Global Scans · Nuclear winter · Weekly Summary

A global catastrophic risk is a hypothetical future event that has the potential to damage human well-being on a global scale. Some events could cripple or destroy modern civilization. Any event that could cause human extinction is known as an existential risk.

• [New] If NATO moves Western troops into Ukraine, it could trigger a nuclear holocaust. WORLD
• Although TikTok's use by Americans does not pose an immediate doomsday crisis like exploding thermonuclear weapons, its long-term threat to national security may ultimately jeopardize the very freedoms American cherish. American Enterprise Institute - AEI
• The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor project in Saint Paul-lez-Durance, in the South of France will be delayed for at least eight years. Electronics Weekly
• The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, set to go online in 2025, holds promise for further advancements. ISP Today
• By May, Russian forces had taken control of Mariupol, a strategically important port city in southeastern Ukraine, while ongoing fighting near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant repeatedly raised fears of a nuclear disaster. Global Conflict Tracker
• Russia has claimed Ukraine was risking a nuclear disaster, saying nine Ukrainian drones were shot down by Russian forces near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear station, Europe's largest atomic power plant. The Guardian
• Similar to Japan, Taiwan has limited land mass that could potentially be contaminated in the event of a nuclear disaster, as occurred in Fukushima prefecture. New Bloom Magazine
• The United States could provide India with a reliable thermonuclear weapon design. Foreign Affairs Magazine
• In the absence of a clear, coordinated plan to deal with Russia's escalating nuclear threats, western leaders have edged us closer to the nuclear disaster they are seeking to avoid. The Guardian
• Short of finding some way to remake the Martian environment (Musk has proposed immolating the planet with thermonuclear warheads to catalyze a runaway greenhouse effect), the actual experience of life on Mars is likely to be more complicated, and not in any way that could be described as good. NOEMA
• The risk of nuclear reactors for energy is far lower than the risk incurred in the case of thermonuclear war. UW-Madison MacArthur Fellow warns of nuclear fallout ri
• The US plans to start volume production of its newest B61 - 13 thermonuclear bombs later in May, almost a year ahead of schedule. Mehr News Agency
• A large-scale nuclear war between the USA and Russia could kill 200 million people or more in the near term and potentially cause a global 'nuclear winter' that could kill 5 to 6 billion people, threatening the survival of humanity. Countercurrents.org
• Nuclear winter effects could severely disrupt agriculture and fisheries worldwide, with Northern hemisphere high-latitude regions such as the Nordics facing especially acute risks. Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs

Last updated: 13 September 2026