Jackie, of the threats you speak to, nuclear war should definitely be at or near the top. Climate change? — not so much. The changes to the climate between 15,000 years ago and 8000 years ago were far, far more dramatic than what is coming, and humans survived just fine. The coming climate change will disrupt civilization, but it will not wipe us out — not even close. Also, it is pertinent that we have saved ourselves unintentionally: if not for anthropogenic global warming, we would now be descending into another ice age. So we have bought ourselves some time.

The inconvenient fact is: the Earth’s climate is not stable, and never has been. The ecosystem is unsafe for us, even if we don’t change it.

Indeed, the phrase “Mother Nature” is pretty misleading; more accurate would be “Mean, Nasty, Bloodthirsty, Ruthless and Uncaring Sociopath Uncle Nature”.

There are other threats that you have omitted. I am terrified of AI and biotech. I think those are greater threats than nuclear war; but most people don’t understand the threats of AI and biotech, so it is not in the news much.

Yes, nuclear war is a very real threat. I grew up with that threat: as a kid, we had drills in elementary school where we lined up in the hall, crouching, and our hands over our heads. During the 1990s I thought we were past the threat of nuclear war, but apparently not.