40% of Americans Think Jesus Will Return by 2050

More than 40% of Americans believe Jesus will return to earth by the year 2050, according to a Pew Research Center poll. The poll also found that Americans are optimistic about the future, but less so than a decade ago: 64% expect a rosy future for themselves and their families, down from 81% in 1999. By 2050, 71% expect cancer to have been cured, and 66% say artificial limbs will work better than real ones.

But besides expecting the Second Coming, plenty of Americans are also feeling apocalyptic about the environment, the Daily Telegraph reports: Almost three quarters expect a major global energy crisis by 2050, while two-thirds—48% of Republicans and 83% of Democrats—think the earth will get warmer. Among the under-30s, 68% predict a world war in the next 40 years. And almost a third of those polled think the earth will be hit by an asteroid by 2050.
(More apocalypse stories.)