# The Road, what caused the end of the world? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 24, 2012, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-road-what-caused-the-end-of-the-world/613814 "2012-02-24T06:07:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-road-what-caused-the-end-of-the-world/613814/1 "2012-02-24T06:07:55Z")
Ok so there is a bright flash and the man instantly recognizes something that causes him to run and fill the bath tub with water(you do this in emergencies because with no power for pumps you soon will have no pressure and you want as much uncontaminated water as possible). There was no hesitation on his part which makes me think he knew instantly what it was. He mentions large fires burning out of control after this. He and his son and all other survivors show no visible signs of radiation poisoning, no one does and it does not seem to be a concern of anyone. Almost a decade on from the event the only visible life left is human beings surviving on canned food and cannibalism, we see not so much as a insect or blade of grass! Even if the atmosphere was filled with soot, a decade on there should be some signs of recovery. So what the hell are we dealing with here? It seems to be something that kills all forms of life except human beings, and continues to kill a decade on. Are there even any bacteria or single cell organisms? There are also earthquakes and aftershocks, but it is unclear if these are related to the flash or just normal earthquakes. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-road-what-caused-the-end-of-the-world/613814/2 "2012-02-24T06:21:26Z")
The book didn’t seem to hint at anything if I recall. In the movie, it seems like a nuclear war or an exchange of nukes is the cause. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-road-what-caused-the-end-of-the-world/613814/3 "2012-02-24T08:00:46Z")
I’ve heard the theory that it was an asteroid striking the Earth. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-road-what-caused-the-end-of-the-world/613814/4 "2012-02-24T08:33:34Z")
I was wondering too about the lack of pregnant women, and the youngest kids we see are around the same age as the boy. I was wondering if this was significant beyond the generally horrible conditions but then I read in the book there are several pregnant women seen in the journey(as well as more people overall). I found myself wondering what the conditions in the rest of the world are like, and if ten years later not even a single plant grows well that is a bleak ending! ---
**Author:** ![glaeken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@glaeken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glaeken)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-road-what-caused-the-end-of-the-world/613814/5 "2012-02-24T10:00:56Z")
I think the asteroid strike explanation fits best. They appear to be in the middle of something like a nuclear winter but there appears to be no radiation so I think that only leaves an asteroid strike as a viable explanation. If it were down to massive volcanic activity which could also cause nuclear winter type conditions I don’t think they would have seen a flash in the sky. ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-road-what-caused-the-end-of-the-world/613814/6 "2012-02-24T11:08:07Z")
It’s deliberately left ambiguous. I think it was done that way because to have a known cause would change the tenor of the story. It’s about man’s reaction to a catastrophe, not the events leading up to it. It would be read differently if it was known whether the event was caused by man or not. If it was the aftermath of a nuclear strike, it becomes a story about the downfall and rise of man. If it was due to natural causes, it becomes a story about fate with a nihilistic edge to it. Given that the man doesn’t seem to know what has happened, I think a supervolcano explosion is the most likely cause. If it was set in the aftermath of a nuclear war or asteroid strike, he could be expected to have had some warning. However, it doesn’t really matter. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-road-what-caused-the-end-of-the-world/613814/7 "2012-02-24T12:13:50Z")
> [@Alka\_Seltzer](#): > > It’s deliberately left ambiguous. I think it was done that way because to have a known cause would change the tenor of the story. It’s about man’s reaction to a catastrophe, not the events leading up to it. It would be read differently if it was known whether the event was caused by man or not. If it was the aftermath of a nuclear strike, it becomes a story about the downfall and rise of man. If it was due to natural causes, it becomes a story about fate with a nihilistic edge to it. > > Given that the man doesn’t seem to know what has happened, I think a supervolcano explosion is the most likely cause. If it was set in the aftermath of a nuclear war or asteroid strike, he could be expected to have had some warning. However, it doesn’t really matter. I don’t have any cites handy, but as this is Cafe Society. . . (trying to rub my brain cells together and remember a bunch of stuff I’ve read in the past) Is there reason to believe that we would definitely see an asteroid that would hit us? Not all areas of the sky are covered at all times, and at least some asteroids are quite dark. I also recall reading that if an asteroid were to come at the Earth from a position fairly close to the sun, that would also make it difficult to detect. Where’s the Bad Astronomer when you need him? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-road-what-caused-the-end-of-the-world/613814/8 "2012-02-24T12:33:37Z")
Not definitely, no, but the chances of spotting a large incoming asteroid are pretty high. It would be hard to spot if it was hidden by the sun’s glare. It seems that the event in The Road is global in scope, or the survivors would be getting radio signals from other countries. That requires a pretty big asteroid, raising the chances of detection. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-road-what-caused-the-end-of-the-world/613814/9 "2012-02-24T12:37:03Z")
I think, assuming that this was our world, an approaching asteroid would have been charted in the media prior to impact. I’m trying to remember, in the flashback scenes, whether there was any implication they were anticipating something. Can’t remember. ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-road-what-caused-the-end-of-the-world/613814/10 "2012-02-24T12:43:38Z")
For example, in 2008 a meteorite of [less than five metres](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_TC3) was detected before impact and tracked. It’s rare to track something that small, but a “Road” asteroid would be, at minimum, a few hundred metres across. ---
**Author:** ![4d3fect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/4d3fect/32/9728_2.png) [@4d3fect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/4d3fect)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-road-what-caused-the-end-of-the-world/613814/11 "2012-02-24T16:52:59Z")
It’s fascinating to speculate the cause, but I think it’s more important that the survivors/victims have no idea what happened or why… The suddenness of the event, a lot of ash, everything cold and disintegrating and not much growing all together makes me think of a nuclear weapons “exchange”. I grew up in the '50s (remember getting under the desk drills at school) so that explains that. ---
**Author:** ![psiekier](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psiekier/32/116_2.png) [@psiekier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psiekier)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-road-what-caused-the-end-of-the-world/613814/12 "2012-02-24T17:05:42Z")
> [@Alka\_Seltzer](#): > > It’s deliberately left ambiguous. Somebody opened the briefcase from _Pulp Fiction_, and Viggo Mortensen starts filling up the bathtub… 😉 > [@](#): > > I think it was done that way because to have a known cause would change the tenor of the story. It’s about man’s reaction to a catastrophe, not the events leading up to it. It would be read differently if it was known whether the event was caused by man or not. If it was the aftermath of a nuclear strike, it becomes a story about the downfall and rise of man. If it was due to natural causes, it becomes a story about fate with a nihilistic edge to it. That’s the consensus we came to in [this other, similar thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=632181). It could be a supervolcanic nuclear MacGuffin from outer space. The movie is _solely_ about the people and their situations, abstracted as much as possible from such trivialities as what originally _caused_ the devastation that is the story’s backdrop. To quote John Cleese, the plumage don’t enter into it! ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-road-what-caused-the-end-of-the-world/613814/13 "2012-02-24T17:23:05Z")
A metaphor did it. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-road-what-caused-the-end-of-the-world/613814/14 "2012-02-24T19:22:51Z")
We didn’t listen! ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-road-what-caused-the-end-of-the-world/613814/15 "2012-02-24T19:43:30Z")
Did the book talk more about how the people fed themselves? The movie was pretty vague about it. With nothing growing, they would have had to scrounge food from abandoned stores and homes. But how much food would be left after a couple of years? ---
**Author:** ![4d3fect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/4d3fect/32/9728_2.png) [@4d3fect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/4d3fect)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-road-what-caused-the-end-of-the-world/613814/16 "2012-02-24T19:59:09Z")
Food sources apart from cannibalism and scavenging weren’t detailed in the novel or the film. That’s what makes me consider nuclear winter as a plausible scenario…nothing can grow for a good long while… ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-road-what-caused-the-end-of-the-world/613814/17 "2012-02-24T20:25:56Z")
A “nuclear winter” situation isn’t exclusive to a nuclear war. The “nuclear winter” scenario is that the nuclear exchange throws up dust and smoke into the atmosphere and blocks the Sun for an extended period, slowly starving whatever life survived the initial exchange by killing the food chain from plant life on upwards. An major meteor impact would have the same affect of throwing dust and smoke into the atmosphere and causing extensive fires without the radiation. ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-road-what-caused-the-end-of-the-world/613814/18 "2012-02-24T20:31:38Z")
Yes, as would a supervolcano eruption. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-road-what-caused-the-end-of-the-world/613814/19 "2012-02-24T22:16:58Z")
But how long would that last? I seem to remember something on the order of 2-3 years maximum, and in TR its ten years on and no plants are growing. I considered that taking out plants would certainly kill all insects and animal life ten years on, makes me wonder if it was some kind of bio-weapon/herbicide but thats kinda far fetched. Something thats kind of sobering is if conditions are that bad in the USA(which is a rich country crawling with food stores stocked full) imagine areas of the world without so much canned food sitting around.:eek: ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Kumquat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gary\_Kumquat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Kumquat)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-road-what-caused-the-end-of-the-world/613814/20 "2012-02-24T22:35:10Z")
> [@grude](#): > > But how long would that last? I seem to remember something on the order of 2-3 years maximum, and in TR its ten years on and no plants are growing. > **[Youngest Toba eruption](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toba_catastrophe_theory)** > > The Toba eruption (also called the Toba supereruption and the Youngest Toba eruption) was a supervolcanic eruption that occurred around 74,000 years ago, during the Late Pleistocene, at the site of present-day Lake Toba, in Sumatra, Indonesia. It was the last in a series of at least four caldera-forming eruptions there, the earlier known caldera having formed about 1.2 million years ago. This, the last eruption, had an estimated volcanic explosivity index of 8, making it the largest known e The e... > [@](#): > > The Toba supereruption (Youngest Toba Tuff or simply YTT[1]) was a supervolcanic eruption that occurred some time between 69,000 and 77,000 years ago at Lake Toba (Sumatra, Indonesia). It is recognized as one of the Earth’s largest known eruptions. The related catastrophe theory holds that this event plunged the planet into a 6-to-10-year volcanic winter and possibly an additional 1,000-year cooling episode. This change in temperature resulted in the world’s human population being reduced to 10,000 or even a mere 1,000 breeding pairs, creating a bottleneck in human evolution. 10 years of gloom and winter, and no radiation. Fits pretty well. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-road-what-caused-the-end-of-the-world/613814.md?page=2)