The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has kept the Doomsday Clock at 2 minutes to midnight, the closest it has been since 1953. This year it has warned about the 'new abnormal'.
Humanity faces simultaneous existential risks, each of which would be cause for extreme concern and immediate attention. Several risks from technology or man-made activity could credibly lead to civilizational collapse or human extinction. Nuclear weapons, climate change and pandemics remain key threats. Emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and biotechnologies promise great benefits but also pose novel dangers.
These major threats were exacerbated this past year by the increased use of information warfare to undermine democracy around the world, amplifying risk from these and other threats and putting the future of civilization in extraordinary danger.
The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists publishes valuable analyses and commentary on emerging global threats from a network of leading experts, including CSER research leader Catherine Rhodes and CSER research affiliate and Executive Director of GCRI Seth Baum.