Astronomer: World will not end in 2012

Edited and translated by Han Shasha, People's Daily Online

2012 is just around the corner. Will the doomsday scenario depicted in the Hollywood blockbuster "2012" really happen?

During a recent seminar held by the China Association for Science and Technology, astronomers said that the solar maximum will not appear in 2012, so there is no need to worry about the doomsday rumor.

Wang Huaning, a researcher with the National Astronomical Observatories under the Chinese Academy of Sciences and chief scientist in China on the science of solar activity forecasting, said that the peak of the 24th Solar Cycle will come in 2013 or 2014, rather than in 2012 as previously predicted. Although solar activity is increasing within this cycle, its overall magnitude is lower than that in previous cycles.

Deng Yuanyong, deputy director of the Key Laboratory of Solar Activity under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that the adverse effects of solar activity on human lives are known as "diseases of affluence in the high-tech era" in academic circles, which means that the solar activity will only impact high-tech products, and the effects can be prevented someday through the constant development of science and technology.