Climate change, supervolcanoes, coronal mass ejections, nuclear war, Skynet, out-of-control nanomachines, a rogue planet, lethal viruses (!), overpopulation, the death of insects... we must admit that as a species we are somewhat exposed, and some of those extinction mechanisms are our own fault, but «El Fin del Mundo» is still a fascinating concept to explore, and the Domain of Science channel decided to create a map that helps us visualize all these possibilities.
A Fragile World
The whole world, or rather our vision of it, is more fragile than we think. It only took a virus to put the system in check, demonstrating above all a fundamental fact: we are not ready. But this virus that has visited us is just the tip of the iceberg. Consider other possibilities: drought, famine, earthquakes, pollution, deforestation, greenhouse effect, floods. Many of them can be completely avoided with proper preparation... which we don't have. If we add those events that surpass us in scale and intensity, the feeling is that we are in a very precarious situation.
Threats and Probabilities
That is why the latest project of the Domain of Science channel is so interesting: they not only decided to explore the main threats to humanity in their «Mapa del Fin del Mundo», but also study their probabilities. With the help of a diagram, the video evaluates the levels of destruction associated with each event, and how likely they are to occur. Some of them are already happening today (for example, earthquakes and tsunamis), while others are impossible to calculate because they have never happened (say, robot revolution).
The exercise becomes much more complex when combining data. The projection for earthquakes suggests they could kill more than a million people in a period slightly over a hundred years, but what really worries us about the chart is the upper right sector of «Total Disaster», where events with high probability «and» lethality appear. What do we see there? Mainly antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and the worst projections on climate change.
Finally, anyone interested can purchase a copy of the «Mapa del Fin del Mundo» for 13 dollars in 24 x 18 inches format (60.9 x 45.7 cm).
