专家预测:2050年地球将面目全非

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.
　　有美国科学家警告，到2050年，全球人口将激增到90亿，那时候的地球将变得面目全非。

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.

美国科学促进协会 贫穷国家的人口将飞速增长，这将导致在未来40年内粮食的需求量相当于之前8000年里的粮食的总和。

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.

预计人口最多的国家将主要出现在非洲及南亚，同时这些国家的收入也将增长4倍。

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

研究显示，粮食的消耗量也随着收入的增加而随之提高，这势必引起进一步的危机。

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

世界自然基金会的詹森·克莱说，“人越来越多，越来越有钱，消费的粮食也越来越多，但地球还是那个地球。”

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

“2050年的地球将变得面目全非。”

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

克莱指出，科学家与政府必须着手改良粮食的生产方式。

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.

与此同时，也有学者称，必须投入资金以控制人口的增长，特别是对于发展中国家来说。

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.

联合国人口委员会副主席约翰·彭岗茨说：“二十年来，我们对于控制人口数量增长的投资微乎其微，尽管有一定的回报，但从一定程度上来说，这种回报是由于全球变暖和物价飞涨所致。”

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.

尽管有联合国的分析家称欧洲南欧与东欧所出现的人口增长缓慢的情况可能在接下来的时间内蔓延至全球。

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.

但也有人预测到2100年时，世界人口总和将达到100亿。