Intelligence of people in next century to decrease by 25-50%, scientists claim

Environmental problems such as the increased content of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere can have a catastrophic effect on people's intellectual abilities: in the worst-case scenario, the intelligence of people in the next century may decrease by 50%, said scientists from the University of Colorado in Boulder (US).

According to Phys.org, scientists have studied how increasing levels of carbon dioxide affect children's learning at school. Previous experiments have shown that a high concentration of gas negatively affects mental abilities, but the problem can be solved simply by ventilating the windows. But if fresh air already contains a large amount of carbon dioxide, this can be a serious problem.

Experts considered two scenarios: in the first, mankind reduces the amount of greenhouse gas emitted into the atmosphere, in the second, emissions remain at today's level. It turned out that the cognitive abilities of students will decrease in both cases. According to the predictions of scientists, in the best case, the decline in intelligence by 2100 will be 25%, and in the worst - 50%.

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