Human civilization is moist likely to have an ‘irreversible collapse’ within decades because of deforestation, said a recent study. In the next two or four decades, the earth may no longer be able to sustain a large human population, said a paper published in Nature Scientific.
Deforestation could lead to progressive degradation of the environment that would heavily affect human society and consequently the human collapse would start much earlier, said the study authored by Dr Gerardo Aquino and Professor Mauro Bologna. The study notes that the forests would disappear in 100 to 200 years if deforestation rate continues in the same manner.
The study said that the survival of all species, including human beings, was unlikely on Earth if forests disappear. The Earth was originally covered by 60 million sq km of forest before the development of human civilizations. Now the total area of forest land was less than 40 million sq km.
The researchers’ said that human civilisation has only a few decades left after calculations were made on the rate of deforestation and population explosion. They said that the probability of the survival of human civilization was less than 10 percent in the most optimistic scenario.
Aquino and Bologna said that the world will not last unless changes are brought. They also noted that the only other possibility of survival would come from an unprecedented degree of technological development. They claimed that higher technological development could in principle develop technical solutions to avoid or prevent the ecological collapse of the planet or as a last chance, to rebuild a civilization in extra-terrestrial space. Another way that the researchers say is of transforming the human civilization in totality.
They also called for redefining a different model of society that goes along with the interest of ecosystem above the individual interest.
