EA - Introducing the new Riesgos Catastróficos Globales team by Jaime Sevilla

Link to original articleWelcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: Introducing the new Riesgos Catastróficos Globales team, published by Jaime Sevilla on March 3, 2023 on The Effective Altruism Forum.TL;DR: We have hired a team to investigate potentially cost-effective initiatives in food security, pandemic detection and AI regulation in Latin America and Spain. We have limited funding, which we will use to focus on food security during nuclear winter. You can contribute by donating, allowing us to expand our program to our other two priority areas.Global catastrophic risks (GCR) refer to events that can damage human well-being on a global scale. These risks encompass natural hazards, such as pandemics, supervolcanic eruptions, and giant asteroids, and risks arising from human activities, including nuclear war, bioterrorism, and threats associated with emerging technologies.MissionOur mission is to conduct research and prioritize global catastrophic risks in the Spanish-speaking countries of the world.There is a growing interest in global catastrophic risk (GCR) research in English-speaking regions, yet this area remains neglected elsewhere. We want to address this deficit by identifying initiatives to enhance the public management of GCR in Spanish-speaking countries. In the short term, we will write reports about the initiatives we consider most promising.Priority risksIn the upcoming months, we will focus on the risks we identified as most relevant for mitigating global risk from the Hispanophone context. The initiatives we plan to investigate include food resilience during nuclear winters, epidemiological vigilance in Latin America, and regulation of artificial intelligence in Spain.Our current focus on these risks is provisional and contingent upon further research and stakeholder engagement. We will periodically reevaluate our priorities as we deepen our understanding and refine our approach.Food securityEvents such as the detonation of nuclear weapons, supervolcanic eruptions, or the impact of a giant asteroid result in the emission of soot particles, potentially causing widespread obstruction of sunlight. This could result in an agricultural collapse with the potential to cause the loss of billions of lives.In countries capable of achieving self-sufficiency in the face of Abrupt Sunlight Reduction Scenarios (ASRS), such as Argentina and Uruguay [1], preparing a response plan presents an effective opportunity to mitigate the global food scarcity that may result. To address this challenge, we are considering a range of food security initiatives, including increasing seaweed production, relocating and expanding crop production, and rapidly constructing greenhouses. By implementing these measures, we can better prepare these regions for ASRS and mitigate the risk of widespread hunger and starvation.BiosecurityThe COVID-19 crisis has emphasized the impact infectious diseases can have on global public health [3].The Global Health Security Index 2021 has identified epidemic prevention and detection systems as a key priority in Latin America and the Caribbean [4]. To address this issue, initiatives that have proven successful in better-prepared countries can be adopted. These include establishing a dedicated entity responsible for biosafety and containment within the Ministries of Health, and providing health professionals with a manual outlining the necessary procedures for conducting PCR testing for various diseases [4]. Additionally, we want to promote the engagement of the Global South with innovative approaches such as wastewater monitoring through metagenomic sequencing [5], digital surveillance of pathogens, and investment in portable rapid diagnostic units [6].Artificial IntelligenceThe development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a transformative technology that carries unprecedented economic and social ri...