If a global pandemic breaks out, what is your safe place?

What is your last resort for withdrawal if the worst happens? Could it be a sudden global pandemic or some other kind of existential crisis that threatens humanity to extinction?

The sad truth is, if the end of the world comes then we probably won't have a way out. But if you're in the right place when disaster strikes - like an island naturally isolated from the spread of an infectious disease, you can probably escape the threat and help humanity rebuild later. there.

With these positive prospects, scientists have identified and even ranked the most potential refugee islands in such a crisis: places that can best guarantee human survival. before catastrophic pandemics and other potential existential threats.

It sounds like a science fiction movie, but the team warns that the dangers are entirely possible.

"The findings in biotechnology suggest that a genetically engineered pandemic could threaten the survival of mankind," said public health physician Nick Wilson from the University of Otago in New Zealand.

"Although pathogens can easily cross the land border, a self-contained island can accommodate an isolated population with high technology that can regenerate the Earth after a disaster."

A desert island is not the most effective refugee shelter when a crisis strikes.

To determine where refugees were most effective during the crisis , researchers did not consider small islands. Although isolated groups can survive very well without assistance, without many diverse technical experts, it is not possible to effectively reproduce modern technology civilization. research said.

Because of this and its ambition to rebuild society, the research team only considers independent sovereign states that are recognized by the United Nations, without any common land borders with other countries ( or not connected to other countries by bridges) and have a population of over 250,000.

In addition, researchers have to take into account other characteristics that will create an effective island refuge in the doomsday scenario: the population characteristics, the physical location of refugees, natural resources and political and social characteristics.

When scoring countries based on these grounds, they came up with a list of the 20 most suitable places to take refuge, but there are three places that are particularly prominent based on points (on average from 0 to 1. ).

" Australia's island nations (0.71 points), followed by New Zealand (0.68 points) and Iceland (0.64 points) , seem to have the characteristics needed to become an effective refuge. in the face of a catastrophic global pandemic, from which modern civilization of technology will be successfully rebuilt, " the authors write in their article.

Apart from those three locations, all the other hypothetical islands in the top 20 scored less than 0.5 points, making Japan, Barbados, Cuba, Fiji and Jamaica and many other places ultimately unsuitable to ensure the Human survival.

"We are a little surprised because they are the countries with the highest GDP, self-sufficient food or energy production," the researchers explained .

Some countries can improve their rankings if they can increase food and energy production, the team said. While other island nations can get stuck due to political instability or exposure to things like natural environmental hazards. And that doesn't look right to score points for the ability to rebuild human civilization.

"This will require post-disaster mobility, vast resources and a large population to be able to spread around the globe again," the authors wrote.

"Some island nations are tested for lack of independent resources, including energy supplies and also lack of social capital as well as political stability for effective cooperation after the disaster."

The researchers acknowledge that their methodology includes a number of shortcomings that could be improved in subsequent research, and said that future climate change ramifications need to be further considered.

Hopefully we will never need to rely on a gloomy ranking like this, but that doesn't mean it's not important to consider our options.

"It is like an insurance policy. You hope that you never need to use it, but if disaster strikes, the strategy needs to be put in place before the deadline , " Wilson said.

With that in mind, you now know the best places to get rid of apocalypse because of viruses, bacteria or perhaps mushrooms - the knowledge may be enough to make you want to emigrate. If that is the case, don't be late in resolving your problem.

Previous research has concluded that the closure of the island nations' complete borders in the face of an extreme pandemic situation is " warranted". So if you're thinking of doing that, get started quickly.