Oliver Morton reviews Our Final Century: Will the Human Race Survive the Twenty-First Century? (Amazon UK) by Martin Rees who gives humanity only a 50/50 chance of surviving the next 97 years. Morton, though, while accepting many may die, is more optimistic of our chances as a race. While Rees sees catastrophic dangers from future terrorism, Morton sets the possible deaths against the relentless toll of the 20th century's wars: "In some situations, such as the war in Congo, it is possible to kill a million people without most of civilisation -- the urge for inverted commas here is strong -- even noticing, let alone ending." He also thinks humanity's ability to counter new threats will continue and save us or, at least, most of us.

I'm guessing this book is available in the US under a different, more immediately dramatic, name, Our Final Hour: A Scientist's Warning: How Terror, Error, and Environmental Disaster Threaten Humankind's Future In This Century -- On Earth and Beyond (Amazon US).