These Are the Most Serious Catastrophic Threats Faced by Humanity

Oxford's Global Priorities Project has compiled a list of catastrophes--both natural and self-inflicted--that could kill off 10 percent or more of the human population. It's a real buzzkill of a report and it says that any of these catastrophes could happen within the next five years. Titled "Global Catastrophic Risks 2016," the report ranks the most dangerous threats facing our civilization according to probability. The likeliest risks include nuclear war and pandemics (both natural and deliberately engineered), followed by disasters stemming from runaway climate change, geoengineering run amok, and disruptions posed by artificial intelligence. The report also included low-probability--but high impact--events, like asteroid impacts and supervolcanic eruptions.