Consumed by the Apocalypse

Summary by Krater

An exploration of various cosmic, terrestrial, and anthropogenic threats to humanity, analysing their plausibility, potential devastation, and likelihood of causing human extinction.

From the video

Answers: What are the biggest existential threats to humanity and how likely are they to cause human extinction?

• Asteroid impacts
• Supervolcanic eruptions
• Flood basalts
• Natural pandemics
• Nuclear holocaust
• Artificial intelligence misalignment
• Environmental decline

What it concludes

• Impacts of 1 km asteroids occur roughly once every half a million to two million years.
• Impacts of 10 km asteroids occur roughly once every 100 million years.
• The 1983 comet IRAS-Araki-Alcock was spotted only two weeks prior to its closest approach.
• Asteroid 2019 OK was detected a day before flying five times closer to Earth than the Moon.
• More than 90% of nearby asteroids and comets larger than 1 km have already been detected.
• A gamma-ray burst inside the Milky Way could destroy Earth's ozone layer and trigger a mass extinction, though none of the candidates appear directed at Earth.