A Pugwash document concerning nuclear problems and tensions in the time of COVID-19. The document has been co-signed by an extensive list of Pugwash colleagues and personalities. 

While chemical and nuclear weapons treaties have systems to verify compliance, the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), a global pact banning bioweapons, does not. Now, as technologies such as genome editing and AI converge and accelerate, placing powerful capabilities in the hands of a growing number of actors, treaty members are once again discussing the topic of verifying compliance with the treaty.

In 2013, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists will launch "Voices of Tomorrow," which will feature a monthly essay, op-ed article, or multimedia presentation written or produced by a high school student, college undergraduate, or graduate student. The topic must address some aspect of at least one of the Bulletin's core issues of nuclear weapons, nuclear energy, climate change, biosecurity, or emerging technologies.

In a nuclear war, hundreds to thousands of detonations would occur within minutes, resulting in tens to hundreds of millions of people dead or injured in a few days. But a few years after, global climatic changes caused by the many nuclear explosions could be responsible for the death of more than half of the human population.