[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.

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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.

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First published:
June 14th, 2024

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