Reporting on Doomsday Scenarios | 60 Minutes Full Episodes

Preppers rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">(00:00:11)

• Prepping, once a niche activity, has gained mainstream popularity with an estimated 15 million Americans actively preparing for emergencies.
• Preppers come from diverse backgrounds and prepare for various scenarios, including climate emergencies, civil unrest, and pandemics.
• Modern prepping involves practical skills like bugging out and stockpiling essential supplies.
• Recent events like wildfires, hurricanes, and geopolitical tensions have emphasized the importance of preparedness.
• FEMA recommends individuals be self-sufficient for several days in case of disasters.
• The prepping community shares knowledge and resources through websites and online forums.
• Prepping is now seen as a responsible way to ensure personal safety and resilience in uncertain times.
• Heidi Keller, a prepper in the Smoky Mountains, is prepared to "bug in" during a crisis with a year's worth of food and a wood stove.
• Larry Hall, a former defense contractor, has created a luxury bunker called the Survival Condo in a decommissioned nuclear missile silo in Kansas.
• The Survival Condo is designed to withstand a nuclear blast and has a five-year supply of stored food and hydroponics for growing more.
• Preppers are concerned about the country's infrastructure and institutions' ability to respond effectively in a crisis.
• Bunkers are not a practical solution for most people and divert attention from making existing homes and communities more resilient.
• Preppers worry about massive power grid failures from nuclear attacks or solar storms, leading to a breakdown of social norms.
• The "shtf scenario" refers to a breakdown of social norms, requiring individuals to be prepared for survival.
• The term "Doomer Optimist" is gaining popularity to describe those who recognize the inevitability of disasters but remain optimistic about their ability to survive them.

Doomsday Vault rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">(00:13:22)

• The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, located in the Arctic, is a secure facility designed to preserve backup copies of the world's crop seeds against global catastrophes.
• The vault currently houses over a billion seeds, representing a wide variety of crops from around the world, and is built to last for at least 10,000 years.
• The extinction rate of crop varieties is a significant concern, with estimates suggesting that one crop strain disappears every day due to the loss of traditional seed varieties and the dominance of mass-produced industrial seeds.
• Climate change, population growth, and crop extinction are creating a "perfect storm" that threatens global agriculture.
• The Svalbard Global Seed Vault serves as a backup facility to preserve a diverse collection of seeds in case of global crises, such as famines or natural disasters.

The Vanishing Wild rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">(00:25:57)

• The Earth is facing a mass extinction crisis due to overpopulation, consumption, and habitat destruction.
• Human activities have caused a 69% decline in global wildlife abundance in the past 50 years.
• The current extinction rate is 100 times faster than the historical average.
• The loss of water in California is causing the extinction of iconic species like grizzly bears and salmon.
• Conservation efforts, such as the Kakol Biosphere Reserve in Mexico, have shown success in reversing species decline, but these efforts are insufficient to prevent mass extinction.
• The UN biodiversity conference set conservation targets, but previous goals were not met, indicating a lack of political will to address the issue.
• Humanity's consumption of resources has tripled in the past 50 years, exceeding the Earth's regenerative capacity.
• The decline of salmon populations in Washington's Salish Sea is an example of the impact on traditional ways of life and the emotional attachment people have to their environment.
• Humanity faces the potential threat of a sixth mass extinction, which may be caused by human activities and the impact of climate change.

Pathogen X rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">(00:39:10)

• Scientists are concerned about the risk of future pandemics caused by spillover diseases, where viruses jump from animals to humans.
• A team from the University of California, Davis, and their Ugandan partners are searching for viruses in the Impenetrable Forest of Uganda, where human populations are encroaching on wildlife habitats, increasing the risk of spillover.
• Bats are prime suspects for harboring viruses that can infect humans, and the team is using nets to capture bats and collect samples for testing.
• Tiara Smiley Evans, a UC Davis epidemiologist and wildlife vet, studies viruses that can infect humans from primates in Uganda.
• Smiley Evans and her team use a novel method to collect saliva samples from baboons by attaching oral swabs coated in attractants to bananas.
• Scientists in the Impenetrable Forest of Uganda monitor gorillas for signs of disease, as they can be early indicators of potential human health threats.
• The health of the natural world and human health are interconnected, and spillover threats pose risks to both humans and animals.