9 Ways The World Might End

Ways the World Might End: ChemicalsCHEMICAL WARFARE
In September and October 2001, anthrax-laced envelopes in the U.S. killed five people and cost an estimated $1 billion to cleanup. Still, many people thought we got off lucky. Since chemical agents like VX nerve gas, mustard gas, and anthrax are colorless, odorless, and are far less noticeable than an explosive when deployed, they can potentially infect thousands of people without drawing immediate attention. When exposed, humans can experience painful blisters on the skin, internal and external bleeding, and swollen airways that lead to suffocation.

But 2001 was hardly the first time chemical weapons have been used: Germany released 168 tons of chlorine gas in 1915 and killed 5,000 Allied troops; Japan used mustard gas during a war with China in the mid-1940s; and in the ‘80s, Saddam Hussein used VX and mustard gas to wipe out nearly 5,000 Kurds. Large quantities in the wrong hands could be disastrous and take decades to cleanup. That’s if it doesn’t cause permanent contamination and drive survivors underground, like it did in 12 Monkeys.