While human extinction sounds like something straight out of a nightmare (or in this case, a joke), there are many ways in which it could happen.

Popular culture usually focuses on the most spectacular possibilities: like the hurtling asteroid in the film Armageddon or the alien invasion of Independence Day.

And while such a dramatic end is possible, focusing on such scenarios may distract us from the most serious threats we face today.

For example, both the World Health Organization and the World Economic Forum listed climate change and its effects as one of the top risks.

Recent UN talks already called climate change "a matter of life and death" for many regions and many, including Sir David Attenborough, believe it could lead to the collapse of civilizations and the extinction of "much of the natural world".

The possible threats are complex and diverse, from killer heatwaves and rising sea levels to widespread famines and migration on a truly immense scale.

Also, let's not forget the potential risks from novel technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI).

Experts highlight scenarios that range from increasingly sophisticated cyber-weapons that could hold an entire nation's data to ransom to autonomous algorithms that could unwittingly cause a stock-market crash.

While many focus on rising tensions between global powers and talk about conflicts like nuclear war, new technologies may also be making us less safe.

But think of all the pictures these events would produce!