<span class="mw-page-title-main">Global catastrophic risk</span>

Global catastrophic risk

<p>A <b>global catastrophic risk</b> or a <b>doomsday scenario</b> is a hypothetical future event that could damage human well-being on a global scale,<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-2"><a href="#cite_note-2" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 2;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[2]</span></a></span> even endangering or destroying <a href="/en/Modernity" title="Modernity" class="wl">modern civilization</a>.<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-world_3-0"><a href="#cite_note-world-3" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 3;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[3]</span></a></span> An event that could cause <a href="/en/Human_extinction" title="Human extinction" class="wl">human extinction</a> or permanently and drastically curtail humanity's potential is known as an "<b>existential risk</b>."<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-types_4-0"><a href="#cite_note-types-4" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 4;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[4]</span></a></span></p>

<div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none" about="#mwt1">Potentially harmful worldwide events</div>
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<figure class="wiki-thumb"><a href="/en/File:Impact_event.jpg" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" data-hash="File:Impact_event.jpg"><img loading="lazy" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cb/Impact_event.jpg/300px-Impact_event.jpg" decoding="async" data-file-width="517" data-file-height="360" data-file-type="bitmap" height="209" width="300" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cb/Impact_event.jpg/450px-Impact_event.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Impact_event.jpg 2x" alt="Impact_event.jpg"></a><figcaption>Artist's impression of a major <a href="/en/Impact_event" title="Impact event" class="wl">asteroid impact</a>. An asteroid caused the <a href="/en/Cretaceous–Paleogene_extinction_event" title="Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event" class="wl">extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs</a>.<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-Schulte10_1-0"><a href="#cite_note-Schulte10-1" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 1;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[1]</span></a></span></figcaption></figure>
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studies</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-image"><span><a href="/en/File:FuturesStudies.svg" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" data-hash="File:FuturesStudies.svg"><img loading="lazy" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f7/FuturesStudies.svg/100px-FuturesStudies.svg.png" decoding="async" data-file-width="512" data-file-height="374" data-file-type="drawing" height="73" width="100" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f7/FuturesStudies.svg/150px-FuturesStudies.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f7/FuturesStudies.svg/200px-FuturesStudies.svg.png 2x" alt="FuturesStudies.svg"></a></span></td></tr><tr><th class="sidebar-heading" style="font-size:110%;">
<a href="/en/Outline_of_futures_studies" title="Outline of futures studies" class="wl">Concepts</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content hlist">
<ul><li><a href="/en/Accelerating_change" title="Accelerating change" class="wl">Accelerating change</a></li>
<li><a href="/en/Cashless_society" title="Cashless society" class="wl">Cashless society</a></li>
<li><a href="/en/Existential_risk" title="Existential risk" class="mw-redirect wl">Existential risk</a></li>
<li>Future
<ul><li><a href="/en/Future_of_Earth" title="Future of Earth" class="wl">Earth</a></li>
<li><a href="/en/Future_of_mathematics" title="Future of mathematics" class="wl">Mathematics</a></li>
<li><a href="/en/Race_of_the_future" title="Race of the future" class="wl">Race</a></li>
<li><a href="/en/Climate_change_scenario" title="Climate change scenario" class="wl">Climate</a></li>
<li><a href="/en/Future_of_space_exploration" title="Future of space exploration" class="wl">Space exploration</a></li>
<li><a href="/en/Ultimate_fate_of_the_universe" title="Ultimate fate of the universe" class="wl">Universe</a></li></ul></li>
<li><a href="/en/Kardashev_scale" title="Kardashev scale" class="wl">Kardashev scale</a></li>
<li><a href="/en/Moore's_law" title="Moore's law" class="wl">Moore's law</a></li>
<li><a href="/en/Resource_depletion" title="Resource depletion" class="wl">Resource depletion</a></li>
<li><a href="/en/Technological_singularity" title="Technological singularity" class="wl">Singularity</a></li></ul></td>
</tr><tr><th class="sidebar-heading" style="font-size:110%;">
<a href="/en/Futures_techniques" title="Futures techniques" class="wl">Techniques</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content hlist">
<ul><li><a href="/en/Backcasting" title="Backcasting" class="wl">Backcasting</a></li>
<li><a href="/en/Causal_layered_analysis" title="Causal layered analysis" class="wl">Causal layered analysis</a></li>
<li><a href="/en/Chain-linked_model" title="Chain-linked model" class="wl">Chain-linked model</a></li>
<li><a href="/en/Consensus_forecast" title="Consensus forecast" class="wl">Consensus forecast</a></li>
<li><a href="/en/Cross_impact_analysis" title="Cross impact analysis" class="wl">Cross impact analysis</a></li>
<li><a href="/en/Delphi_method" title="Delphi method" class="wl">Delphi</a>
<ul><li><a href="/en/Real-time_Delphi" title="Real-time Delphi" class="wl">Real-time Delphi</a></li></ul></li>
<li><a href="/en/Foresight_(future_studies)" title="Foresight (future studies)" class="mw-redirect wl">Foresight</a></li>
<li><a href="/en/Future-proof" title="Future-proof" class="wl">Future-proof</a></li>
<li><a href="/en/Futures_wheel" title="Futures wheel" class="wl">Futures wheel</a></li>
<li><a href="/en/Futures_workshops" title="Futures workshops" class="mw-redirect wl">Futures workshops</a></li>
<li><a href="/en/Horizon_scanning" title="Horizon scanning" class="wl">Horizon scanning</a></li>
<li><a href="/en/Reference_class_forecasting" title="Reference class forecasting" class="wl">Reference class forecasting</a></li>
<li><a href="/en/Scenario_planning" title="Scenario planning" class="wl">Scenario planning</a></li>
<li><a href="/en/Systems_analysis" title="Systems analysis" class="wl">Systems analysis</a></li>
<li><a href="/en/Threatcasting" title="Threatcasting" class="wl">Threatcasting</a></li>
<li><a href="/en/Trend_analysis" title="Trend analysis" class="wl">Trend analysis</a></li></ul></td>
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Technology <a href="/en/Technology_assessment" title="Technology assessment" class="wl">assessment</a> and <a href="/en/Technology_forecasting" title="Technology forecasting" class="wl">forecasting</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content hlist">
<ul><li><a href="/en/Critical_design" title="Critical design" class="wl">Critical design</a></li>
<li><a href="/en/Design_fiction" title="Design fiction" class="wl">Design fiction</a></li>
<li><a href="/en/Exploratory_engineering" title="Exploratory engineering" class="wl">Exploratory engineering</a></li>
<li><a href="/en/Future-oriented_technology_analysis" title="Future-oriented technology analysis" class="wl">FTA</a></li>
<li><a href="/en/Gartner_hype_cycle" title="Gartner hype cycle" class="wl">Hype cycle</a></li>
<li><a href="/en/Science_fiction_prototyping" title="Science fiction prototyping" class="wl">Science fiction prototyping</a></li>
<li><a href="/en/Speculative_design" title="Speculative design" class="wl">Speculative design</a></li>
<li><a href="/en/Technology_readiness_level" title="Technology readiness level" class="wl">TRL</a></li>
<li><a href="/en/Technology_scouting" title="Technology scouting" class="wl">Technology scouting</a></li></ul></td>
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<p>Over the last two decades, a number of academic and non-profit organizations have been established to research global catastrophic and existential risks, formulate potential mitigation measures and either advocate for or implement these measures.<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-:3_5-0"><a href="#cite_note-:3-5" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 5;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[5]</span></a></span><span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-:4_6-0"><a href="#cite_note-:4-6" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 6;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[6]</span></a></span><span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-:5_7-0"><a href="#cite_note-:5-7" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 7;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[7]</span></a></span><span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-:6_8-0"><a href="#cite_note-:6-8" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 8;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[8]</span></a></span></p>



A global catastrophic risk or a doomsday scenario is a hypothetical future event that could damage human well-being on a global scale, Over the last two decades, a number of academic and non-profit organizations have been established to research global catastrophic and existential risks, formulate potential mitigation measures and either advocate for or implement these measures. 