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World Population
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Anthropologists estimate that 2million years ago, when humans first began to appear, the total population of the earth was about 10 million. The number stayed about the same until about 10,000 years ago, during what is called the "New Stone Age". Then the population suddenly started to increase rapidly.
What happened in that humans had given up their hunting-gathering way of life, invented farming, and began to live in permanent settlements. Small communities became cities, and by the beginning of the Christian era there were 250 million people on earth. By 1650 there were half a billion.
It wasn't until the beginning of the 20th century that the population really started to explode. Medical advances made it possible for humans to live longer than ever before. The average life span for humans increased from about 45 years in the mid-1800s to about 75 years today.
But as humans started to live longer and longer, the number of babies being born didn't decrease. Now the earth's population in growing by about 3.5% a year -3 people per second- so it is doubling every 20 years.
Unfortunately, the population increase is taking place in countries that can least afford to support their growing populations. Also, while the populations of poor, undeveloped countries are increasing fast, birthrates in developed countries are increasing fast, birthrates in developed countries are falling bellow the *replacement level.
Sociologists predict that this will bring about a huge shift in demographics. People from overcrowded countries will move to less populated developed countries that have labor shortages. A mass movement across national borders like this will completely change some national populations. Countries like Japan and Korea, which pride themselves on their homogeneous populations, will become multiracial.
The change in demographics will bring many social problems. Culture clashes are already happening. Germany, Great Britain, and other countries which have always welcomed refugees are now experiencing backlashes against immigration.
Some countries will lose population. Between now and 2050 the populations of most developed countries will fall. Japan's population is expected to decrease from 126 million to about 112 million, and Germany's population will fall by about 20 million.
Food shouldn't be a problem because research in biogenetics and food engineering is resulting in new ways to produce food more efficiently. But a much bigger worry than food production is the world's falling supply of fresh water. By 2050 two-third of the world's population could be living in areas with serious water shortages. When that happens, water wars will break out.
Desalination plants can be used to turn sea water into fresh water, but it's an expensive process, and the countries that need the water the most won't have the money to build the plants.
*replacement level : number of babies born to equal the number of people dying.
Q1) Why do you think the population growth rate in developing country is extremely high? (In contrast, the population growth rate in developed countries is rather low.)
Q2) What kinds of problem are there with population growth? What is the solution to population growth problem in underdeveloped countries, and the population decreasing problem in advanced countries?
Q3) What social problems will occur due to solve the population problem? (For example, there could be a mass migration of people from poor developing countries into the richer advanced countries.) What do you think?
★KEY WORDS★ [migration, economic growth, different social structure, right of women, governmental policy, birth control, sex education, contraception, sterilization ...etc]
이 글은「대학연합영어토론동아리」www.pioneerclub.com에서 제공하는 영어토론 정보입니다.
What happened in that humans had given up their hunting-gathering way of life, invented farming, and began to live in permanent settlements. Small communities became cities, and by the beginning of the Christian era there were 250 million people on earth. By 1650 there were half a billion.
It wasn't until the beginning of the 20th century that the population really started to explode. Medical advances made it possible for humans to live longer than ever before. The average life span for humans increased from about 45 years in the mid-1800s to about 75 years today.
But as humans started to live longer and longer, the number of babies being born didn't decrease. Now the earth's population in growing by about 3.5% a year -3 people per second- so it is doubling every 20 years.
Unfortunately, the population increase is taking place in countries that can least afford to support their growing populations. Also, while the populations of poor, undeveloped countries are increasing fast, birthrates in developed countries are increasing fast, birthrates in developed countries are falling bellow the *replacement level.
Sociologists predict that this will bring about a huge shift in demographics. People from overcrowded countries will move to less populated developed countries that have labor shortages. A mass movement across national borders like this will completely change some national populations. Countries like Japan and Korea, which pride themselves on their homogeneous populations, will become multiracial.
The change in demographics will bring many social problems. Culture clashes are already happening. Germany, Great Britain, and other countries which have always welcomed refugees are now experiencing backlashes against immigration.
Some countries will lose population. Between now and 2050 the populations of most developed countries will fall. Japan's population is expected to decrease from 126 million to about 112 million, and Germany's population will fall by about 20 million.
Food shouldn't be a problem because research in biogenetics and food engineering is resulting in new ways to produce food more efficiently. But a much bigger worry than food production is the world's falling supply of fresh water. By 2050 two-third of the world's population could be living in areas with serious water shortages. When that happens, water wars will break out.
Desalination plants can be used to turn sea water into fresh water, but it's an expensive process, and the countries that need the water the most won't have the money to build the plants.
*replacement level : number of babies born to equal the number of people dying.
Q1) Why do you think the population growth rate in developing country is extremely high? (In contrast, the population growth rate in developed countries is rather low.)
Q2) What kinds of problem are there with population growth? What is the solution to population growth problem in underdeveloped countries, and the population decreasing problem in advanced countries?
Q3) What social problems will occur due to solve the population problem? (For example, there could be a mass migration of people from poor developing countries into the richer advanced countries.) What do you think?
★KEY WORDS★ [migration, economic growth, different social structure, right of women, governmental policy, birth control, sex education, contraception, sterilization ...etc]
이 글은「대학연합영어토론동아리」www.pioneerclub.com에서 제공하는 영어토론 정보입니다.
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