2011年10月27日 星期四

全球人口突破70億大關

摘譯自2011年10月26日ENS英國,倫敦報導;段譽豪編譯;蔡麗伶審校
聯合國人口基金(UNFPA)執行主任Babatunde Osotimehin(聯合國/提供)聯合國26日於英國倫敦及全球100多個城市所發表的《2011世界人口統計》中指出,全球人口將在31日前內達到史無前例的70億人。
聯合國人口基金在其發表的報告《70億人的可能性》(People and Possibilities in a World of 7 Billion)中說,我們現在如何應對將會決定我們會有一個環境惡化、不公以及經濟衰退的未來,還是一個健康、永續以及繁榮的未來。
聯合國人口基金的Babatunde Osotimehin博士在倫敦提出這份報告時說,70億大關「是一個挑戰,也是呼籲採取行動的機會。」「今天的里程碑提醒我們必須即刻採取行動。」
加納的Otuam,學校外擠滿了登記入學的人群,2011年10月4日。(Eleanor Herman/攝影)Osotimehin博士觀察到,全球的70億人中,18億人介於10至24歲。「年輕人握有未來的關鍵,具有改變全球政治格局的能力,並透過創造力以及創新能力推動經濟前進。但是現在必需要抓住機會來實現年輕人的潛力。」
他說,「從阿拉伯之春到華爾街靜坐等活動,我們知道人們要求改變。他們年輕,是世上大批年輕世代的一部分,而且他們有決心改變。」
《2011世界人口統計》是一份由人口學家、政策制定者、政府、民間團體以及個人等完成的田野報告,包含老化人口到迅速增加的年輕人、由增長到衰褪的族群以及高度城市化到增長的國際移民等問題。
一個印度的家庭成員(Plan Asia/提供)這份報告強調,這樣的人口規模,可以說是人類的成功,因為這意味著人們更長壽,也有更多的孩子長大成人。
但這報告也點出了國家內外、男女之間以及男孩與女孩間的巨大差距。聯合國發現,現在是比以往更重要的時刻,去制定出一個發展途徑來促進平等,而不是強調不平等問題。
數據顯示,全球人口正穩定的增長。僅僅是1999年的12年前,全球人口為60億,而再往前推12年到1987年,當時全球為50億人。
聯合國於五月發表的另一份單獨報告預測,在2050年時全球人口將達93億,並在本世紀末超過100億。預計大部份的增長將來自高生育率的國家,39個在非洲,9個在亞洲,6個在大洋洲,4個在拉丁美洲。
日本沖繩,慶典節目中的孩童。(Mark Boucher/攝影)今日,全世界有60%的人口居住在亞洲,15%的人口居住在非洲。
但非洲的人口增長率約為每年2.3%,高於亞洲的1%兩倍以上。
亞洲人口目前為42億,預計將在本世紀中的2052年到達高峰52億,然後逐漸下降。
報告顯示,現在活著的人們預期壽命更長了。在50年代早期的平均壽命約為48歲,而本世紀前十年已經增加到68歲。
嬰兒死亡率也大幅下降,從50年代的每千名死亡數為133人,到2005至2010年間的每千名死亡數為46人。疫苗接種降低了全球孩童的患病率。
報告也顯示,生育力,也就是女性預計生育的幼兒數下降了一半以上,從6.0降到2.5,部份的原因是經濟發展與成長,也是因為女性受教育的機會、賺錢的機會、包含現代化方式與家庭計畫有關的性別與生育健康照顧等都大幅增加了。
「但我們的工作離完成還差得遠,」Osotimehin 博士說,「還有2.15億發展中國家中的育齡女性缺乏自願性的家庭計畫,發展中國家內百萬青少年男女對性教育方面的缺乏,也缺乏如何避孕以及預防愛滋病感染的資訊。」
Osotimehin博士說,「世界上有些地方婦女的地位低落,嬰幼兒的存活率也很低。我們必須打破經濟、法律以及社會的藩籬,讓男性與女性、男孩與女孩,在生活各方面都得到平等。」
World Population Jumps to Seven Billion
LONDON, UK, October 26, 2011 (ENS)
In five days, there will be an unprecedented seven billion people on Earth, the United Nations projects in a new State of World Population 2011 report released today in London and in more than 100 other cities throughout the world.
How we respond now will determine whether we have a future marked by environmental decline, inequalities and economic setbacks or a healthy, sustainable and prosperous future, says the UN Population Fund in its report, "People and Possibilities in a World of 7 Billion."
The seven billion mark "is a challenge, an opportunity and a call to action," said UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin at the report's launch in London. "Today's milestone is a reminder that we must act now."
Of the world's seven billion, 1.8 billion are young people between the ages of 10 and 24, Dr. Osotimehin observed. "Young people hold the key to the future, with the potential to transform the global political landscape and to propel economies through their creativity and capacities for innovation. But the opportunity to realize youth's great potential must be seized now."
"From the Arab Spring to the sit-ins on Wall Street, the people are demanding change. They are young, part of the largest youth generation our world has ever known, and they are determined," he advised.
The State of World Population 2011 is a report from the field, where demographers, policy makers, governments, civil society and individuals are dealing with population trends from ageing to rapidly rising numbers of young people, from high population growth rates to shrinking populations, and from high rates of urbanization to rising international migration.
The record population size can be viewed as a success for humanity because it means that people are living longer and more children are surviving into adulthood, the report emphasizes.
But it illuminates the disparities that exist among and within countries, between men and women, girls and boys. The UN recognizes that charting a path now to development that promotes equality, rather than reinforcing inequalities, is more important than ever.
The rate of global population increase is rising but stabilizing, the data show. Just 12 years ago, in 1999, the world population was six billion; and 12 years before that, in 1987, there were five billion people on Earth.
A separate UN report in May foresees a global population of 9.3 billion people in 2050, and more than 10 billion by the end of this century. Much of this increase is expected to come from high fertility countries - 39 in Africa, nine in Asia, six in Oceania and four in Latin America.
Today, 60 percent of the world population lives in Asia and 15 percent in Africa.
But Africa's population is growing about 2.3 percent a year, a rate more than double that of Asia, with its one percent growth rate.
Asia's population, which is currently 4.2 billion, is expected to peak around the middle of the century, at 5.2 billion in 2052, and then to start a slow decline.
People now alive can expect to live longer, the report shows. The average life expectancy has been extended from about 48 years in the early 1950s to about 68 in the first decade of the new century.
Infant deaths plunged from about 133 per 1,000 births in the 1950s to 46 per 1,000 in the period from 2005 to 2010. Immunization campaigns have reduced the prevalence of childhood diseases worldwide.
In addition, fertility, the number of children a woman is expected to have, dropped by more than half, from about 6.0 to 2.5, partly because of economic growth and development but also because of greater access by women to education, income-earning opportunities and sexual and reproductive health care, including modern methods of family planning, the report shows.
"But our work is far from done," said Dr. Osotimehin. "Consider that there are 215 million women of childbearing age in developing countries who lack access to voluntary family planning. There are millions of adolescent girls and boys in the developing world who have too little access to sexuality education and information about how to prevent pregnancies or protect themselves from HIV."
"In pockets of the world where women's status is low, infant and child survival are also low," Dr. Osotimehin said. "We must tear down economic, legal and social barriers, to put women and men and boys and girls on an equal footing in all spheres of life."
全文及圖片詳見  http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/oct2011/2011-10-26-01.html

2011年10月1日 星期六

出發吧 前進青藏高原

偶然於網路上看見某位地理老師登上青藏高原的紀錄片
現在二年級同學碰巧讀到"中國的地形"一課
參考看看下列影片吧
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3e0WRj4beZk