Since the emergence of the first humans in Africa over 2 million years ago, the world’s population has ballooned. The global population will reach 8 billion by Nov 15, and is likely to increase at a slower pace in the next few decades. Let’s take a look at the main chapters in the growth of humanity.
自200万多年前非洲第一批人类出现以来，世界人口激增。到11月15日，全球人口将达到80亿人，并且在未来几十年可能会以较慢的速度增长。让我们来看看人类成长的主要章节。
First humans
第一人类
The oldest fossils from the earliest known humans date back 2.8 million years and were found in east Africa. But estimates of the number of people that populated the Earth remained highly unreliable until the 19th century. What we do know is that our ancestors were hunter-gatherers, and they had few children compared to later settled populations in order to maintain their nomadic lifestyle. The globe’s population did increase over time but very, very slowly.
已知最早的人类最古老的化石可以追溯到280万年前，发现于东非。但是直到19世纪，对地球人口数量的估计仍然非常不可靠。我们所知道的是，我们的祖先是狩猎采集者，与后来定居的人口相比，他们几乎没有孩子，以维持他们的游牧生活方式。随着时间的推移，全球人口确实增加了，但是非常非常缓慢。
First baby boom
第一个婴儿潮
The introduction of agriculture in the Neolithic era brought the first known major population leap. With the development of agriculture, people’s lives became better, which caused birth rates to increase. However, the domestication( 驯养 ) of animals caused humans to contract new diseases. Child mortality( 死亡率 ) rates were particularly high, with a third of all children dying before their first birthday, and another third before they turned 18. There was huge mortality but also a permanent baby boom.
新石器时代农业的引入带来了第一次已知的主要人口飞跃。随着农业的发展，人们的生活变得更好，这导致出生率上升。然而，动物的驯化导致人类感染新的疾病。儿童死亡率特别高，三分之一的儿童在一岁生日前死亡，三分之一的儿童在18岁前死亡。死亡率很高，但也有永久性的婴儿潮。
Black Death
黑死病
The Black Death brought the population to a sudden halt( 停止 ) in the Middle Ages. In just eight years, it wiped( 消灭 ) out up to 60 percent of the populations of Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. As a result of the Black Death, the human population dropped between 1300 and 1400, from 429 to 374 million.
黑死病在中世纪使人口突然停止。在短短八年内，它摧毁了欧洲、中东和北非高达60% 的人口。由于黑死病，人口在1300年至1400年间从429下降到3.74亿。
Eight billion, and counting
80亿，并且还在增加
剩余段落暂不支持预览，下载文章即可阅读全文，有任何疑问请您联系客服【18011429143】微信同号。
