專家預測:2050年地球將面目全非

The earth's population could top nine billion by 2050, leading to an 'unrecognisable' world as people compete for scarcer resources a U.S. science conference heard yesterday.
　　有美國科學家警告，到2050年，全球人口將激增到90億，那時候的地球將變得面目全非。

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) heard how the world's population's will increase rapidly in poorer countries resulting in the need to produce the same amount of food in a 40 year period as had been produced in the previous 8,000 years.

美國科學促進協會 貧窮國家的人口將飛速增長，這將導致在未來40年內糧食的需求量相當於之前8000年裏的糧食的總和。

Population growth is expected to be highest in African and South Asian states, while incomes are also expected to rise in these countries by up to four times.

預計人口最多的國家將主要出現在非洲及南亞，同時這些國家的收入也將增長4倍。

This will lead to further strain as research has shown that people earning higher wages consume more food.

研究顯示，糧食的消耗量也隨着收入的增加而隨之提高，這勢必引起進一步的危機。

"More people, more money, more consumption, but the same planet,' Jason Clay of the World Wildlife Fund told the AFP news agency.

世界自然基金會的詹森·克萊說，“人越來越多，越來越有錢，消費的糧食也越來越多，但地球還是那個地球。”

'By 2050 we will not have a planet left that is recognisable,'

“2050年的地球將變得面目全非。”

Mr Clay urged scientists and governments to start making changes now to how food is produced.

克萊指出，科學家與政府必須着手改良糧食的生產方式。

But while Mr Clay called for changes in food production, others are calling on more funding for family planning to control the number of humans, particularly in the developing nations.

與此同時，也有學者稱，必須投入資金以控制人口的增長，特別是對於發展中國家來說。

John Bongaarts, vice-president of the UN Population Council, said: 'For 20 years, there's been very little investment in family planning, but there's a return of interest now, partly because of the environmental factors like global warming and food prices.

聯合國人口委員會副主席約翰·彭崗茨說：“二十年來，我們對於控制人口數量增長的投資微乎其微，儘管有一定的回報，但從一定程度上來說，這種回報是由於全球變暖和物價飛漲所致。”

UN analysis of fertility rates across the globe show very low levels in Southern and Eastern Europe and this is expected to continue to other parts of the globe in the coming years.

儘管有聯合國的分析家稱歐洲南歐與東歐所出現的人口增長緩慢的情況可能在接下來的時間內蔓延至全球。

But were this trend not to unfold and fertility rates remained higher than the UN predicts, the world's population could top 10billion by 2100.

但也有人預測到2100年時，世界人口總和將達到100億。