Move Over Climate Change, This Is The Greatest Threat To Humanity
An old threat that people largely ignore
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The bulk of today’s apocalyptic language is aimed at climate change. Politicians and activists alike have labeled climate change as an existential crisis, the greatest threat we face, and lament how humanity is out of time to fix the problem. That is all well and good but that is not the biggest threat humanity faces.
The biggest modern threat to humanity is seventy five years old and does not garner nearly as much attention it deserves.
That threat is nuclear annihilation.
Much was made about nuclear weapons and their destructive power during the Cold War but since the fall of the USSR, much of the talk surrounding nukes has dissipated. The problem is, the nuclear weapons are still there.
In fact, nuclear weapons are quietly being modernized, expanded, and redeployed.
I fear humanity will blow itself to pieces long before the climate changes enough to do us in. Nuclear weapons are still the #1 threat our species faces.
More modern, more deadly, less concern
Climate change has taken over as the world’s newest doomsday darling. First, it was population growth and famine, then it was nuclear weapons, now it is climate change. But we should not have been so quick to move on from the fear surrounding nuclear weapons.
Nuclear war could break out at any time. It could break out tomorrow.
I do not say that to be hyperbolic, it is the truth. Russia still commands the world’s largest nuclear arsenal, the United States is a close second. China has been slowly expanding its nuclear warhead stockpile as well as its delivery capabilities. Even North Korea is suspected of having a few nuclear warheads stashed away.
The newest missile technology is hypersonic and can send nukes circling the globe in a matter of minutes. These new missiles are so fast that they outpace all of the old deterrent technologies. They are faster than the fastest anti-missile defenses and right now it is not even close.
