What will our world be like in 2050?
There are two features in the growth of world population. First, the annual increase in population in 15 European countries, in the past few years, has been only 300,000. The United Nations estimates (估计) that by 2050, the population of European countries will decrease from the current 0.72 billion to 0.63 billion. Second, the population in developing countries is growing rapidly. By 2050,the population of Africa is expected to reach 1.8 billion, 0.9 billion more than its current population.
A recent research report published by the United Nations indicates that it is quite possible that the Earth's temperature is rising well above the previous estimate. The Antarctic ice sheet, which contains 90% of the world's ice, has lost significant mass in the past few years. The discovery comes as a surprise to scientists, who thought that the continent would gain ice this century because of increased snowfall in a warming climate. A research team from the University of Colorado used satellite data to estimate that the ice sheet will lose up to 48 cubic miles by 2050.
Africa's rivers face great change that will leave a quarter of the continent severely short of water by the middle of the century, according to a global warming study published today. Even modest decreases in rain in western Africa will see rivers lose as much as 80% of their water and a rise of what the scientists call "water refuges (难民)". "In those areas where there is already a water shortage, it's going to have a destructive effect," the study says. "If you're already walking 5 km to the nearest stream, by 2050,it's going to mean walking 30 km or moving your whole household closer to the water source."