25 - Atomic era.

25 - Atomic era.  The invention of the atomic bomb prompted a wave of discussion among scientists, intellectuals, and the public at large about the risk of human extinction. In a 1945 essay, Bertrand Russell stated: The prospect for the human race is sombre beyond all precedent. Mankind are faced with a clear-cut alternative: either we shall all perish, or we shall have to acquire some slight degree of common sense.  In 1950, Leo Szilard suggested it was technologically feasible to build a cobalt bomb that could render the planet unlivable. A 1950 Gallup poll found that 19% of Americans believed that another world war would mean "an end to mankind." Rachel Carson's 1962 book Silent Spring raised awareness of environmental catastrophe. In 1983, Brandon Carter proposed the Doomsday argument, which used Bayesian probability to predict the total number of humans that will ever exist.  The discovery of "nuclear winter" in the early 1980s, a specific mechanism by which nuclear war could result in human extinction, again raised the issue to prominence. Writing about these findings in 1983, Carl Sagan argued that measuring the severity of extinction solely in terms of those who die "conceals its full impact," and that nuclear war "imperils all of our descendants, for as long as there will be humans."  Post-Cold War.  The end of the Cold War led to an explosion of literature about human extinction. John Leslie's 1996 book The End of the World was an academic treatment of the science and ethics of human extinction. In it, Leslie considered a range of threats to humanity and what they have in common. In 2003, British Astronomer Royal Sir Martin Rees published Our Final Hour, in which he argues that advances in certain technologies create new threats to the survival of humankind and that the 21st century may be a critical moment in history when humanity's fate is decided. Edited by Nick Bostrom and Milan M. Ćirković, Global Catastrophic Risks, published in 2008, is a collection of essays from 26 academics on various global catastrophic and existential risks. Nicholas P. Money's 2019 book The Selfish Ape delves into the environmental consequences of overexploitation. Toby Ord's 2020 book The Precipice argues that preventing existential risks is one of the most important moral issues of our time. The book discusses, quantifies, and compares different existential risks, concluding that the greatest risks are presented by unaligned artificial intelligence and biotechnology. Lyle Lewis' 2024 book Racing to Extinction explores the roots of human extinction from an evolutionary biology perspective. Lewis argues that humanity treats unused natural resources as waste and is driving ecological destruction through overexploitation, habitat loss, and denial of environmental limits. He uses vivid examples, like the extinction of the passenger pigeon and the environmental cost of rice production, to show how interconnected and fragile ecosystems are. Henry Gee's book The Rise and Fall of the Human Empire (2025) argues that humanity is on the brink of extinction due to environmental degradation and diminishing resources.  In 2022, a study led by a group of scientists asked for a new research agenda to figure out the possible catastrophic effects of climate change, such as situations that could kill off 10% of the world's population or even all of humanity. They say that the IPCC should write a report on catastrophic climate change because the effects of extreme warming, like famine, severe weather, war, and disease outbreaks, have not been studied enough. The researchers stress the importance of comprehending potential tipping points and interacting threats to enhance preparedness for worst-case scenarios.  Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/extinction-of-the-human-species--7081249/support.This episode includes AI-generated content.