By Jess Kong

Decreasing sperm counts make people wonder if this will lead to the extinction of the human race one day.

Dr. Fung Ming Chiu is an associate professor in the Department of Biology at The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

He said the possibility of human extinction is very low.

“Humans will not become extinct because of decreasing sperm counts.

“There are many factors affecting the size of the population, such as food supplies, the economy and culture.

“For example, in an agricultural society, birth rates are high due to the great demand for manual labour.”

Dr. Fung added that humans can adapt to new environments.

“Unless there are abrupt and large-sacle environmental changes that humans cannot adapt to, the chance of human extinction is very small,” said Dr. Fung.

Christian religious dogma also suggests that humanity will never become extinct.

Rev. David Kaiser, visiting professor at Lutheran Theological Seminary, said there is no reference to human extinction in The Bible.

People usually confuse human extinction with Armageddon.

“Armageddon is the extinction of evil, not necessarily humans.

“One cannot use The Bible to predict extinction, because Jesus says He does not know when Armageddon will come,” Rev. Kaiser said.

People who do not have scientific or religious affiliation have different views.

The book The Bible Code, written by Michael Drosnin, is about secret codes in The Bible.

These secret codes are said to be prophetic, and some of them do match reality.

For example, “Bill Clinton” is found near “president”.

Rev. Kaiser said that this is unreliable because there are no standards.

“Sometimes, the codes are read from left to right, other times the other way round or even diagonally.

“It is not accurate because The Bible was handwritten in the beginning.

“One may not be able to see what the original writers meant and would have made up words,” said Rev. Kaiser.

Raymond To, 17, is a Form 6 student who has no religious affiliation.

He said that humans would never become extinct because humans are clever enough to migrate to another planet if the Earth were destroyed.

Jessie Wan, 22, is a Year 2 student in the Department of Chinese Language and Literature at The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

“I think there will be human extinction as the crisis is being unveiled. Humans are destroying the environment and producing destructive weapons,” she said.

Fanky Yau, 32, is a Christian working in information technology.

He said there will be an extinction of humans as The Bible says.

Mrs. Kong Fok Iok Lan, 50, a housewife with no religious affiliation, said that the chances of human extinction are low.

“Humans are clever enough to come up with solutions. Even if there were nuclear wars, only half of all humans would die, not all,” said Mrs. Kong.

“Live in the best way we can at this moment, because you and I may not be here tomorrow,” Rev. Kaiser cautioned.