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Climate change and civilizational collapse refers to a hypothetical risk of the impacts of climate change reducing global socioeconomic complexity to the point complex human civilization effectively ends around the world, with humanity reduced to a less developed state. This hypothetical risk is typically associated with the idea of a massive ...
Nuclear war is an often-predicted cause of the extinction of humankind. [1]Human extinction is the hypothetical end of the human species, either by population decline due to extraneous natural causes, such as an asteroid impact or large-scale volcanism, or via anthropogenic destruction (self-extinction), for example by sub-replacement fertility.
Climate change in Pakistan is a major issue for the country. Pakistan is highly vulnerable to climate change. As with the changing climate in South Asia as a whole, the climate of Pakistan has changed over the past several decades, with significant impacts on the environment and people. [ 1 ] In addition to increased heat, drought and extreme ...
Existential catastrophe refers to the realized destruction of humanity's long-term potential, whereas existential risk refers to the probability that a given hazard will lead to existential catastrophe. Human extinction is one mechanism of existential catastrophe, but others can be imagined such as permanent totalitarian dystopia.
Scenarios in which a global catastrophic risk creates harm have been widely discussed. Some sources of catastrophic risk are anthropogenic (caused by humans), such as global warming, [ 1 ] environmental degradation, and nuclear war. [ 2 ] Others are non-anthropogenic or natural, such as meteor impacts or supervolcanoes.
In Our Final Hour, Rees explores various risks of human extinction and their likelihood, notably those caused by the unchecked consequences of new technologies (such as nanotechnology or machine superintelligence), uncontrolled scientific experimentation, terrorist or fundamentalist violence, or destruction of the biosphere. [4]
Climate change threatens people with increased flooding, extreme heat, increased food and water scarcity, more disease, and economic loss. Human migration and conflict can also be a result. [13] The World Health Organization calls climate change one of the biggest threats to global health in the 21st century. [14]
The report concluded that global warming of 2 °C (3.6 °F) over the preindustrial levels would threaten an estimated 5% of all the Earth's species with extinction even in the absence of the other four factors, while if the warming reached 4.3 °C (7.7 °F), 16% of the Earth's species would be threatened with extinction.