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A scientist has made the shocking claim that there's a 49% chance the world will end in just 25 years. Jared Diamond, American scientist and historian, predicted civilisation could collapse by 2050. He told Intelligencer: "I would estimate the chances are about 49% that the world as we know it will collapse by about 2050."

Diamond explained that fisheries and farms across the globe are being "managed unsustainably", causing resources to be depleted at an alarming rate. He added: "At the rate we’re going now, resources that are essential for complex societies are being managed unsustainably. Fisheries around the world, most fisheries are being managed unsustainably, and they’re getting depleted.

"Farms around the world, most farms are being managed unsustainably. Soil, topsoil around the world. Fresh water around the world is being managed unsustainably."

The Pulitzer Prize winning author warned that we must come up with more sustainable practices by 2050, "or it'll be too late".

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[-] CanadaPlus@futurology.today 48 points 1 day ago

Wow, Jared Diamond and a tabloid.

This seems no more or less likely than before.

[-] YesButActuallyMaybe@lemmy.ca 15 points 1 day ago

He's playing it very save with 49%. As if he knew math or something

[-] CanadaPlus@futurology.today 3 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago)

Yeah, that was another red flag. Margins of error on any kind of calculation like this are going to be big; "roughly half" would be a strong claim. Coming out with an exact percentage about a social sciences issue is crackpot territory.

[-] EtnaAtsume@lemmy.world 14 points 1 day ago

I was gonna say... Was briefly concerned until I saw Jared Fucking Diamond's name.

[-] 1D10@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Honestly is he a scientist? Does he do science,or just find shit that supports his idea.

Edit, I did a bit of googling and it does appear he is still publishing papers, but it feels like he has been beating the "we all gonna die" drum for a long time now.

[-] CanadaPlus@futurology.today 2 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago)

He's makes his money as a popular writer, and actual historians say he's a hack.

this post was submitted on 24 Aug 2025
148 points (100.0% liked)

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