Ireland is among the top five nations most likely to survive the collapse of global civilisation, according to a new study.
Researchers say a worldwide breakdown could be triggered "within a few decades" due to ecological destruction, limited resources and population growth.
The best place to withstand a catastrophe is on an island or island continent, the study published in the journal Sustainability said.
Countries were ranked according to their ability to grow food for their population, protect their borders from unwanted mass migration, and maintain an electrical grid and some manufacturing ability.
New Zealand accordingly topped the list of locations to ride out the collapse of civilisation, followed by Iceland, Tasmania, Ireland and the United Kingdom.
'Perilous state'
The researchers from the Global Sustainability Institute at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, said human civilisation is “in a perilous state” due to the development of a highly interconnected and energy-intensive society, and the environmental damage this has caused.
The study says: “The globe-spanning, energy-intensive industrial civilisation that characterises the modern era represents an anomalous situation when it is considered against the majority of human history.”
Civilisation “is in a perilous state,” it continues, “with large and growing risks developing in multiple spheres of the human endeavour”.
The researchers warned that major global food losses, a financial crisis and a pandemic have all happened in recent years, and said there is no reason why they could not all next occur at the same time.
