VOICE ONE:
This is Bob Doughty.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English programEXPLORATIONS. Today we tell about how the growing population aroundthe world is affecting the environment.
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VOICE ONE:
A new report says the growing population around the world isharming the environment. More people are using more of the Earth’snatural resources than ever before. Experts say poor people aroundthe world will suffer most in the future unless environmental damageis stopped. They say more should be done to balance human andenvironmental needs.
The United Nations Population Fundis responsible for studying population growth. Its new report iscalled the State of the World Population Two-Thousand-One. Itexamines the links among environmental conditions, population growthand efforts to help poor people in developing countries.
The world’s population now is more than six-thousand-millionpeople. That number is two times more than it was in Nineteen-Sixty.The population is expected to increase to more thannine-thousand-million by the year Two-Thousand-Fifty.
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The U-N Population Fund says that in fifty years, more thanfour-thousand-million people will be living in countries that cannot provide for people’s daily needs.
The report says all the expected growth in world population willtake place in developing countries. The population of the forty-nineleast developed countries is expected to be almost three timesgreater in fifty years.
Yet, the U-N agency says people in the richest countries use muchmore of the world’s resources than people in developing countries.It says a child born today in an industrialized country will do moreharm to the environment during his lifetime than as many as fiftychildren born in developing countries.
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Almost sixty-percent of people in developing countries lack waysto deal with waste. About thirty-percent of the people in thosecountries can not get clean water. Unclean water and a lack of waysto deal with human wastes kill more than twelve-million people eachyear.
The Earth’s natural resources such as water, land and air arebeing used at ever-increasing rates. Experts estimate that more thanone-thousand million people do not have clean water. By the yearTwo-Thousand-Twenty-Five, as many as three-thousand-million peoplemay be living in areas where supplies of freshwater are extremelylow.
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Carbon dioxide and other gases trap heat in the atmosphere andraise average temperatures on Earth. There is a strong link betweenpopulation growth and the increase in what are called greenhousegases. The population grew almost four times larger in the pastone-hundred years.
This means more people using greater quantities of fossil fuelssuch as oil gas and coal. These fuels produce carbon dioxide whenburned. The U-N report says twelve times more carbon dioxide gas wasbeing released at the end of the century than was at the beginning.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates theEarth’s atmosphere could become more than five degrees Celsiuswarmer during this century. The group estimates the sea levels willrise about half a meter in the next one hundred years.
The climate changes will affect rainfall as well as temperaturesworldwide. This will affect food production and the supply ofnatural resources throughout the world.
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The U-N Population Fund says the warming of the Earth is alreadycausing infectious diseases such as malaria and dengue fever tospread. Higher temperatures mean that the insects and animals thatcarry disease can now survive places they could not before. Thisleads to diseases being spread in new places.
The U-N report says forests are being destroyed at the highestlevels in history. Trees are being cleared for extra agriculturalland and to make room for housing. Trees absorb greenhouse gases andact as a barrier from more global warming. Over the past one-hundredyears, the world has lost almost half its forest area. Thedestruction of forests leads to the loss of many species of plantsand animals.
There is a direct connection between people and the health of theEarth’s environment. Right now, the U-N report says the rate atwhich people are using natural resources threatens the health of theplanet. It also threatens the supplies of water, forests and otherresources needed for future populations.
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The U-N Population Fund says water may be the Earth’s mostvaluable resource. However, many developing countries are sufferingfrom severe water shortages.
More than seventy-percent of the Earth’s surface is covered withwater. Yet only three-percent of the total water on Earth isfresh-water. Only one-percent of the entire supply of water on Earthis available for human use.
Worldwide, more than fifty-percent of the yearly available freshwater is being used, much of it for agriculture. Ground water levelsin some cities in China, Latin America and South Asia are decreasingmore than one meter every year. Experts say that in about fiftyyears, more than four-thousand-million people will be living incountries that can not provide enough water for daily needs.
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The U-N says most developing countries do not produce enough foodto feed their people. Nor are they financially able to import theamount of food they need.
About eight-hundred million people living in poor countries donot have enough to eat. Food production in many poor countries isthreatened by soil damage, water shortages, poor agriculturalmethods and fast population growth. Supplies of fish around theworld are also under threat.
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The U-N group says a combination of changes has led to sharpgrowth in the world population. Improvements in diet, health careand waste removal systems have helped people live longer, moreproductive lives. However, this means more people are in theirreproductive years and having more children. For the first time inhuman history, one-thousand-million people are between the ages offifteen and twenty-four.
As populations grow, demand increases. So does the search forwater, food and energy resources.
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In developing countries throughout the world, women are half ofthe world’s agricultural workforce. In the world’s poorestcountries, women head almost twenty-five percent of homes outsidecities. In many countries, they are responsible for food, water,fuel and other duties in their homes.
Yet, women usually do not have control of their lives. Nationallaw or local traditions often deny women the rights that would helpthem improve their conditions.
The U-N report finds that programs that increase education andeconomic opportunities for women help to slow population growth.Women who gain from these programs are more likely to stay in schoollonger, have more control over their reproductive lives, and chooseto have smaller families.
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The U-N Population Fund says the AIDS crisis could sharplyincrease death rates in some areas of the world. In many countries,women and young people are the worst affected.
AIDS directly affects health and the family. In severely affectedareas, communities cannot support the large numbers of survivingchildren and older people. AIDS kills women who work on family farmsand men who own them so the farms no longer produce food for thefamilies.
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The U-N Population Fund says international policies need to beput into effect to improve economic conditions, increase socialdevelopment and ease pressure on the environment. It also says womenshould be given more control over their lives. Empowering womencould slow population growth
The U-N Population Fund says high population growth makes it moredifficult for poor countries to improve their economic development.It says measures to help improve conditions for growing populationscould also protect the natural environment. The report says humanshave always changed and been changed by the natural world. It saysthe future of human development depends on wise choices made now.
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VOICE TWO:
This Special English program was written by Cynthia Kirk. It wasdirected by Cynthia Kirk. This is Steve Ember.
VOICE ONE:
And this is Bob Doughty. Join us again next week for anotherEXPLORATIONS program on the Voice of America.