全球人口破80亿，有人提出“人类灭绝计划”

导读：

11月15日，联合国宣布全球人口达到80亿。这个数字究竟是多是少，这到底是好事还是坏事，一时间众说纷纭。而其中有一种观点，十分耸人听闻。莱斯·奈特提出，人类应当放弃繁殖，逐步实现“自愿性灭绝”。他还专门发起了“人类自愿灭绝运动”。他为什么会提出这样的观点？人口过剩给地球带来了哪些挑战？

Earth Now Has 8 Billion Humans. This Man Wishes There Were None.

如今全球人口已达80亿，而这个人却希望地球空无一人

By Cara Buckley

Les Knight, 75, is the founder of the Voluntary Human Extinction movement. Mr. Knight added the word "voluntary" decades ago to make it clear that adherents do not support mass murder or forced birth control, nor do they encourage suicide. Their ethos is echoed in their motto, "May we live long and die out."

现年75岁的莱斯·奈特（Les Knight）是“人类自愿灭绝”运动的创始人。几十年前，奈特先生在这项运动的名称中加入了“自愿”一词，以此来表明其拥护者既不支持大规模谋杀或强制节育，也不鼓励自杀。他们的理念就体现在组织口号中：“愿我们长命百岁，然后走向灭亡。”

On Nov. 15, the Earth became home to a record eight billion human beings. Despite declining birthrates, the number is forecast to peak at 10.4 billion in the coming decades, in large part because of increases in life expectancy and decreases in child mortality.

11月15日，全球总人口达到80亿，创下新纪录。尽管生育率持续走低，但世界人口仍将维持上涨的态势，预计在未来几十年会达到104亿的峰值。这在很大程度上是因为人类预期寿命延长和儿童死亡率下降。

Stephanie Feldstein, director of population and sustainability at the Center for Biological Diversity, said while greater human longevity and health were good things, they have come at a cost to other living things on the planet.

生物多样性中心人口与可持续发展部主任斯蒂芬妮·费尔德斯坦（Stephanie Feldstein）表示，虽然人类寿命的延长和健康水平的提高都是好事，但这也让地球上的其他生物付出了代价。

As the human population doubled in the last half century, wildlife populations declined by 70 percent. Surges in the human population would put increasing pressure on dwindling natural resources and the intricate web of animals, birds and plants that depend on them.

在过去的半个世纪，全球人口数量翻了一番，而野生动物的数量却减少了70%。人口激增会给日益枯竭的自然资源，以及依赖着这些资源的动物、鸟类和植物交织形成的复杂网络，带来越来越沉重的压力。

Mr. Knight says that despite our many achievements, humans are a net detriment to the Earth. His beliefs were rooted in deep ecology, which challenges assumptions of human dominance and argues that other species are just as significant.

奈特先生表示，虽然人类取得了很多成就，但是人类对地球来说仍然是个“净损害”。他的理念植根于深层生态学，而这种学说质疑“人类是地球主宰”的假设，并认为其他物种也同样重要。

"People mention music and art and literature and the great things that we have done," he continued. "I don't think the whales will miss our songs."

“人们总是对音乐、艺术、文学以及人类的其他成就津津乐道，”他继续说道，“但我不觉得鲸鱼会怀念我们人类的歌曲。”

最后：

地球对于在她的怀抱里生存的生命，都是平等的。人类尽管在地球上是最智慧，最有有主观能动性的物种，但是也要尊重和保护其他一切有生命的物种。而不能一味地向地球索取，甚至是破坏地球的生态环境。且生，且思，且珍惜吧！

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