And if there was nothing more to be done to save humanity? If it was already too late? The Australian reports a very pessimistic interview famous Australian scientist Frank Fenner. For him, we have sealed the fate of humanity: in less than 100 years, human societies will be more …

In an interview with the national daily The Australian, Frank Fenner, emeritus professor of microbiology at the Australian National University, predicted the demise of humanity in the next 100 years.

This could lead to ominous smile, but the scientist has an impressive 95 year career: Member of the Australian Academy of Science and the Royal Society, his work has been recognized with numerous awards and is the author of hundreds scientific texts. He was particularly involved in the disappearance of the virus responsible for smallpox and in the fight against the overpopulation of rabbits in Australia through the voluntary introduction of the myxomatosis virus in the 50s.

Officially retired since decades, the renowned scientist continues her research and writing, moving daily to the John Curtin Institute of Medicine of the Australian National University, where he was director from 1967 to 1973 .

His deep understanding of the evolution of species has never started his fascination with field observation. Molecular level to the planets, Frank Fenner is interested in all ecosystems. He began to publish its first environmental studies in the early 70s when the impact of human societies on our planet became problematic.

What confidence, or at least interest in his statements.

 

 

« We are going to disappear. Whatever we do now, it is too late »

This statement of Frank Fenner is worrisome, especially since it is not a vision of millions of years, but a prediction for the current century!

For Frank Fenner and other renowned scientists like Paul Crutzen, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Earth has entered a new geological epoch, the Anthropocene, since 1800 with the industrial revolution and the massive use of fossil fuels. This new geological epoch succeed the Holocene started there ten thousand years.
Although not officially on the geological timescale, the Anthropocene has been accepted in the scientific terminology is when the men were able to compete with the forces of nature in the ability to alter the ecosystem of the Earth.

In fact, our business global warming climate as important as the great natural cycles and we enter the sixth mass extinction of biodiversity, with a speed probably still faster than leading scale, there is 65 million years, the extinction of the dinosaurs after the fall of an asteroid as Eric Lambin, member of the Academy of sciences of the United States [1] highlights …
The demographic explosion because « there are already too many people »

The origin of these global imbalances that threaten the very survival of mankind, Frank Fenner blames the population explosion and « unbridled consumption ».

According to the UN, the number of humans has exceeded 7 billion in 2011. Given the inertia of our societies and policy makers on the urgency and importance of measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Fenner remains pessimistic: « We will suffer the same fate as the people on the Easter Island. climate change is just beginning. But we can already see remarkable changes in the weather. « 
« The Aborigines have shown us that without science and carbon dioxide responsible for global warming, they could survive for 40 000 to 50 000 years. But the world can not. Mankind is likely to take the same path that many species that we’ve seen disappear. « he said in an interview.
« Homo sapiens will disappear, maybe in 100 years, » he said. « Many other animals also. This is an irreversible situation. I think it is too late. I try not to say too much because there are people who try to change things. The reduction efforts slowed things a bit, but there are already too many people [on Earth], « he adds.
The population explosion and its consequences: energy bulimia, productivist and consumerist lead humanity to its loss. This observation, taboo, however, is increasingly shared by some scientists and increasingly discussed, but stifled by skeptics on climate change and some of the people for believing that the reproduction is a divine recommendation says Frank Fenner.

A little optimism before the sinking of Humanity?

Stephen Boyden, a colleague and friend of Fenner, think that there is a deep pessimism among some ecologists, but others are more optimistic: « Frank may be right, but some of us still nourish the hope that the situation will lead to awareness and, therefore, the revolutionary changes necessary to achieve ecological « sustainability. Unfortunately, this awareness radical, as expected for years, does not occur or only marginally.
Stephen Boyden adds.. « This is where Frank and I are different We are both aware of the seriousness of the situation, but I do not accept that it‘s necessarily too late Although there has a glimmer of hope, it is worth it to solve the problem. we have the scientific knowledge to do it, but we do not have the political will. « 
As such, Frank Fenner opened June 23, 2010 symposium « Healthy Climate, Planet and People » at the Australian Academy of Science. This conference is designed specifically to bridge the gap between science and environmental policy.
Concluding his interview, Frank Fenner, who yet had the honor to announce the global eradication of smallpox in the United Nations in 1980, contemplates despite the chaos of the human species on the brink of extinction mass: « the grandchildren of current generations will face a much more difficult world …«