What is your last resort if the worst happens? Could it be a sudden global pandemic or some other kind of existential crisis that threatens humanity with extinction?
The sad truth is, if the apocalypse comes, we may not have a way out. But if you’re in the right place when disaster strikes – like an island that is naturally isolated from the spread of a contagious disease – you might be able to escape the peril and help humanity rebuild later. there.
With these prospects in mind, scientists have identified and even ranked the most potential refugee islands in such a crisis: the ones that can best guarantee human survival. against catastrophic pandemics and other potential existential threats.
It may sound like a sci-fi movie, but the team warns that dangers are possible.
“Discoveries in biotechnology suggest that a transgenic pandemic could threaten humanity’s survival,” said public health physician Nick Wilson from the University of Otago in New Zealand.
“Although disease carriers can easily cross land borders, a self-contained self-contained island that can house an isolated population with high technology could regenerate the Earth after a disaster.”
Deserted islands are not the most effective refuge in times of crisis.
To determine the most effective refuge in times of crisis , the researchers did not consider small islands. Although isolated groups of people can survive very well without assistance, without a diverse range of technical experts it will not be possible to effectively reproduce modern technological civilizations, scientists and scientists. research said.
Because of this and the ambition to rebuild society, the research team only considered independent sovereign states recognized by the United Nations, without any common land borders with other countries ( or not connected to other countries by bridge) and has a population of over 250,000.
In addition, the researchers had to take into account other characteristics that would make an effective island shelter in a doomsday scenario: population characteristics, the physical location of refugees, natural resources and political and social characteristics.
When they scored countries on these bases, they came up with a list of the 20 most suitable places for asylum, but three were particularly prominent based on their scores (average 0 to 1). ).
The island nations of Australia (0.71 points), followed by New Zealand (0.68 points) and Iceland (0.64 points) , appear to have the necessary characteristics to be an effective refuge. in the face of a catastrophic global pandemic, from which modern technological civilization will be successfully rebuilt,” the authors wrote in their paper.
Apart from those three locations, all the other hypothetical islands in the top 20 scored less than 0.5 points, making Japan, Barbados, Cuba, Fiji and Jamaica and many others ultimately unfit to guarantee coverage. survival of mankind.
“We were a bit surprised that these were the countries with the highest GDP, food self-sufficiency, or energy production,” the researchers explain.
Some countries could improve their rankings if they could increase food and energy production, the team said. While other island nations may be stuck due to political instability or exposure to things like natural environmental hazards. And that doesn’t look good to score points for the ability to rebuild human civilization.
“This will require post-disaster mobility, vast resources, and a large population to be able to spread globally again,” the authors write.
“Some of the island states examined lack independent resources, including energy supplies, and also lack the social capital and political stability to be able to cooperate effectively in the aftermath of a disaster.”
The researchers admit that their method includes several shortcomings that could be improved upon in further research, and say the ramifications of future climate change also need to be examined more deeply.
Hopefully we’ll never need to rely on a bleak ranking like this, but that doesn’t mean it’s not important to weigh our options.
“It’s like an insurance policy. You hope you never need to use it, but if disaster strikes, the strategy needs to be in place ahead of time,” Wilson said.
With that in mind, you now know the best places to escape a viral, bacterial or perhaps fungal apocalypse – the knowledge may be enough to make you want to migrate. If that’s the case, don’t delay in solving your problem.
Previous research has concluded that the complete border closure of island states in the face of an extreme pandemic situation is ” warrantable”. So if you’re thinking of doing that, then get started quickly.