[Problem profile] “Nuclear weapons” by Benjamin Hilton

It’s very plausible that there will be a nuclear war this century. As a result, nuclear weapons remain an extremely pressing problem. Narrated by AI. ---Outline:(00:49) Summary(01:31) Our overall view(02:56) How likely is a nuclear war?(04:43) How could a nuclear war come about?(09:51) What nuclear weapons are we talking about?(11:35) How bad could a nuclear war be?(12:44) How many weapons would be used?(16:50) How would nuclear weapons be targeted?(18:09) What happens when a nuclear weapon is detonated?(21:23) What about nuclear winter?(26:11) How could this all be changed by new technology?(28:39) Other effects of a nuclear war(30:05) Could a nuclear war cause an existential catastrophe?(31:06) Are there enough nuclear weapons to kill everyone on earth without nuclear winter?(33:39) Could nuclear winter cause human extinction?(35:46) Could there be knock-on effects that lead to an existential catastrophe some other way?(38:30) How likely is an existential catastrophe resulting from nuclear war?(39:56) What about catastrophes that aren't existential?(41:10) Nuclear risk is increasingly neglected(41:53) Philanthropic spending(42:35) Government spending(45:23) How many people are working on this problem?(46:09) How neglected is this issue overall?(47:06) There are ways we can tackle nuclear risk(51:36) What are the major arguments against this problem being pressing?(52:54) What can you do to help?(53:35) What are the key organisations in this space(56:33) Find vacancies on our job board(56:37) Learn more(58:54) Explore other pressing world problems The original text contained 33 footnotes which were omitted from this narration. --- First published: June 14th, 2024 Source: https://80000hours.org/problem-profiles/nuclear-security --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO. ---Images from the article:Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.