Denkenberger Spoke to British Universities on Existential Risks

ACEP's David Denkenberger, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, went on a speaking tour in England.

His first stop was at the University of Cambridge Centre for the Study of Existential Risk. He spoke about how we might recover from events such as solar storms and high-altitude electromagnetic pulses that could disable electricity generation, fossil-fuel production and other industrial activity.

His next stop was at the University College London Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction. He spoke on recovery from catastrophes that can abruptly destroy around 10 percent of global food production, such as the volcanic eruption that caused the “year without a summer” in 1816.

At Effective Altruism Global, an annual conference, Denkenberger led a workshop on recovering from a loss of industry. Next, he spoke at the University of Oxford Future of Humanity Institute on recovering from catastrophes that could block the sun, such as a nuclear war in which smoke from burning of cities would enter the stratosphere. He also spoke to Oxford’s Effective Altruism student group on these topics. Finally, he met with three British lords interested in these topics.

 

Dave Denkenberger spoke to universities in England on existential risks that could affect food production. Photo courtesy of Dave Denkenberger.