We're all going to die
Evolutionary biologist and editor of Nature: "Humans are doomed to extinction"
Georgy Golovanov, Hi-tech+
Evolutionary biologist and editor of the journal Nature Henry Gee does not consider overpopulation a real danger to humanity. In his book "A Very Short History of Life on Earth" (A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth), he predicts a world collapse due to other reasons: the destruction of habitats, low hereditary variability and weakening fertility. Gee is convinced that Homo sapiens is already doomed, and the signs of this are visible to anyone who is ready to notice them.
"As a paleontologist, I see the picture in perspective," Gee told readers of Scientific American. — Mammalian species come and go rapidly, arise, develop and disappear in millions of years or so. Fossils indicate that Homo sapiens has existed for about 30,000 years, but most of the time this species was rare — so rare that, in fact, it almost died out, and such a threat arose more than once. So the seeds of human doom were sown: the population grew very quickly from a very small one. As a result, as a species, H. sapiens is extremely monotonous. Several groups of wild chimpanzees have more hereditary variability than the whole of humanity. The lack of hereditary variability does not contribute to the survival of the species."
Moreover, for unknown reasons, over the past decades, the quality of sperm in men of different ages living in different countries has significantly deteriorated. This leads to a decrease in the birth rate. Perhaps it's the air pollution. Or in the stress caused, according to Ji, by too high crowding of the population of large cities. For most of its history, people have moved freely on earth in small groups. Settling down on each other's heads is a very recent habit.
The next reason for the decline in population growth is economic. States strive for continuous economic growth, but this goal does not correspond to the possibilities of a world in which resources are limited.
H. sapiens already use from 25% to 40% of the net productivity of ecosystems — organic matter that plants create from air, water and sunlight. Modern people have to work more and more to maintain the standard of living inherent in their parents. There is growing evidence that economic performance around the world has stalled or even declined over the past 20 years.
Another factor in the decline of the world's population is the economic, political and reproductive emancipation of women. It began only a hundred years ago, but has already led to an increase in the level of education and life expectancy. However, the spread of contraceptives and the unwillingness to give birth to many children means that the number of mankind is likely to decrease.
But the most insidious threat to us, according to the scientist, is the so—called "debt of extinction". Every species, even a thriving one, will die out sooner or later, regardless of efforts to prevent it. The reason is usually a delayed reaction to the destruction of the ecosystem. The most threatened species are those that were forced to migrate and therefore began to live more separately. People have settled more or less the entire territory of the planet.
In fact, Homo sapiens is already doomed. The signs of this are visible to those who are ready to notice them. The only question is how quickly this will happen, the scientist believes.
"I suspect that humanity is destined not just to shrink, but to disappear — and soon," predicted Ji. — Paraphrasing [singer and composer Tom] Lehrer, if we are going to write about the extinction of man, we should start writing now."
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru