The head of Russia's Energy Strategy Institute has warned that the shifting cycles caused by the changing of Earth's axis show that a new global crisis is looming in 2012.

"I am confident that the year 2012 will mark a transition from past global crises to a new incipient global crisis," institute director Vitaly Bushuyev said.

"I think the idea of cyclical changes in the world has a scientific basis, but the problem is that there are many different cycles. There isn't one 12, 30 or 140-year cycle, but many cycles that overlap. As we know, when two periodic oscillations overlap, they can either augment or weaken each other. All cycles-economic, political and social-will overlap in 2012, which is why some see it as the start of an overall crisis."

However, he said there is "always reason for optimism. What matters most is that we acknowledge the existence of these cyclic patterns and try to understand them and adapt to them."