Researchers indicate that Australia and its neighbor New Zealand have ideal resources to survive even in the most catastrophic scenarios, according to The Guardian.
Specifically, a study published in the journal Risk Analysis states that Australia, New Zealand, Iceland, the Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu are among the countries capable of sustaining life if disasters such as nuclear war, asteroid impacts, or supervolcanic eruptions were to occur.
This is because these island nations have sufficient food production to support their populations, laying the groundwork for the rebuilding of collapsed civilizations.
Australia tops the list of countries with the capacity to withstand nuclear disasters due to its abundant food and energy reserves. (Photo: AuManufacturing).
According to researchers, “even in the worst-case scenarios, these island nations would still be home to the last groups of survivors on Earth.”
The authors assessed 38 island nations based on 13 factors that are considered highly accurate in predicting a country’s survival capability in apocalyptic scenarios.
Some key factors in this model include food production, energy self-sufficiency, and the environmental impact of disasters.
Meanwhile, both Australia and New Zealand are countries with strong agricultural sectors and have a geographical advantage by being far from nuclear hotspots that are predominantly located in the Northern Hemisphere.
“Australia has enormous food reserves, and coupled with its indigenous population, this stock is sufficient to sustain several tens of millions more.”, the research team concluded.
Professor Nick Wilson (University of Otago) and Dr. Matt Boyd from the research team believe that while some countries have large food reserves capable of surviving apocalyptic scenarios, they do not meet several conditions necessary for recovery after a disaster.
For instance, according to the researchers’ predictive model, food production in Russia, the United States, and China could decline by up to 97% in the event of a super disaster. Therefore, in the case of an apocalyptic scenario, these powers would need to rely on new food development technologies.
