The Decline and Fall of the Human Empire

''A marvellously engaging writer'' - The Times From the winner of the 2022 Royal Society Science Book Prize, a thrilling and thought-provoking account of the rise and fall of humankind. For the first time in over ten millennia, the rate of human population growth is slowing down. The global population is forecast to begin declining in the second half of this century, and in 10,000 years'' time, our species will likely be extinct. In The Decline and Fall of the Human Empire , Henry Gee shows how we arrived at this crucial moment in our history, beginning his story deep in the palaeolithic past and charting our dramatic rise from one species of human among many - teetering on the edge of extinction for more than a hundred millennia - to the most dominant animal to ever live on Earth. But rapid climate change, a stagnating global economy, falling birth rates and an unexplainable decline in average human sperm count are combining to make our chances for longevity increasingly slim. There could be a way forward, but the launch window is narrow. Gee argues that unless Homo sapiens establishes successful colonies in space within the next two centuries, our species is likely to stay earthbound and will have vanished entirely within another 10,000 years, bringing the seven-million-year story of the human lineage to an end. Drawing on a dazzling array of the latest scientific research, Gee tells the extraordinary story of humanity with characteristic warmth and wit, and suggests how our exceptional species might avoid its tragic fate.

Auteur

Henry Gee

Texte du rabat

In ?Humans Are Doomed To Go Extinct', an article in Scientific American published in November 2021, veteran Nature editor Dr Henry Gee predicted that Homo sapiens is on a rapid one-way ride to extinction. The article provoked media coverage and comment around the world. In The Decline and Fall of the Human Empire, Gee expands the themes of his much-discussed article to book length, charting both the rise as well as the fall of humans.

After 10,000 years of exponential growth, the rate of human population increase is falling, and rapidly, from a peak of more than 2 per cent a year in 1968 to a shade over 1 per cent today. At this rate, in 10,000 years' time, our species will be extinct.

Rapid climate change is threatening the capacity of human beings to survive on this planet. But there are internal stresses, too. The global economy has been stagnant for twenty years, and across the world, humans are not having children as often as they once did. The average human sperm count has been in decline for more than half a century. The reason for the decline is a mystery.

Gee paints a picture of extinction within the next 10,000 years - and suggests ways that our exceptional species might avoid its fate.