Will humans become extinct? 6 Minute English

What is the chance of the human race surviving the 21st century? There are many dangers – climate change for example, or nuclear war, or a pandemic, or planet Earth being hit by a giant asteroid. Sam and Neil discuss our future and whether we need to start panicing but not before they teach you some useful vocabulary.

QUESTION:
The species was hunted so much that within a century, every single bird had died out. But do you know which island the dodo was from? Was it:
a) The Galapagos
b) Mauritius
c) Fiji
[The answer is at the end of the programme.]

VOCABULARY:
existential risks
dangers that threaten the continuation of human life on Earth

the historical record
the collection of all written and recorded past events concerning the human race

wipes out
completely destroys leaving nothing remaining

plague
infectious, epidemic disease

Doomsday
final day of the world’s existence; apocalypse

false alarm
warning given incorrectly so that people wrongly believe something dangerous is about to happen

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