The Threat List

Status:201 entries catalogued

The Long List

The Long List: every problem we can name, in one list.

The ranked index covers the hundred problems we can measure properly. This is the wider field — one line each, no claim of completeness. Entries that also appear in the ranked index carry their full severity score and their fixed overall rank; a figure marked “est” is an editor estimate rather than a full five-factor score, and a dash means it hasn’t been scored yet — open it and one is researched on the spot.

201 shown
  1. #1Climate Change91.3Global warming: the forcing function behind much of this list.Global
  2. #2Global Hunger87.9Seven hundred million people undernourished.Global
  3. #3Russia-Ukraine War87.7Europe's largest interstate war since 1945, now in its fourth year.Europe
  4. #4Air Pollution86.4Seven million deaths a year from the air itself.Global
  5. #4Mining and Tailings Pollution86.4Dam failures and mercury contamination downstream.Global
  6. #5Extreme Heat85.1Wet-bulb conditions approaching survivability limits.Global
  7. #6Sudan Civil War82.7The world's largest displacement crisis, largely unreported.Africa
  8. #7Gaza War82.2Mass civilian casualties and near-total displacement in a sealed territory.Middle East
  9. #8Human Cost of Post-9/11 US-Led Wars82.1Research cited by recent coverage attributes at least 4.5 million deaths and more than 38 million displaced people to post-9/11 wars.Middle East, South Asia and Africa
  10. #9Drought77.9Multi-year droughts across Africa, Asia and the Americas.Global
  11. #10Dirty Cooking Fuel76.7Household smoke killing millions, mostly women and children.Global
  12. #11Antimicrobial Resistance76.3The slow end of reliable antibiotics.Global
  13. #12Eastern DRC Conflict75.8Decades of armed group violence over minerals and territory.Africa
  14. #13Lack of Surgical Access75.5Five billion people without safe, affordable surgery.Global
  15. #15Syria Post-War Crisis73.7Fourteen years of war left a shattered state, mass displacement and a stalled recovery.Middle East
  16. #14Water and Sanitation Access73.7Two billion people without safely managed water.Global
  17. #16Road Traffic Deaths73.2More than a million deaths a year, mostly avoidable.Global
  18. #17Yemen Crisis72.2A collapsed state with famine conditions and blockade.Middle East
  19. #18Lead Poisoning71.9Cognitive damage to hundreds of millions of children.Global
  20. #19Mental Illness and Suicide71.9A treatment gap covering most of the world.Global
  21. #20Cardiovascular Disease71.1The single largest cause of death worldwide.Global
  22. #21Small Arms Proliferation70.4A billion firearms circulating with little tracing.Global
  23. #22Sea Level Rise69.1Permanent inundation on a fixed schedule.Global
  24. #23Myanmar Civil War68.5Post-coup fighting across most of the country.Asia
  25. #24Cancer68.2Ten million deaths a year and rising with ageing.Global
  26. #25Diabetes67.7Half a billion people, most undiagnosed or untreated.Global
  27. #25Diabetes and Obesity67.7A metabolic epidemic reshaping health systems in every income bracket.Global
  28. #26Lead Exposure67.7A neurotoxin still circulating in paint, cookware, batteries and spices, costing children measurable IQ.Global
  29. #25Obesity and Metabolic Disease67.7A food system optimised against human health.Global
  30. #27Antibiotic Pipeline Failure67.4Almost no new classes in development.Global
  31. #28South Sudan Crisis67.0Political violence, flooding and economic collapse in the world youngest country.East Africa
  32. #29Invasive Species66.9Ecosystem disruption costing hundreds of billions.Global
  33. #30Tobacco66.8Eight million deaths a year from a legal product.Global
  34. #30Tobacco Use66.8The largest preventable cause of death on earth.Global
  35. #31Extreme Wildfires66.7Fire seasons are lengthening and burning places that historically did not burn.Global
  36. #31Wildfire Intensification66.7Fire seasons extending past the capacity to fight them.Global
  37. #32Forced Displacement66.2More than a hundred million people displaced.Global
  38. #33Child Stunting and Wasting66.1Permanent developmental damage from early hunger.Global
  39. #34Intensifying Cyclones64.6Storms outpacing the infrastructure built for them.Global
  40. #35Global Natural Disaster Losses in 202562.6Natural disasters caused about $224 billion in global damage during 2025, with less than half reportedly covered by insurance.Global
  41. #36Healthcare-Associated Infection62.4Hospital-acquired infection killing millions annually.Global
  42. #37PFAS and Forever Chemicals62.1Industrial chemicals that do not break down are now in almost every human bloodstream.Global
  43. #38Transboundary Water Disputes61.7Shared rivers under dam-building and drought stress.Global
  44. #39Deforestation61.4Primary forest cleared faster than it regrows.Global
  45. #40Freshwater and Groundwater Depletion61.2Aquifers that took millennia to fill are being drained within a lifetime.Global
  46. #40Groundwater Depletion61.2Aquifers drained faster than any recharge rate.Global
  47. #41Ethiopia Internal Conflicts60.7Fighting in Amhara and Oromia continues after the Tigray war, with severe humanitarian consequences.East Africa
  48. #41Ethiopia Regional Conflicts60.7Amhara and Oromia violence after the Tigray war.Africa
  49. #42Household Air Pollution60.3Cooking on solid fuel kills millions, almost entirely women and children.Global
  50. #43Opioid and Synthetic Drug Crisis59.9Fentanyl analogues outpacing every intervention.Americas
  51. #44Tsunami Risk59.5Warning systems missing across several exposed coasts.Global
  52. #45Soil Degradation58.6A third of farmland degraded and still eroding.Global
  53. #46Extreme Poverty58.5Seven hundred million below the poverty line, progress stalled.Global
  54. #47Sahel Insurgency58.4Jihadist expansion across Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.Africa
  55. #48Gender-Based Violence57.8One in three women, almost nowhere prosecuted properly.Global
  56. #49Nigeria Insecurity and Banditry56.5Insurgency in the northeast and armed banditry in the northwest have displaced millions.West Africa
  57. #50Tuberculosis55.2The deadliest infectious disease, and curable.Global
  58. #51Malaria54.5Hundreds of thousands of child deaths a year.Africa
  59. #52Chronic Respiratory Disease54.1COPD and asthma driven by air pollution and smoking.Global
  60. #53Colombia Armed Group Violence53.9Post-peace-deal fragmentation has left armed groups controlling large rural areas.South America
  61. #54Religious Persecution53.7Mass detention and restriction of minority faiths.Global
  62. #55Human Trafficking53.3Criminal networks moving people across every region.Global
  63. #55Modern Slavery53.3Fifty million people in forced labour or forced marriage.Global
  64. #56Alcohol Harm52.1Three million deaths a year, largely unregulated.Global
  65. #57Somalia Conflict and Al-Shabaab Insurgency51.6Insurgency, clan conflict and repeated drought compound one of the worst humanitarian situations on earth.East Africa
  66. #57Somalia Insurgency51.6Al-Shabaab attacks compounding drought and hunger.Africa
  67. #58Somalia Drought and Child Malnutrition Crisis51.3Somalia's drought emergency is driving a sharp rise in severe child malnutrition, with admissions reportedly nearly tripling in six months.Somalia
  68. #59Haiti Gang Control51.1Armed groups control most of the capital.Americas
  69. #60Mexico Cartel Violence49.9Homicide rates comparable to active war zones.Americas
  70. #61HIV/AIDS49.5Still killing where treatment access is thinnest.Global
  71. #62Overfishing49.3Stocks fished beyond recovery across most of the ocean.Global
  72. #63Learning Poverty49.0Most children in poor countries cannot read by ten.Global
  73. #65Housing and Homelessness48.7A billion people in inadequate housing.Global
  74. #64Venezuela Migration and Economic Crisis48.7The largest displacement crisis in the Western Hemisphere.South America
  75. #66Oil Spills and Gas Flaring48.2Chronic contamination in producing regions.Global
  76. #67Viral Hepatitis44.4A curable and preventable infection that still kills more people than malaria.Global
  77. #68Cholera Outbreaks44.0A treatable disease surging on broken water systems.Global
  78. #68Cholera Resurgence44.0A wave of outbreaks driven by conflict, floods and broken water systems.Global
  79. #69Korean Peninsula Standoff43.4Nuclear-armed deadlock with collapsing communication channels.Asia
  80. #69Korean Peninsula Tensions43.4A nuclear-armed standoff alongside one of the most severe closed-country humanitarian situations.East Asia
  81. #70Trafficked Scam Compounds43.1Forced labour running global online fraud.Asia
  82. #71Drowning42.9A quarter of a million deaths a year, largely children.Global
  83. #72Attacks on Health Facilities40.6Hospitals struck in conflicts on every continent.Global
  84. #73Permafrost Thaw40.5Carbon and methane release that cannot be reversed.Global
  85. #74Tax Avoidance39.2Hundreds of billions lost to profit shifting annually.Global
  86. #75Nuclear Weapons Risk38.8Arms control collapsing while arsenals modernise.Global
  87. #76Neglected Tropical Diseases38.4A billion people, almost no commercial research incentive.Global
  88. #77Child Marriage38.0Twelve million girls married before eighteen each year.Global
  89. #78Long Covid36.6Chronic disability at population scale, poorly counted.Global
  90. #79Private Military Groups35.8Deniable force multiplying conflicts in fragile states.Global
  91. #80Kashmir Dispute34.9Militarised standoff between two nuclear states.Asia
  92. #82Cabo Delgado Insurgency33.7An Islamist insurgency in northern Mozambique sitting on top of a major gas project.Southern Africa
  93. #81Migrant Route Deaths33.7Thousands drowned or lost in deserts each year.Global
  94. #83Central African Republic Conflict33.0A long-running armed conflict that has displaced a fifth of the population.Central Africa
  95. #84Attacks on Aid Workers31.9Record numbers of humanitarian staff killed.Global
  96. #85Female Genital Mutilation31.6More than two hundred million women affected.Global
  97. #86Internet Shutdowns30.9Connectivity cut during elections and protests.Global
  98. #87Avian Influenza H5N130.6Mammal-to-mammal spread raising pandemic risk.Global
  99. #88Western Colombia Earthquake30.0A magnitude 7.4 earthquake in western Colombia reportedly killed at least 111 people, injured thousands and damaged more than 1,500 homes.Western Colombia
  100. #89Karamoja Drought and Hunger Crisis29.5Uganda began emergency food distributions after drought and crop failures caused hunger affecting 1.5 million people and reportedly killed 19.Karamoja, Uganda
  101. #90Synthetic Media29.1Evidence itself becoming cheap to fabricate.Global
  102. #91Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict22.1A resolved territorial war that produced the near-total displacement of a population.Caucasus
  103. #92Colombia Mass-Casualty Event21.8ReliefWeb meeting minutes report that an unspecified event in Colombia killed 331 people and injured 4,505.Colombia
  104. #93Snakebite Envenoming21.7A hundred thousand deaths a year and an antivenom shortage.Global
  105. #93Snakebite Envenoming21.7A neglected rural killer with an effective treatment that rarely reaches victims.Global
  106. #94Landmines and Unexploded Ordnance20.3Contamination that keeps killing decades after wars end.Global
  107. #95Riverine and Flash Flooding19.7The most frequent disaster type worldwide.Global
  108. #96Iran War19.4An escalating war involving Iran has reportedly killed at least 1,850 people, affected a population of nearly 10 million and caused the first US combat deaths.Iran and Middle East
  109. #97Kumamoto Earthquake13.4A magnitude-7.1 earthquake in Japan's Kumamoto region reportedly killed at least 13 people and forced more than 9,000 residents to evacuate.Kumamoto, Japan
  110. #98US Northeast Nor'easter10.3A powerful nor'easter battered New York and New Jersey, killing at least one person and disrupting coastal communities under emergency declarations.New York and New Jersey, United States
  111. #99Kenya Ebola Outbreak6.6Kenya has reported nine confirmed Ebola cases, including two deaths, all epidemiologically linked to the initial case.Kenya
  112. #100Suspected Plague Death in Irkutsk3.8WHO is monitoring the suspected plague death of a laboratory worker in Siberia and has offered support to Russian authorities.Irkutsk, Russia
  113. Informal and Unsafe Work72.0estTwo billion workers with no protection.Global
  114. Workplace Deaths68.0estNearly three million work-related deaths a year.Global
  115. Rapid Unplanned Urbanisation65.0estCities growing faster than water, transport or drainage.Global
  116. Pandemic Preparedness Gap62.0estThe world remains structurally unprepared for the next respiratory pandemic.Global
  117. Coral Reef Collapse60.0estRepeated mass bleaching is dismantling the most biodiverse marine ecosystem.Global
  118. Afghanistan Humanitarian Collapse58.0estEconomic collapse, aid cuts and systematic exclusion of women have created one of the largest aid caseloads in the world.South Asia
  119. Medicine and Vaccine Shortages58.0estFragile single-source supply for essential drugs.Global
  120. Taiwan Strait Tensions57.0estA potential conflict that would be the largest economic shock in modern history.East Asia
  121. Insect and Pollinator Decline56.0estThe animals that pollinate a third of our food are disappearing.Global
  122. Dengue Expansion55.0estMosquito range spreading with the climate.Global
  123. Landslides50.0estDeforested slopes plus heavier rain.Global
  124. Crop and Livestock Disease49.0estMonoculture staples exposed to single pathogens.Global
  125. Out-of-School Children49.0estA quarter of a billion children with no schooling.Global
  126. West African Coup Belt48.0estA run of military takeovers across the region.Africa
  127. Lebanon Economic and Security Crisis47.0estA currency collapse and a border war layered on top of each other.Middle East
  128. Power Grid Fragility46.0estAgeing grids meeting rising electrification demand.Global
  129. Closing Civic Space45.0estNGO laws shutting down independent organisation.Global
  130. Digital Divide42.0estA third of humanity still offline.Global
  131. Gambling Harm40.0estOnline betting normalised and largely unregulated.Global
  132. Diarrhoeal Disease in Children38.0estChildren still die in large numbers from an illness treatable with salt, sugar and clean water.Global
  133. LGBTQ Persecution38.0estCriminalisation in dozens of countries.Global
  134. Rohingya Refugee Crisis36.0estA stateless population in indefinite camp confinement with shrinking rations.South Asia
  135. Solar Storm Risk36.0estA Carrington-class event would take down grids for months.Global
  136. South China Sea Disputes36.0estOverlapping claims and repeated maritime confrontations.Asia
  137. Infrastructure Cyberattacks35.0estPower, water and hospitals as routine targets.Global
  138. Elder Care Deficit34.0estAgeing populations without care systems.Global
  139. Nuclear Waste Storage34.0estNo permanent repository nearly anywhere.Global
  140. Prison Overcrowding33.0estMass pretrial detention in inhumane conditions.Global
  141. Semiconductor Concentration33.0estAdvanced chips made in one seismic, contested zone.Asia
  142. Eastern DRC Ebola Outbreak29.0estEastern Congo's rapidly growing Ebola outbreak has killed over 1,500 people and is worsening hunger amid conflict and response shortfalls.Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo
  143. Libya Instability29.0estA divided state, migrant abuse and periodic armed clashes over a decade after the civil war.North Africa
  144. Typhoon Noul in China29.0estTyphoon Noul has reportedly killed at least 10 people and prompted the evacuation of more than 715,000 residents in China.China
  145. Pakistan Monsoon Floods27.0estMonsoon rains and flash floods in Pakistan have killed at least 109 people over the past month, according to disaster authorities.Pakistan
  146. Demographic Contraction26.0estFertility below replacement across most of the world.Global
  147. Multilateral Deadlock26.0estThe bodies meant to handle all of the above are blocked.Global
  148. Asteroid Impact Risk17.0estLow probability, unbounded consequence, thin detection.Global
  149. Autonomous Weapons15.0estLethal targeting decisions moving to software.Global
  150. Laboratory Biosafety Gaps14.0estHigh-containment labs expanding with uneven oversight.Global
  151. Judicial Executions8.0estRising execution counts in a handful of states.Global
  152. Dual-Use Research Risk7.0estEnhancement research published without controls.Global
  153. AI Catastrophic Risk—Capability advancing faster than any governance.Global
  154. AI Labour Disruption—Automation arriving faster than retraining.Global
  155. Amazon Dieback Risk—Rainforest approaching a savannah transition.Americas
  156. Biodiversity Loss—A million species facing extinction.Global
  157. Ceuta Spain-Morocco Border Crisis—A mass crossing into Ceuta reportedly involved tens of thousands of migrants and killed at least 67 people through drowning and a stampede.Ceuta, Spain-Morocco border
  158. Chemical and PFAS Pollution—Forever chemicals in nearly all drinking water tested.Global
  159. Child Labour—A hundred and sixty million children working.Global
  160. Coral Reef Collapse—Mass bleaching events now occurring back to back.Global
  161. Corruption and Illicit Flows—Public revenue drained offshore at scale.Global
  162. Cybercrime—Trillions in annual losses and industrialised ransomware.Global
  163. Dementia—Cases set to triple as populations age.Global
  164. Democratic Backsliding—More people under autocratising than democratising rule.Global
  165. Desertification—Productive land turning to desert across drylands.Global
  166. Disability Exclusion—A sixth of humanity shut out of work and services.Global
  167. Disinformation—Shared facts eroding as synthetic media scales.Global
  168. Ebola and Marburg Outbreaks—Recurrent filovirus emergencies with thin response capacity.Africa
  169. Economic Inequality—Wealth concentration distorting politics as well as markets.Global
  170. Electronic Waste—Toxic informal recycling in a handful of countries.Global
  171. Engineered Pandemic Risk—Synthesis capability outpacing biosecurity controls.Global
  172. Falling Vaccination Coverage—Measles and polio returning to eliminated regions.Global
  173. Food Price Shocks—Price spikes causing hunger faster than droughts.Global
  174. Glacier and Snowpack Loss—Seasonal water storage for two billion people melting away.Global
  175. Health Worker Shortage—A shortfall of ten million staff, worst where need is highest.Global
  176. India Monsoon Floods—Monsoon flooding has reportedly killed more than 440 people across five Indian states.India
  177. Indiana Floods—Severe flooding in eastern Indiana has killed at least six people, forced evacuations and damaged roads and a bridge.Indiana, United States
  178. Indigenous Land Rights—Defenders killed at several per week.Global
  179. Indonesia Magnitude 7.7 Earthquake—An August 2026 earthquake in Indonesia has reportedly killed 47 people, with Manggarai Regency recording the most deaths.Indonesia
  180. Insect Decline—Pollinator collapse under pesticides and habitat loss.Global
  181. Lafon Hunger Crisis—Food shortages in Lafon, South Sudan, have reportedly killed 49 people after repeated flooding and a prolonged dry spell damaged crops.Lafon, South Sudan
  182. Maternal and Child Mortality—Preventable deaths concentrated in a few dozen countries.Global
  183. Measles Resurgence—Outbreaks following pandemic immunisation gaps.Global
  184. Megacity Earthquake Risk—Tens of millions in unreinforced buildings on live faults.Global
  185. Nepal Flash Floods—Glacier-collapse floods killed at least 1,356 people, left nearly 4,900 missing and created urgent water, sanitation and recovery needs.Nepal
  186. Ocean Acidification—Carbon chemistry dissolving the base of marine food webs.Global
  187. Oman Tanker Oil Spill—A grounded tanker is reportedly leaking crude oil off Oman, threatening marine ecosystems and coastlines.Oman coast
  188. Orbital Debris—A cascade would take out global navigation and weather data.Global
  189. Plastic Pollution—Microplastics now found in every human tissue sampled.Global
  190. Pollinator Loss—A third of food crops dependent on declining pollinators.Global
  191. Press Freedom Decline—Record journalist imprisonment and near-total impunity.Global
  192. Sovereign Debt Distress—Debt service outranking health and education budgets.Global
  193. State Digital Surveillance—Commercial spyware as routine repression.Global
  194. Statelessness—Millions with no nationality and no rights.Global
  195. Supply Chain Fragility—Global trade running through a few chokepoints.Global
  196. Taiwan Strait Tensions—Military pressure around the world's chip supply.Asia
  197. Tropical Storm Lala in Hawaii—USDA assistance is being made available to Hawaiian agricultural producers affected by Tropical Storm Lala.Hawaii, United States
  198. Unidentified Major Earthquakes of August 2026—Two powerful earthquakes reportedly killed 3,535 people, injured more than 16,700 and left thousands missing at an unspecified location.Unspecified
  199. United States Billion-Dollar Disasters in 2026—Twelve billion-dollar disasters have reportedly struck the United States in 2026, causing $31.9 billion in losses.United States
  200. Venezuela June Earthquakes—Conflicting social-media reports say Venezuela's June earthquakes killed thousands and left nearly 18,000 people homeless.Venezuela
  201. Youth Unemployment—A demographic bulge with nowhere to work.Global