[diggan]

Maybe that's based on the "Doomsday Clock" (https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/) being as close to "human extinction" as it has ever been? Not sure, but sounds plausible the author is reading into that.

[bargainbin]

Anyone using that exercise in melodramatics as their basis for probability of nuclear war deserves to be laughed it and subsequently ignored.

[diggan]

The author is writing about post-nuclear detonation, of course it's an exercise in melodramatics and theories, that's clear from the onset.

[hollerith]

Doomsday clock is not an estimate of nuclear risk these days, but includes risks like climate change.