How long can we survive on the planet or is it all over?

Back to home page.

Experts are equally adamant that when that day arrives we shall be powerless to cope. Most worrying of all is that the next great plague is well overdue.

Flu pandemic.

We have to remember that mass epidemics are nothing new. At the end of the First World War a disastrous flu outbreak killed more people than four years of fighting. Of special concern is the failure to discover why this flu strain suddenly mutated to become so deadly. The certain truth is that sooner or later there will be another flu pandemic of similar proportions. But flu is by no means our only concern.

Out of nowhere.

The astonishing fact is that since the last World War we have witnessed the disturbing rise of numerous diseases that appear to have come out of nowhere. AIDS is a prime example, but even this palls into insignificance behind the spectre of other more deadlier infections. Many of these are extremely potent and only very careful handling has prevented them from gaining a much wider foothold. Eventually however there will come a time when even the very closest safeguards will prove inadequate and when that day arrives it will represent one of the greatest challenges the human race has ever faced.

We barely have time to acquire immunity to one strain of virus when another more potent one takes its place. The same can also be said of medicines used to combat certain types of disease.It is an established fact that increasingly higher levels of medication are needed to combat new strains of illness. So high in fact that we are now approaching the threshold of safety. Meanwhile we are left with the mystery of how microscopic organisms that cannot be seen are able to conduct themselves in a manner that almost appears to be intelligently guided. In simple language it means that the harder we attack them, the harder they respond.

Changing weather.

Another factor sure to have immense health implications for the world of the future is global warming.  In a world of fast changing climate, diseases once restricted to certain parts of the globe will impose themselves on others. This is already well under way. Outbreaks of West Nile Fever in the USA, and Rift Valley Fever in Saudia Arabia and Yemen, confirm the spread of diseases beyond their previous boundaries.

Colossal casualties.

There is no doubt that if global warming continues to gather pace this migration of tropical diseases including malaria will extend far to the north, and pose a definite threat across the whole of Europe.  In view of this we cannot remain complacent. The threats are real. Sooner or later there will be an outbreak of a super virus that will exact colossal casualties. It’s solely a question of when!

Conclusions - Have we a future on this planet?

Read our astonishing verdict.