Humans 'will be extinct in 100 years'
Scientist blames population explosion
London: As the scientist who helped eradicate smallpox he certainly knows a thing or two about extinction.
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.
He has claimed that the human race will be unable to survive a population explosion and "unbridled consumption". Fenner told The Australian newspaper that "homo sapiens will become extinct, perhaps within 100 years".
"A lot of other animals will, too," he added.
"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."
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.
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.
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.
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.
Fenner blames the onset of climate change for the human race's imminent demise.
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."
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.
