Researchers for the journal Risk Analysis are claiming that Australia and New Zealand are best placed to survive a nuclear winter and rebuild the human race.
According to The Guardian:
The study describes Australia, New Zealand, Iceland, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu as the island countries most capable of producing enough food for their populations after an “abrupt sunlight‐reducing catastrophe” such as a nuclear war, super volcano or asteroid strike.
There would “likely be pockets of survivors around the planet in even the most severe” scenario, the researchers write – with those in the most resilient nations standing the best chance of avoiding a pre-industrial collapse.
The authors compared 38 island countries on 13 factors they said could predict success as a post-apocalyptic survival state, including food production, energy self-sufficiency, manufacturing and the disaster’s effect on climate.
Australia and New Zealand – both robust agricultural producers and tucked away from the likely sites of northern hemisphere nuclear fallout – topped the tables, with Australia performing best overall.
“Australia’s food supply buffer is gigantic,” the study concludes, “with potential to feed many tens of millions of extra people.”
Australia’s relatively good infrastructure, vast energy surplus, high health security and defence budget all aided in pushing it to the top of the table.
Australia did have one major factor working against it, however: its relatively close military ties with the UK and US made it more likely to become a target in a nuclear war.
In this area, New Zealand displayed some advantages, the authors said, with its longstanding nuclear-free status.
Its resilience in the event of an abrupt drop in global temperature prompted by a period of darkness (everywhere in New Zealand is relatively close to the ocean, cushioning it from extreme temperature plunges) would also help.
“We have this super efficient food export economy that could feed New Zealanders multiple times over just from exports,” said one of the study’s authors, Prof Nick Wilson from the University of Otago, Wellington.
Even in the worst-case scenario – a 61% reduction in crops during a prolonged nuclear winter – New Zealanders would still have enough to eat, he added.
