This blog is about our existential emergency – the combination of catastrophic threats which we humans are creating that imperil our own future and that of all our descendants. It’s not a palatable subject, but it is, quite simply, the most important issue facing humanity today. There is nothing that tops it. Yet it gains minimal attention.
Existential risk is a respectable academic discipline, with research centres at Oxford and Cambridge universities – but it is a topic you rarely see in media headlines, or hear from the lips of politicians and civic leaders. Yet it concerns your fate, and that of every person on the planet. It rules the future of our civilisation, maybe the entire human species.
These blogs and oped articles are intended to encourage inquiry and the discussion we humans have to have if we intend to survive this Century, when ten mega-risks come together to confront us. They are intended, especially, to encourage discussion of cross-cutting species-level solutions. Please feel free to share, debate and make your own investigation.
Julian Cribb
Julian Cribb is an Australian author and science communicator. He is a fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts, the Australian Academy of Technological Science (ATSE) and the Australian National University Emeritus Faculty. He is a Member (AM) of the Order of Australia (General Division)
His career includes appointments as newspaper editor, scientific editor for The Australian daily newspaper, director of national awareness for CSIRO, member of numerous scientific boards and advisory panels, and president of national professional bodies for agricultural journalism and science communication. He is a co-founder of the Council for the Human Future.
His published work includes over 9000 articles, 3000 science media releases and eight books. He has received 32 awards for journalism. His internationally-acclaimed book, The Coming Famine (2010) explored the question of how we can feed 10 billion humans this century. His book, Poisoned Planet (2014) examines the contamination of the Earth system and humanity by anthropogenic chemicals and how to prevent it. His book Surviving the 21st Century (Springer 2016) deals with the existential crisis facing humanity in our time – and what we can do about it. His latest books are Food or War (Cambridge 2019) and Earth Detox (Cambridge 2021)
Twitter: @JulianCribb https://twitter.com/JulianCribb
Personal website: A Matter of Survival
Surviving C21 