It鈥檚 been said that 鈥渢hose who do not remember history are destined to relive it.鈥� Today, the problem is that none of us seems to remember history. So will our civilization end with a nuclear holocaust? A world-wide viral pandemic? Or will it be due to azoospermia? Then, whatever happens, we can give our planet back to animals who deserve it more than humans. After all, they only kill to eat.
While I was in premedical training, rats taught me an important biological lesson. Place two rats in a cage and they enjoy the company.
A few more keep them happy. But keep adding them, and they, like humans, start to kill one another. Later, during fish research in northern sa国际传媒, I learned another biological fact. A lake can only support so many fish. The rest begin to die.
So what鈥檚 happening to our human world? Every day, 200,000 people are added to our planet. This is 140 people per minute, resulting in 70 million each year. This equals the combined population of California, Texas and Washington states! Anyone who believes this can go on much longer without a ghastly end is smoking too much marijuana.
A mathematical fact, exponential growth, proves that the larger the population becomes, the faster it grows. Finally, the growth rate becomes so rapid that the population growth line is vertical and disappears from the chart. Then it鈥檚 too late to debate population growth.
It will be the end of civilization, one way or another.
So, before we cut down all the trees and start gasping for air due to a lack of oxygen, will a viral epidemic kill us? In April 2009, two children with flu were referred to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta for further investigation. Researchers discovered a virus with a unique genetic makeup, different from any known human flu virus.
It was the beginning of the swine flu epidemic that spread around the world infecting millions and killing thousands. This new virus was a strain of the H1N1 virus, involved in the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918. It killed up to 50 million people 鈥� more than died in the First World War.
So, despite advances in the science of combating viral diseases, are we heading toward another pandemic? No one knows the answer. But scientific studies show a strong correlation between the risk of a pandemic and population growth.
It鈥檚 predicted that by mid- century there will be nine billion people on our planet. By 2100 it will increase to 11 billion, a formula for disaster.
Then, consider what is happening to our finite natural resources. I recall sage advice from an elderly Indian who remarked: 鈥淚f you pollute the land, the air and water, finally, people will realize that you can鈥檛 eat dollar bills!鈥� Scientists predict a huge battle for resources, particularly water.
So can humans stop this trend to eventual destruction? I鈥檓 normally optimistic, but not with this question. After all, do you believe that intelligent people, those who fight contraception, will ever change their minds? Or, is it possible that world leaders will scrap nuclear weapons, rather than continuing to stockpile them? The history we鈥檝e forgotten shows that human stupidity has not changed for 2,000 years.
But there鈥檚 a slim chance that another biological fact could prevent our demise. It鈥檚 called azoospermia, absence of sperm. Normally, male humans produce 100 million sperm daily. They have done so through the ages. But, in 1991, Danish researchers reported a shocking fact that sent many male Danes reaching for Prozac. Several studies around the world showed sperm counts had decreased by an astonishing 50 per cent.
So, isn鈥檛 it ironic that macho males might not be so macho in the future? And that azoospermia might delay, but not end, the destruction of our planet from human idiocy.
Any comments?
