British scientists predicted the death of 10% of the world's population in the next five years due to global disasters, most of which mankind cannot prevent at this stage of development.
A team of researchers from the University of Oxford has modeled various situations that pose a serious threat to humanity. Computer modeling helped scientists calculate the possible losses under different scenarios of the development of events - based on its results, British experts predicted the death of about a tenth of the world's population. Moreover, according to research, at least 750 million people may die in the next five years.
Among the main threats to mankind are global natural disasters: the eruption of a supervolcano and the fall of an asteroid. Computer calculations helped establish that the fall of an asteroid with a diameter of only a kilometer can completely wipe out an entire country from the face of the planet, respectively, destroying millions of its citizens. Also among the main threats to humanity are deadly viruses. At the same time, today it is not natural pathogens that pose a great threat to people's lives, but genetically modified viruses.
Scientists admit that many people may die because of the start of a nuclear war. In addition, the researchers do not exclude the fact that artificial intelligence can pose a serious threat to the safety of people. Experts are convinced that in the uprising of machines, humanity will suffer serious losses.
The authors of the study note that humanity cannot prevent global catastrophes caused by natural disasters at this stage of development, therefore, under such scenarios, mass death of people is inevitable.