Human race 'will be extinct within 100 years', claims leading scientist
By Niall Firth
Last updated at 5:12 PM on 18th June 2010
Professor Frank Fenner has warned that the human race can not survive
芬納弗蘭克教授警告人類將無法生存
As the scientist who helped eradicate smallpox he certainly know a thing or two about extinction.
由於那科學家曾幫助消滅天花，他當然知道一二件事情關於絕種。
And now Professor Frank Fenner, emeritus professor of microbiology at the Australian National University, has predicted that the human race will be extinct within the next 100 years.
和現在澳洲國立大學微生物學名譽教授弗蘭克芬納已預測，人類將在未來 100年內絕種。
He has claimed that the human race will be unable to survive a population explosion and 'unbridled consumption.’
他聲稱，人類將無法在人口爆炸和'肆無忌憚的消耗'中生存。
Fenner told The Australian newspaper that 'homo sapiens will become extinct, perhaps within 100 years.'
芬納告訴澳人報，'智人將會滅絕，可能在100年內。'
'A lot of other animals will, too,' he added.
'很多的其他動物會亦將會，'他補充。
'It's an irreversible situation. I think it's too late. I try not to express that because people are trying to do something, but they keep putting it off.'
'它是不可逆轉的局面，我認為是為時已晚。我盡量不表示，因為人們正試圖做一些事情，但他們只在保持把它推遲。
Since humans entered an unofficial scientific period known as the Anthropocene - the time since industrialisation - we have had an effect on the planet that rivals any ice age or comet impact, he said.
自從人類進入一非正式的科學時期被稱為人類世 - 自工業化時代 - 我們在地球上有一影響，那可匹敵任何冰河或彗星碰撞，他說。
Fenner, 95, has won awards for his work in helping eradicate the variola virus that causes smallpox and has written or co-written 22 books.
95歲的芬納已為他的工作幫助消除引起水痘的天花病毒而贏得獎項，並已寫書或合作撰寫22本書。
He announced the eradication of the disease to the World Health Assembly in 1980 and it is still regarded as one of the World Health Organisation's greatest achievements.
他向1980年的世界衛生大會宣布根除這種疾病 ，它仍然被視為是世界生組織的最大成就。
He was also heavily involved in helping to control Australia's myxomatosis problem in rabbits.
Last year official UN figures estimated that the world’s population is currently 6.8 billion. It is predicted to exceed seven billion by the end of 2011.
去年聯合國的官方數字估計，世界人口目前是68億，據預計在2011年結束時會超過 7億。
Fenner blames the onset of climate change for the human race’s imminent demise.
He said: 'We'll undergo the same fate as the people on Easter Island. '
芬納對人類即將滅亡歸咎於氣候變化。
他說：'我們將經歷同樣的命運，如復活節島上的人民。'
'Climate change is just at the very beginning. But we're seeing remarkable changes in the weather already.'
'氣候變化剛在開始，但是我們已經看到顯著的天氣變化。'
'The Aborigines showed that without science and the production of carbon dioxide and global warming, they could survive for 40,000 or 50,000 years.
'原住民顯示，沒有科學和二氧化碳的生產及全球變暖，它們可能存活40,000或50,000年。
‘But the world can't. The human species is likely to go the same way as many of the species that we've seen disappear.'
A map of the world from an atlas which concentrates on population rather than land mass released last year. The Earth's population is due to hit 7bn by next year
一張來自一本地圖集的世界地圖，它集中在人口而不是去年公佈的土地質量。地球的人口將於明年達到 70億
Retired professor Stephen Boyden, a colleague of Professor Fenner, said that while there was deep pessimism among some ecologists, others had a more optimistic view.
'Frank may well be right, but some of us still harbour the hope that there will come about an awareness of the situation and, as a result the revolutionary changes necessary to achieve ecological sustainability.'
Simon Ross, the vice-chairman of the Optimum Population Trust, said: 'Mankind is facing real challenges including climate change, loss of bio-diversity and unprecedented growth in population.'
Professor Fenner's chilling prediction echoes recent comments by Prince Charles who last week warned of ‘monumental problems’ if the world’s population continues to grow at such a rapid pace.
And it comes after Professor Nicholas Boyle of Cambridge University said that a 'Doomsday' moment will take place in 2014 - and will determine whether the 21st century is full of violence and poverty or will be peaceful and prosperous.
in the last 500 years there has been a cataclysmic 'Great Event' of international significance at the start of each century, he claimed.
In 2006 another esteemed academic, Professor James Lovelock, warned that the world's population may sink as low as 500 million over the next century due to global warming.
He claimed that any attempts to tackle climate change will not be able to solve the problem, merely buy us time.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1287643/Human-race-extinct-100-years-population-explosion.html
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