A report prepared by a 35-member expert group for The Lancet was presented at the World Health Summit in Berlin, Germany. The document warns that humanity could face an existential threat by the year 2100 if current trends are not reversed.
The report identifies 17 major threats, including rapid advances in artificial intelligence, the risk of nuclear-weapon conflict, climate change, air pollution, antimicrobial resistance, and child malnutrition. Together, these risks are described as capable of undermining global health and stability on an unprecedented scale.
On nuclear war, the report notes that smoke from large-scale conflict could severely disrupt the atmosphere, blocking sunlight and lowering global temperatures. Such changes could damage agriculture and trigger widespread famine with catastrophic global consequences.
It also cautions that the fast pace of AI development could turn against humanity if misused, including for the creation of biological weapons, posing a serious danger to global security.
Lancet Commission co-chair Christopher Murray said that if the present trajectory continues, human life expectancy could decline by 2100. He urged world leaders to take coordinated international action in time and to increase investments in medical technologies, stressing that these steps are essential to prevent large-scale disasters.
