, it seems that the global warming frenzy has largely died down, yet there are some who assert that the controversial topic needs more attention than ever before.

Organizations with this view, such as the NRDC, claim that protecting our environment is the best way to protect ourselves.

Despite the fact that they seem to be motivated by self-interest, they might have a point. As a society, we must ask ourselves, could global warming result in a cataclysmic mass extinction event? If it could, it might be worth our attention.

As such, I have compiled a list of potential worst case scenarios that could arise from the unbridled onset of global warming in order to increase awareness of this important issue:

• Global warming could melt the polar ice caps, flooding the entire world with boiling water and wiping out life as we know it.
• Global warming in colder regions could allow mosquitoes to populate every continent, potentially ending the world in a mosquito takeover.
• Global warming could heat the north pole and cause Santa’s workshop to sink into a slushy demise, effectively ruining Christmas for everyone.
• Global warming could super heat the core of the Earth, causing it to spontaneously combust and thus destroying the human race.
• Global warming could alter weather patterns so intensely that it turns Earth into Kamino.
• Global warming could hasten the Universe’s heat death, causing the destruction of all time and space and possibly creating a ripple effect that could obliterate reality itself.

Though they might sound bad, we have no evidence to suspect that these things are inevitable. Furthermore, in the interest of fairness, I have also made a list of worst case scenarios that might arise if we fight global warming:

• Fighting global warming could lead to the onset of the next ice age, freezing the whole world and ruining everybody’s day.
• Fighting global warming could cause it to fight back by burning civilization to cinders, reducing Earth a smoldering corpse.
• Fighting global warming could distract us from more serious issues, giving robots the time they need to mount an attack on humanity.
• Fighting global warming could teach our children that violence is the answer, resulting in an imminent adolescent anarchy.
• Fighting global warming could inhibit our technological development, causing us to lose the inevitable war against alien invaders.
• Fighting global warming could be more trouble than simply moving to a different planet.

Before we consider which side we want this metaphorical coin to land on, however, we need to look at the somewhat more significant question of whether these outcomes are likely to occur. Also, does global warming even exist?

The first answer is that no, these outcomes are not likely to occur. In fact, the chances of most of these events happening have around ninety-four decimal places with one significant figure. Additionally, those of you that are selfish can rest easy knowing that if they do happen, you will probably already be dead.

The question on the existence of global warming is more complicated, as it is highly debated. However, it seems to me that this is an answer in and of itself.

If global warming really does exist, it is on a scale small enough that there are people who believe it does not. The temperature increase would have to be very slight for this to escape the notice of so much of the population. And so, with this in mind:

Could global warming cause a cataclysmic mass extinction event?

Probably not.