A very important world problem, if not the most serious of all the great world problems which affect us at the moment, is the increasing number of people who actually inhabit this planet. The limited amount of land and land resources will soon be unable to support the huge population if it continues to grow at its present rate.
In an early survey conducted in 1888, a billion and a half people inhabited the earth. Now, the population exceeds five billion and is growing fast – by the staggering figure of 90 million in 1988 alone. This means that the world must accommodate a new population roughly equal to that of the United States and Canada every three years! Even though the rate of growth has begun to slow down, most experts believe the population size will still pass eight billion during the next 50 years.
So why is this huge increase in population taking place? It is really due to the spread of the knowledge and practice of what is becoming known as “Death Control”. You have no doubt heard of the term “Birth Control” – “Death Control” is something rather different. It recognizes the work of the doctors and scientists who now keep alive people who, not very long ago, would have died of a variety of then incurable diseases. Through a wide variety of technological innovations that include farming methods and sanitation, as well as the control of these deadly diseases, we have found ways to reduce the rate at which we die – creating a population explosion. We used to think that reaching seventy years old was a remarkable achievement, but now eighty or even ninety is becoming recognized as the normal life-span for humans. In a sense, this represents a tremendous achievement for our species. Biologically this is the very definition of success and we have undoubtedly become the dominant animal on the planet. However, this success is the very cause of the greatest threat to mankind.
If we examine the amount of land available for this ever-increasing population, we begin to see the problem. If everyone on the planet had an equal share of land, we would each have about 50000 square metres. This figure seems to be quite encouraging until we examine the type of land we would have. Not all land is useful to humans as it cannot produce food. We can cut out about one fifth of it because it is permanently covered by snow and ice. Then we can cut out another fifth because it is desert. Another fifth is too mountainous or is too great a height above sea-level. A tenth doesn’t have enough soil for crops to grow – it is bare rock. Now the position begins to look rather more bleak!
Obviously, with so little land to support us, we should be taking great care not to reduce it further. But are we? Mankind seems to be unable to accept that we live on a finite planet – we act as if its resources were infinite. Because of overpopulation and over-consumption, humanity is incapable of supporting itself on its “income” – the energy arriving continuously from the sun. Instead, we are consuming its “capital” – its nonrenewable fossil fuels and other mineral deposits that took millions of years to form but which are now being destroyed in decades. We are also doing the same with other vital resources not usually thought of as being nonrenewable such as fertile soils, groundwater and the millions of other species that share earth with us.
Man is constantly destroying the very resources which keep him alive. He is destroying the balance of nature which regulates climate and the atmosphere, produces and maintains healthy soils, provides food from the seas, etc. In short, by only considering our needs of today, we are ensuring there will be no tomorrow.
An understanding of man’s effect on the balance of nature is crucial to be able to find the appropriate remedial action. It is a very common belief that the problems of the population explosion are caused mainly by poor people living in poor countries who do not know enough to limit their reproduction. This is not true. The actual number of people in an area is not as important as the effect they have on nature. Developing countries do have an effect on their environment, but it is the populations of richer countries that have a far greater impact on the earth as a whole.
The birth of a baby in, for example, Hong Kong, imposes more than a hundred times the amount of stress on the world’s resources as a baby in India. Most people in India do not grow up to own cars or air-conditioners – nor do they eat the huge amount of meat and fish that the Hong Kong child does. Their life-styles do not require vast quantities of minerals and energy.Also, they are aware of the requirements of the land around them and try to put something back into nature to replace what they take out. The Hong Kong person simply takes without any thought as to what effect he is having on nature.
For example, tropical forests are known to be essential to the balance of nature yet we are destroying them at an incredible rate. They are being cleared not to benefit the natives of that country, but to satisfy the needs of richer countries. Central American forests are being destroyed for pastureland to make pet food in the United States cheaper; in Papua New Guinea, forests are destroyed to supply cheaper cardboard packaging for Japanese electronic products; in Burma and Thailand, forests have been destroyed to produce more attractive furniture in Singapore and Hong Kong. Therefore, a rich person living thousands of miles away may cause more tropical forest destruction than a poor person living in the forest itself.
In short then, it is everybody’s duty to safeguard the future of mankind – not only through population control, but by being more aware of the effect his actions have on nature. Nature is both fragile and powerful. It is very easily destroyed; on the other hand, it can so easily destroy its most aggressive enemy – man.
النتائج (
العربية) 1:
[نسخ]نسخ!
مشكلة عالمية هامة جداً، أن لم تكن أخطر من جميع المشاكل العالمية الكبرى التي تؤثر علينا الوقت الحاضر، هو عدد متزايد من الناس الذين يسكنون في الواقع هذا الكوكب. كمية محدودة من الأراضي وموارد الأراضي قريبا غير قادر على دعم السكان ضخمة إذا ما استمرت في النمو معدل الحالي.في دراسة استقصائية مبكرة التي أجريت في عام 1888، يسكنها الناس 1 بیلیون الأرض. الآن، أن السكان يتجاوز 5 بیلیون ويتنامى بسرعة – برقم مذهل من 90 مليون في عام 1988 وحدها. وهذا يعني أن العالم يجب أن تتسع لعدد سكان جديدة مساوية تقريبا لأن الولايات المتحدة وكندا كل ثلاث سنوات! على الرغم من أن معدل النمو قد بدأ يتباطأ، يعتقد معظم الخبراء أن حجم السكان لا يزال سيتم تمرير 8 بیلیون خلال الخمسين سنة القادمة.ذلك هو السبب في هذه الزيادة الهائلة في السكان تجري؟ أنها حقاً بسبب انتشار المعرفة والممارسة العملية لما أصبح يعرف باسم "السيطرة على الموت". لا شك أنك سمعت عبارة "تحديد النسل" – "مراقبة الموت" شيء مختلف بدلاً من ذلك. أنها تعترف بالعمل للأطباء والعلماء الذين يبقون على قيد الحياة شخصا توفوا، لا جداً منذ فترة طويلة، أن يكون من مجموعة متنوعة من الأمراض المستعصية ثم الآن. من خلال مجموعة متنوعة واسعة من الابتكارات التكنولوجية التي تشمل الزراعة الطرق والصرف الصحي، فضلا عن السيطرة على هذه الأمراض القاتلة، وقد وجدنا السبل للحد من معدل نموت فيه – خلق انفجار السكاني. كنا نعتقد أن التوصل إلى سبعين عاماً كان إنجازا رائعا، ولكن الآن ثمانين أو تسعين حتى أصبح من المسلم به كفترة الحياة العادية للبشر. بمعنى من المعاني، وهذا يمثل إنجازا هائلا لجنسنا البشري. بيولوجيا هذا هو التعريف جداً من النجاح وإننا أصبحنا بلا شك الحيوان المهيمنة على هذا الكوكب. غير أن هذا النجاح هو السبب جداً لأكبر تهديد للبشرية.إذا نظرنا إلى مساحة الأراضي المتاحة لهذه الفئة من السكان المتزايد، نبدأ في رؤية المشكلة. إذا كان كل شخص على هذا الكوكب قد حصة متساوية من الأرض، كنا كل حوالي 50000 متر مربع. وهذا الرقم يبدو مشجعة إلى حد بعيد حتى ندرس نوع الأرض سيكون لدينا. ليست كل الأراضي مفيد للبشر كما أنه لا يمكن إنتاج الغذاء. نحن قطع حوالي خمس أنه نظراً لأنها دائمة تغطيها الثلوج والجليد. ثم أننا يمكن قطع آخر الخامس لأنها صحراء. آخر خامس جبلية جداً أو كبيرة جداً الارتفاع فوق مستوى سطح البحر. العاشرة لا يملك ما يكفي من التربة للمحاصيل تنمو--وهو الصخور العارية. الآن يبدأ الموقف لتبدو قاتمة أكثر!ومن الواضح، مع القليل جداً من الأراضي تقديم الدعم لنا، ونحن ينبغي أن تأخذ عناية كبيرة ليس زيادة خفض. ولكن هل نحن؟ يبدو أن الجنس البشري لا يمكنه أن يقبل أن نعيش على كوكب محدود – نتصرف كما لو كانت موارده لانهائية. بسبب الاكتظاظ السكاني والإفراط في الاستهلاك، الإنسانية غير قادرة على دعم نفسها على أن "الدخل" – الطاقة تصل باستمرار من الشمس. بدلاً من ذلك، نحن تستهلك "عاصمتها" – بسحب الوقود الأحفوري وغيرها من الرواسب المعدنية التي استغرق ملايين السنين للنموذج ولكن الذي يجري الآن تدمير في العقود. ونحن نفعل نفس أيضا بموارد حيوية أخرى عادة لا يعتقد أنها مثل التربة الخصبة والمياه الجوفية والملايين من الأنواع الأخرى التي تتقاسم الأرض معنا.Man is constantly destroying the very resources which keep him alive. He is destroying the balance of nature which regulates climate and the atmosphere, produces and maintains healthy soils, provides food from the seas, etc. In short, by only considering our needs of today, we are ensuring there will be no tomorrow.An understanding of man’s effect on the balance of nature is crucial to be able to find the appropriate remedial action. It is a very common belief that the problems of the population explosion are caused mainly by poor people living in poor countries who do not know enough to limit their reproduction. This is not true. The actual number of people in an area is not as important as the effect they have on nature. Developing countries do have an effect on their environment, but it is the populations of richer countries that have a far greater impact on the earth as a whole.The birth of a baby in, for example, Hong Kong, imposes more than a hundred times the amount of stress on the world’s resources as a baby in India. Most people in India do not grow up to own cars or air-conditioners – nor do they eat the huge amount of meat and fish that the Hong Kong child does. Their life-styles do not require vast quantities of minerals and energy.Also, they are aware of the requirements of the land around them and try to put something back into nature to replace what they take out. The Hong Kong person simply takes without any thought as to what effect he is having on nature.For example, tropical forests are known to be essential to the balance of nature yet we are destroying them at an incredible rate. They are being cleared not to benefit the natives of that country, but to satisfy the needs of richer countries. Central American forests are being destroyed for pastureland to make pet food in the United States cheaper; in Papua New Guinea, forests are destroyed to supply cheaper cardboard packaging for Japanese electronic products; in Burma and Thailand, forests have been destroyed to produce more attractive furniture in Singapore and Hong Kong. Therefore, a rich person living thousands of miles away may cause more tropical forest destruction than a poor person living in the forest itself.In short then, it is everybody’s duty to safeguard the future of mankind – not only through population control, but by being more aware of the effect his actions have on nature. Nature is both fragile and powerful. It is very easily destroyed; on the other hand, it can so easily destroy its most aggressive enemy – man.
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