It’s a hard reality to imagine and a tough question to ask but could humans live underground to survive climate change? ScienceAlert says July 2023 might go down in history as the moment when humanity finally grasped the horrific consequences of our fossil-fuel addiction. Veuer’s Maria Mercedes Galuppo has the story.
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00:00It's a hard reality to imagine and a tough question to ask, but could humans live underground
00:06to survive climate change? ScienceAlert says July 2023 might go down in history
00:12as the moment when humanity finally grasped the horrific consequences of our fossil fuel
00:17addiction. Coming to terms with the fact we are living in a world that will increasingly face
00:22extreme weather events leads us to think about underground living. Of course, in some places
00:28around the world like India and Australia, people are already doing it. The site notes the advantages
00:34of being surrounded by masses of rock and soil that absorb and hold heat are huge. It offers far
00:41more stable temperatures without a need to rely on energy intensive air conditioning or heating.
00:47But the reality is we humans are not made for it. Most people will be fine going underground for
00:53brief periods of time. But biologically and physiologically, our bodies are just not
00:58designed for life underground. Those unexposed to daylight for long periods of time can sleep
01:04for up to 30 hours at a time. Disruptions to their circadian rhythm can cause a range of health
01:10problems. For underground environments to be acceptable to people, they must be safe and secure,
01:16have natural light, good ventilation and provide a sense of connection with the world above.