世界人口即将突破70亿大关

The world's population looks set to smash through the seven billion barrier in the next few days, according to the United Nations。

It comes just 12 years since the total reached six billion - with official estimates saying the figure will top eight billion in 2025 and 10 billion before the end of the century。

And it is most likely the baby will be born in the Asia-Pacific region - where the population growth rate is higher than anywhere else in the world。

Experts say the pace of growth - which has seen the number of people on the planet triple since 1940 - poses an increasing danger to citizens。

With more people to feed, house and provide medical care for, they say the world's resources look set to come under more strain than ever before。

As populations stabilise in the industrial world, almost all growth in the near future is expected to take place in developing countries。

Of the 2.3 billion people the UN believes will be added by 2050, more than one billion will live in sub-Saharan Africa. The Indian subcontinent will add some 630 million people。

It will mean less land and water available for each person. Poorer people, who tend to depend more on natural resources, will bear the brunt as they will not be able to compete with the rich。

The major issues will be how to feed the new arrivals, which will see the need for new varieties of improved crops。

Ageing populations are also set to pose a problem with some industrial countries, such as Japan, nearly doubling its share of the population aged 65 and over in the past 20 years. This will put increased pressure on pension and healthcare systems。

But despite the problems the world is facing, Under-Secretary-General of the UN Dr Noeleen Heyzer said the seventh billion child of the world has a better chance of surviving past the age of five than a decade ago。

The life expectancy for both women and men has also increased in every Asian and Pacific country during the past decade, Dr Heyzer added。

And although the pace of development is 1.1 percent in 2011 - meaning an extra 78 million people will live on the planet by the end of this year - it has slowed down slightly from its peak of 2 percent in 1968.

联合国的数据显示，世界人口在几天后就会突破70亿大关。

这距离世界人口达到60亿只有12年时间，据官方估计，世界人口将在2025年突破80亿，在本世纪结束前达到100亿。

第70亿个小孩最可能出生在亚太地区，那里的人口增长速度比世界其他任何地方都要快。

自1940年以来世界人口已经增加了两倍，专家说这样的增长速度给居民造成了日益严重的威胁。

他们说，要养活更多的人、提供更多的住房和医疗服务，世界资源所要承受的压力比以往任何时候都要大。

由于在工业化国家人口数量趋于平稳，在不久的未来，几乎所有的人口增长都将集中在发展中国家。

联合国认为，到2050年，世界人口将增加23亿，其中超过10亿将生活在撒哈拉沙漠以南的非洲地区，印度次大陆将增加约6.3亿人口。

这意味着人均能占有的土地和水更少了。对自然资源依赖更多的穷人因为无法和富人竞争，将承受人口过多带来的冲击。

到那时，世界的主要问题将是如何养活新生人口，并将急需各种改良农作物的新品种。

人口老龄化也将对一些工业国家造成困扰，比如日本，在过去20年内，65岁以上人口的数量几乎翻了一番。这会日益加重养老和医疗体系的负担。

不过，尽管世界即将面临这些问题，联合国副秘书长诺埃琳•海泽博士说，世界新增加的10亿小孩存活到5岁以上的几率比十年前要高。

海泽博士还说，在过去的十年，亚太地区各个国家的女性和男性的寿命都延长了。

此外，尽管2011年的人口发展速度是1.1%——意味着在今年年底前地球会增加7800万人口——但相比人口高峰年1968年的2%还是略有下降。