Scenario: this island is cut off from the rest of humanity (magic, war, space alien zoo, etc)

Which island is in the best position to maintain its civilization? Industry? Technology?

  • Saucepain@lemmy.world
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    7 days ago

    Ireland isn’t bad from a basic survival perspective - massive food surplus and plenty of water - but if we wanted to maintain current living standards, I think we would fall down on power as it stands currently. Plenty of natural wind and tidal power resources that are underutilised.

    • khannie@lemmy.world
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      7 days ago

      I’d say we’d need to make a bunch of biofuels to fill the immediate shortfall to keep tractors moving but as you say we’ve plenty of really good quality land, water, wind. Lots of chemical and medical processing capability once we have the raw ingredients for medicines etc.

      Main medium term issue would be mineral and metal mining and processing as we’re short on that but yeah overall think we’d be basically fine.

  • Grimy@lemmy.world
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    7 days ago

    In such scenarios, distance is probably an advantage so I would go with Hawaii if it is an option. There’s good diving too.

    • myrmidex@belgae.social
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      7 days ago

      Outstanding reference. Meanwhile, the rest of us are still on islands where people argue about whether helping each other is economically feasible.

    • Chris@lemmy.world
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      7 days ago

      a piece of land surrounded by water.

      The first definition.

      I guess that means continents are islands.

      Does that mean now that we have the Panama canal that North and South America are separate islands?

      • 5too@lemmy.world
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        6 days ago

        The canal’s above sea level, isn’t it? Wouldn’t that just make it a river that goes over the continental divide?

      • samus12345@sh.itjust.works
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        6 days ago

        a piece of land surrounded by water.

        In that case, it would be Africa, Europe, and Asia, since it’s all connected.

    • Denjin@lemmings.world
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      7 days ago

      1 - England is not an island, you mean Great Britain.

      2 - Almost half the food eaten in the UK has been imported from overseas.

      3 - A large proportion (it’s difficult to get exact figures and it fluctuates) of energy is imported from abroad in the forms of oil and gas.

      Great Britain, and the wider UK, has not been self sufficient for ~600 years relying on colonialism and a maritime empire to meet its needs and trade since it collapsed. If it had to rely on resources available within the island it would collapse in days.

  • MuskyMelon@lemmy.world
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    7 days ago

    Borneo. Still mostly agricultural but from a survivability POV, even though it would be blasted back to before the Industrial revolution, it’s got everything needed.