解放军文职招聘考试Crowded Earth—Billions More Coming

 Crowded Earth—Billions More Coming

More than 6 billion people in a world that already as having trouble supporting 4 billion—

That is the prospect now being held out by popu­lation experts, and it frightens them.

A new projection by the United Nations shows that, if the present growth rate of 2 per cent continues, today's world population of 3. 9 billion will hit 6. 4 by the year 2,000.

What's more, the great bulk of the growth—9 of every 10 people added to the earth population—will be in the poorer, undeveloped countries. These are the nations where feeding billions of people already is pro­ving a near-insurmountable challenge.

By the year 2,000, today's "have not" nations will have a combined population of 5 billion people, comprising nearly four fifths of the world's population.

Food isn't the only problem that such a population explosion presents. According to U. N. projections, half of the earth's people will be living in urban areas by the year 2,000, up from 37 per cent today'. The more people there are and the more crowded their liv­ing conditions, authorities warn, the greater grows the likelihood of violence and upheaval.

Actually, the world's birth rate is on a decline. But so are the death rate, as medical advances have in­creased life spans and reduced infant mortality. Aver­age world life expectancy has increased by 20 years over the past three decades. 

It's mainly in advanced nations that population growth is being curbed.

The outlook beyond 2,000 is even more threatening. Unless population growth is curtailed, a world population of 12 billion is foreseen in a century. One question raised by demographers:

Is the earth capable of providing a decent life for, 12 billion people?