New Zealand researchers created a scoring system to work out which countries humans could hide in and then repopulate the planet.
"While disease has always been part of the human experience, a combination of global trends, including insecurity and extreme weather, has heightened the risk," a report by the GPMB said."Disease thrives in disorder and has taken advantage–outbreaks have been on the rise for the past several decades and the spectre of a global health emergency looms large.
"A global pandemic on that scale would be catastrophic, creating widespread havoc, instability and insecurity. The world is not prepared," it added. Pandemics in the past have killed tens of millions. In the Middle Ages, the bubonic plague is estimated to have killed over half of the population of Europe. Just a century ago, theinfected 500 million people killed an estimated 50 million. With global travel now a standard part of society—in 2017 over four billion people took a flight—researchers say a new disease could also spread across the planet easily.
They found the best place was Australia because of its"vast oversupply of energy and food". They explained:"With 482% of its energy requirement produced domestically, and nearly ten times the amount of food produced than what its population needs for survival, Australia anchors both these scales at the top end."
Australia was closely followed by New Zealand and Iceland. All other nations fell"far behind" the top three in terms of survivability—including Japan and Malta.Australia
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