Lancet commission warns nuclear war and malicious AI could end humanity by 2100

scienceOct 11, 20263872

The Lancet Commission on 21st Century Global Threats to Health warned that malicious use of artificial intelligence and nuclear conflict could cause human extinction by 2100, ranking them top of 17 catastrophic threats to health. The commission modelled expected years of healthy life lost using disability-adjusted life years DALYs to compare risks over the next 75 years and kept only threats that also have potential solutions. The report says nuclear war could trigger global famine by injecting particles into the upper atmosphere that block sunlight, while malicious AI could enable creation of biological weapons; an accompanying Lancet editorial said realisation of those risks would inflict an apocalypse on humanity. Other threats classed as “major catastrophic” for causing more than 1 billion cumulative DALYs include air pollution, antimicrobial resistance, childhood malnutrition, climate breakdown, conventional conflict, declining overseas aid, high alcohol use, high blood pressure, income inequality, low educational attainment, naturally occurring pandemics, obesity, poor mental health, smoking and unhealthy ageing. The commission stressed that the 17 threats interact and must be addressed together but said there is “a realistic route to act” on each, with co-chair Professor Christopher Murray urging leaders that decisions made today will shape the next generation. The report found limiting warming to about 1.8C rather than 4.4C could prevent 1.89 billion years of healthy life lost and noted that health-loss drivers differ by region, with non-communicable diseases dominant in higher income regions and educational and development shortfalls driving loss in lower income regions.

Prof. Eliot Jacobson

@climatecasino.net

Your 'moment of doom' for Oct. 11, 2026 ~ Predicaments have outcomes. "To be included on the list, threats not only had to potentially cause a high number of lost healthy years, but also to have potential solutions." www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

223h ago

Prof Antifa3

“…but stressed that there was ‘a realistic route to act’ on each.” So the window is still open!

Cynthia Sax3

Have people taken into account that most systems on this planet are connected and, as failures happen in one system, they will cause failures in other systems? <-sincere question The threats are, of course, not separate. They are connected.

FoxFire1

Glad they said by 2100 so people can ignore these things for another 50 years.

Matt Schlegel1

New term of the day: Dalys Disability-adjusted life years

Lauren Ashley Davis

@laurenmeidasa.bsky.social

Nuclear war and malicious use of AI threaten end of humanity by 2100, says Lancet assessment Newly established commission identifies 17 catastrophic threats to human health but says ‘realistic route to act’ on each exists www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

1016h ago

Go Green

@ecowarriorss.bsky.social

Nuclear war and malicious use of AI threaten end of humanity by 2100 "the potential to end humanity in the case of nuclear conflict by injecting enough particles into the upper atmosphere to block sunlight and cause famine, or via AI-created biological weapons| www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

616h ago

Jacob Aron

@jjaron.bsky.social

AI and nuclear war get the headline, when this is actually the list of things we should worry about www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

99h ago

Kat Arney5

It baffles me that AMR isn't higher up on people's radars as a major threat to life.

Carsten Timmermann

@ctimmermann.bsky.social

Good that we are ruled by wise leaders, so sorting out these 17 catastrophic threats shouldn’t be too challenging. www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

48h ago

Mike Walker

@newnarrative.bsky.social

AI and nuclear war threaten human extinction by 2100, report warns news.sky.com/story/ai-and...

42h ago

Yonette Joseph

@sugarcane99.bsky.social

Humans could become extinct by the year 2100 due to malicious use of AI or nuclear conflict, according to a new global risk assessment www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

114h ago

Marnelva Moo

@marnelvamoo.bsky.social

Underground bunkers are popular with the war criminals and tech billionaires of the #EpsteinClass friends of Musk and Bezos etc. Amid global threats like nuclear weapons and AI and prosecution at the ICC ICJ for war crimes and chidl xes trafficking, the demand for bunkers is rising.

3Yesterday

Jenn

@jennburrill.bsky.social

Malicious use of AI and nuclear conflict pose the biggest threat to human extinction by the year 2100. So Zelensky might just be saving the world 🌎 by targeting AI data centers ✏️ @theguardian.com

15h ago

Irene Quaile

@iceblogger.bsky.social

1.8C?? "Action to limit global heating to about 1.8C (3.2F) rather than letting it reach 4.4C could prevent 1.89bn years of healthy life being lost ..." www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

39h ago

🐈‍⬛💜 phonakins 🍉🌲

@phonakins.com

They top a list of 17 major threats to human health over the next 75 years, which also includes cuts to aid spending by wealthy countries, the climate crisis and childhood malnutrition.

26h ago

Deb

@geezypeezy.bsky.social

Protect your children's children, your grandchildren NOW! Gemini AI chose nuclear War over peace! We must have strict regulatory actions in place. Only Democrats will do this.

223h ago

Cheryl B

@lightspotter.bsky.social

www.theguardian.com/global-devel... Yeah one realistic thing would be not voting for a sociopath …

27h ago

JuneSim63 💚

@junesim63.bsky.social

"We’re starting from the premise that if you are a policymaker today, whether at the global multilateral level or at the national level, these are the potential threats that you could face, and this is the magnitude by which.. you can actually make a difference” www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

17h ago

Climate, Ecology, War & More: Dr. Glen Barry BigEarthData.ai

@bigearthdata.ai

Fixated on AI, the world has forgotten what is staring it in the face: nuclear annihilation ->The Guardian | More on "Nuclear weapons and existential risk" at BigEarthData.ai | #AI

16h ago

1 source

theguardian.comNuclear war and malicious use of AI threaten end of humanity by 2100, says Lancet assessment

Pope Leo XIV to undergo surgery for early-stage lung nodulescience Lancet commission warns nuclear war and malicious AI could end humanity by 2100science

Lancet commission warns nuclear war and malicious AI could end humanity by 2100

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