CLIMATE CHANGE APOCALYPSE SURVIVORS

A new map shows the countries most likely to fare best should the impact of climate change become critical.

The research investigated the survival prospects of 181 countries using data from the ND Gain Index which considers the location, terrain, infrastructure and national resources to determine the countries most at risk to extreme weather disasters and how prepared they are to deal with potentially life-threatening devastation.

Norway ranked in 1st place as the country most likely to survive a climate change apocalypse, thanks to its location and national resources. Neighbouring Nordic countries including Finland (3rd), Sweden (4th), Denmark (6th), and Iceland (8th) land five out of the 10 top spots.

The UK and the US both slipped out of the top 10 safe zones ranking in 12th and 15th place respectively behind Australia and Germany.

 

The Most Vulnerable Countries

Countries in sub-Saharan Africa are most vulnerable to the perils of a potential environmental disaster  despite emitting some of the lowest CO2 levels in the world. Somalia emerged as the biggest victim and the country least likely to survive a climate change apocalypse with the lowest preparedness score in the study due to unstable governance.

 China: Bad Air, Don’t Care

The study found that China ranks 59th in readiness to deal with extreme weather disasters and this complacent attitude to climate change is mirrored in their environmental policies. China emerged as the biggest carbon criminal, emitting a mammoth 9,040metric tons of CO2 into the atmosphere every year. Nearly double that generated by the US – a problem compounded by its huge population.

 

Fran Whittaker-Wood, lead researcher at The Eco Experts comments: “The natural disasters we’ve already seen over the past couple of years show that many nations are already fighting for survival as the planet reacts to human impact. Sadly many of the countries most at risk from a climate change event are actually not the ones causing the problems, but perhaps the fact that the US and UK have slipped out of the top 10 safe zones might prompt these countries to act.”

 

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Research by:  theecoexperts.co.uk