There’s no shortage of things that could end the world. But between climate change, risks from AI, and biological threats like pandemics, we seem to be forgetting about one human-made existential risk that has been with us for 80 years: the ever-present possibility of nuclear warfare.

But nuclear war hasn’t forgotten about us.

“Because of extraordinary luck over 80 years, despite many close calls and near-misses, there hasn’t been a detonation of nuclear weapons,” Elise Rowan, the deputy vice president of communications at the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), told me over email. “Every concern that is top of mind for Americans right now…could be eclipsed by a snap decision under pressure or even an accident.”

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