Dr. Frank Fenner, who died late last year at the age of 95, was an Australian scientist with a distinguished career in the field of virology. His two greatest achievements are cited as overseeing the eradication of smallpox, and the control of Australia's rabbit plague through the introduction of Myxoma virus.
This article from June, 2010 was probably the last interview he gave, and it was about the looming extinction of yet another planetary viral scourge...
Frank Fenner sees no hope for humans"We're going to become extinct," the eminent scientist says. "Whatever we do now is too late."
Fenner says the real trouble is the population explosion and "unbridled consumption". The number of Homo sapiens is projected to exceed 6.9 billion this year, according to the UN. With delays in firm action on cutting greenhouse gas emissions, Fenner is pessimistic. "We'll undergo the same fate as the people on Easter Island," he says. "Climate change is just at the very beginning. But we're seeing remarkable changes in the weather already.
"Homo sapiens will become extinct, perhaps within 100 years," he says. "A lot of other animals will, too. It's an irreversible situation. I think it's too late. I try not to express that because people are trying to do something, but they keep putting it off.
Fenner's colleague and long-time friend Stephen Boyden, a retired professor at the ANU, says there is deep pessimism among some ecologists, but others are more optimistic. "Frank may be right, but some of us still harbour the hope that there will come about an awareness of the situation and, as a result, the revolutionary changes necessary to achieve ecological sustainability," says Boyden, an immunologist who turned to human ecology later in his career. "We have the scientific knowledge to do it but we don't have the political will."
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