End-of-the-world alert: Doomsday preppers release report listing 6 events that could wipe out 10% of global population in 1 hit within next 5 years

At the start of 2016, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announced they were keeping the minute hand of the Doomsday Clock to three minutes. The second and minute hands of the clock theoretically indicate how close the world is to an Apocalypse.

On Monday, scientists with the Global Priorities Project released the Global Catastrophic Risks 2016 report. It is a compilation of things that could decimate 10 percent or more of the global population in one hit within the next five years, reports Gladstone Observer.

The list has six main dangers, namely: killer robots, nuclear war, engineered viruses, climate change and natural events such as super volcanoes and asteroids that could hit Earth, superbugs and droughts. Although the world has dismissed recent end-of-the-world scenarios caused by nutty predictions such as the 2012 Mayan Calendar hoax, researchers say that the threats this time are very real and must be taken seriously by governments and global organisations.

If their warning would happen, it could annihilate about 740 million people. The authors cite the 1918 Spanish flu and plague as example of a major catastrophe that killed a large segment of the population, reports Science World Report.

Sebastian Farquhar from the Global Priorities Project warns that the swift rise of manmade biology could lead to the creation of deadly viruses. He cites militant organisations, such as the Islamic State, which has the capability to create its own viruses.

The report highlights that a large nuclear war between major powers could kill tens or hundreds of millions during the initial conflict and more if a nuclear winter would follow. Farquhar adds there are some things that would likely not happen in any one year but could happen. He reminds people the a lot of those risks do not stop at the borders and wait patiently for their passports to be check since it is global in nature such as the Ebola virus.

The report sought more funds, research and more international cooperation to probe the possible risks of biotechnology and artificial intelligence, better planning for pandemics and reduce nuclear weapons to ensure the global community could better cope with the risks.