Population explosion

     Alice: Hello, I'm Alice…Finn: And I'm Finn.…Alice: And this is 6 Minute English! This week we’re talking about populationgrowth and the effects it might have on the world. At the moment it’sestimated that there are about 7 billion people on the planet.

    Finn: It’s estimated – experts make an educated guess at the number of people basedon research.

    Alice: If projections 1 are correct experts think there could be 9.5 billion people by theyear 2075.

    Finn: Projections – the estimated number of people calculated by looking atpopulation changes over time.

    Alice: Experts say there will be a population explosion.

    Finn: That means a dramatic and very fast increase.

    Alice: So before we find out more – I have a question for you Finn. How many zerosare there after the 1 in a billion?

    a) 12 b) 9 c) 6Finn: Let’s guess. A thousand million. A million is 6 zeros so a thousand – 9, 9 zeros.

    Alice: As usual, I won’t tell you the answer now - but we’ll find out at the end of theprogramme. So let’s see how population growth is going to change the wayour planet works. The Institute of Mechanical Engineers recently published areport about how technology could help us manage larger populations. Theysay it’s the defining challenge of the century.

    Finn: That’s the most important issue in the next 90 years.

    Alice: Here’s the BBC’s environment analyst 2 Roger Harrabin:

    Insert 2: Roger HarrabinOne author of today’s report described population growth as the defining challenge ofthe century - bigger even than climate change. The report says work needs to start nowon technological 3 solutions for a world of nine and a half billion people. Many of thepractical ideas in the report have been welcomed by development groups.

    Alice: Roger Harrabin says that population growth is even more important thanclimate change. The report says that engineers need to start work now to findtechnological solutions to provide enough food, water, energy and homes fornine and a half billion people.

    Finn: Technological solutions – that’s the use of technology to invent or improvesomething.

    Alice: One of the authors of the report is Tim Fox, Head of Energy, Environment andClimate Change at the Institute of Mechanical Engineers. He says thatengineers have already created technologies which can deal with the challengeof providing food, water, energy and homes for everyone in the world in 2075.

    But one area he says we can try and improve on is wasting less food:

    Insert 2: Dr Tim FoxThe challenge of providing food, water, energy and homes internationally can be metthrough existing technologies that are available today. So something like 50% of food iswasted in newly developing countries between the field and the market place – now herein the highly industrialised countries we’ve solved that problem sustainably through theuse of refrigeration and transportation mechanisms 4 that are highly optimised and wewaste all our food between the supermarket and our consumption.

    Alice: What did Dr Tim Fox of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers say were thetwo technological improvements we could make to stop wasting so much food?

    Finn: He said we could improve refrigeration and transportationAlice: Dr Tim Fox said that something like 50% of food is wasted in newly developedcountries between the field and the market place. This could be improved byhaving better refrigeration and transportation from the farm to markets andshops. What did he say about developed countries?

    Finn: In developed countries the system of refrigeration and transportation has beenoptimised.

    Alice: optimised – that means it has been developed so that it is extremely efficientand can’t be improved upon. But he says that in highly industrialised countries– countries that are very developed economically – food is wasted between thesupermarket and people’s consumption.

    Finn: That means that people might buy a lot of food at the supermarket but end upthrowing it away – they don’t consume it. Now, before we go let’s find out theanswer to the question I asked you at the beginning of the programme. Howmany zeros come after the 1 in a billion? a. 12, b.9, c.6Finn: I guessed b. 9Alice: You’re right. And your prize, Finn, is to read out some of the words andphrases we’ve heard in today’s programme.

    Finn: What could be better? Here we go:

    population billion it’s estimatedprojection  explosion  defining challengetechnological solutions   refrigerationtransportation  optimised  consumptionAlice: Thanks so much for that Finn. We hope you’ve had fun with us today on "6Minute English" - and that you’ll join us again next time.

    Both: Bye.