The 2012 phenomenon comprises a range of eschatological beliefs which posit that cataclysmic or transformative events will occur on December 21 or December 23, 2012, Conversely, some believe that the 2012 date marks the end of the world or a similar catastrophe. Scholars of various stripes have disputed the idea that a catastrophe will happen in 2012, suggesting that predictions of impending doom are found neither in classic Maya accounts nor in contemporary science. Mainstream Mayanist scholars argue that the idea that the Long Count calendar "ends" in 2012 misrepresents Maya history. To the modern Maya, 2012 is largely irrelevant, and classic Maya sources on the subject are scarce and contradictory, suggesting that there was little if any universal agreement among them about what, if anything, the date might mean. NASA likens fears about 2012 to those about the Y2K bug in the late 1990s, suggesting that an adequate analysis should stem fears of disaster.

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