If civilization collapses as a result of mood change or a more lethal pandemic the place with the best chance of live relatively intact is New Zealand , a new study concludes . However , if your reaction to this information is to try grease one’s palms land there , instead of perchance essay to serve forbid crash in the first place , you may be too late .
Many civilizations have fallen before as a result of state of war , internal struggle , orover - exploitation of their resourcefulness . Nick King andProfessor Aled Jones , both of Anglia Ruskin University , describe this as “ de - complexification ” in their field published in the journalSustainability , where a multi - faceted fellowship becomes reduced to natural selection mode , and explored the danger of this come about on a ball-shaped scale .
King and Jones made a shortlist of five nations that , on preliminary inspection , looked best place to serve up as “ collapse lifeboats ” should such an event occur . In their paper , they equate these five : Australia , Iceland , Ireland , New Zealand , and the UK .
The shortlist countries were chosen because they are islands , so more likely to be able to sequester themselves from more general collapse , and big enough to defend a complex fellowship if they lose the opportunity to trade . Northern Australia aside , they also have sufficiently temperate climates that a salary increase in globular temperature of 4ºC ( 7.2ºF ) will not make their summer unbearable , and the surrounding oceans buffer against extremes in temperature andrainfall .
New Zealand was found to have what King and Jones call “ The slap-up potential to form a ‘ node of persisting complexness ' ” , and others might describe as “ not turn into a post - revelatory hellscape ” . Iceland and Ireland also show promise , as does Tasmania , although the respite of Australia is not so favourable . “ The United Kingdom presents a more complex picture and potentially has less favorable characteristics overall , ” the paper reports . Only growing half its food is one problem .
Many of the man ’s super - deep have ostensibly reach similar conclusions , buying belongings in New Zealandreportedlyas an insurance policy insurance policy . This has contribute to skyrocketing house prices , leading to a ban on non - residents buyingexisting homes .
The story identifies one major defect in these land ’s resilience : only the UK has a substantial amount of vegetable oil . All the others would need to find alternative ways to run their transport fleet should global collapse make imports unreliable . Iceland is already onto this , with the second - high proportion of electric vehicles in the world , but the others , particularly Tasmania , lag behind .
“ Significant change are potential in the coming class and X . The impingement of clime change , include increase relative frequency and intensity ofdroughtand implosion therapy , utmost temperature , and greater population campaign , could dictate the rigourousness of these changes , ” Jones tell in astatement . “ As well as prove which countries we conceive are best suited to managing such a collapse – which undoubtedly would be a unsounded , life - altering experience – our subject area drive to foreground actions to call the interlinked factor of clime change , agricultural content , domestic energy , manufacturing capability , and the over - reliance on complexness , are necessary to meliorate the resiliency of nations that do not have the most favorable starting conditions . ”
Ideally , it might be hope a surviving civilisation , even one with a minuscule fraction of the global universe , might preserve the knowledge , Foundation - like , to rejuvenate the world from chaos . However , there ’s one thing King and Jones do n’t appear to have see with : the fact two of their five potential lifeboat are highly volcanic , and have been the site oftwoof the mostcatastrophic eruptionsin human story .
