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Chapter 13 - Unstoppable? Human Extinction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 March 2023

John J. Shea
John J. Shea
Affiliation:
State University of New York, Stony Brook
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Summary

ch 13: This chapter considers whether Homo sapiens is as “unstoppable” as the Titanic was “unsinkable.” Reviewing scientifically credible threats to our species’ long-term survival, this chapter shows that some threats looming large in the popular imagination are actually extremely unlikely to cause human extinction. Actual threats to long-term human survival, such as meteor impacts and large-scale volcanism, garner far less attention than they deserve and they share a similar solution.

Keywords

ch 13: unlikely extinction threatslikely extinction threatsmeteor impactlarge-scale volcanismpseudo-extinction
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Chapter
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The Unstoppable Human Species
The Emergence of Homo Sapiens in Prehistory
 , pp. 276 - 289
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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  • Unstoppable? Human Extinction
  • John J. Shea, State University of New York, Stony Brook
  • Book: The Unstoppable Human Species
  • Online publication: 16 March 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108554060.014
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  • Unstoppable? Human Extinction
  • John J. Shea, State University of New York, Stony Brook
  • Book: The Unstoppable Human Species
  • Online publication: 16 March 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108554060.014
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Unstoppable? Human Extinction
  • John J. Shea, State University of New York, Stony Brook
  • Book: The Unstoppable Human Species
  • Online publication: 16 March 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108554060.014
Available formats
×