90% Chance That Human Civilisation May Collapse Within Decades Due To Deforestation, Claim Physicists

Physicists claim if the current rate of deforestation continues, there is a 90 per cent chance that the human civilisation could face an 'irreversible collapse' within decades. According to a peer-reviewed paper published in Nature Scientific Reports, within the next two to four decades Earth may no longer be able to sustain the human population.

The study by Dr Gerardo Aquino and Professor Mauro Bologna states that 'all the forests would disappear approximately in 100¨C200 years.'

'Clearly it is unrealistic to imagine that human society would start to be affected by deforestation only when the last tree would be cut down,¡¯ the study continues.

Greenpeace

Continuous deforestation would result in the loss of life-support systems on Earth like carbon storage, oxygen production, soil conservation and water cycle regulation.

This could ultimately result in the collapse of human civilisation as 'it is highly unlikely to imagine the survival of many species, including ours, on Earth without [forests]'.

The paper states, 'The progressive degradation of the environment due to deforestation would heavily affect human society and consequently the human collapse would start much earlier.'

Also Read: World Forest Day 2020 - A Reminder To Turn Around Deforestation Before It Is Too Late

AFP

The Earth was originally covered by 60 million sq km of forest. However, following deforestation, there is less than 40 million sq km remaining.

'Calculations show that, maintaining the actual rate of population growth and resource consumption, in particular forest consumption, we have a few decades left before an irreversible collapse of our civilization,' the paper says.

According to the authors, the ¡®probability to survive without facing a catastrophic collapse, is very low.¡¯ The best case scenario? There is a 10% chance of avoiding the collapse.

'In conclusion our model shows that a catastrophic collapse in human population, due to resource consumption, is the most likely scenario of the dynamical evolution based on current parameters¡­ We conclude from a statistical point of view that the probability that our civilization survives itself is less than 10 per cent in the most optimistic scenario¡¯, the authors write.

Also Read: Rise In Carbon Footprint At Western Ghats Due To Deforestation Is The Cause Of Floods In Kerala

Reuters

According to the two authors, without changing the unsustainable levels of population growth and consumption, the only other possibility of survival might come from an unprecedented degree of technological development.