BBC Learning English 
What do you think is the biggest cause of climate change? Improve your English vocabulary and listening as we discuss the controversial link between overpopulation and climate change – and whether the size of your carbon footprint depends on where in the world you were born.
This week’s question
How many people are there in the world today?
a) seven billion
b) eight billion
c) nine billion
Listen to the programme to find out the answer.
Vocabulary
✔️carbon footprint – measurement of how much carbon dioxide is produced by someone’s everyday activities
✔️crunch (the) numbers – perform many mathematical calculations involving large amounts of data and numbers
✔️mod cons (= modern conveniences) – technology and machines like cars, washing-machines, air-conditioning and fridges which make life easier and more pleasant
✔️affluence – having lots of money or owning many material possessions
✔️apologetic – showing that you feel sorry for something harmful you have said or done
✔️let your heart rule your head – (idiom) do something based on emotion or personal desires rather than for logical or practical reasons
[Cover: Getty Images]
You can download audio and text here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/6-minute-english_2023/ep-230119
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About The Author
There are too many GREEDY AND SELFISH people. Gluttony is a sin. You rob poor countries of their grain and soy to fatten the cattle and it takes 10-20times the amount of plant calories to produce 1calorie of meat. So meat eating is a direct cause of world hunger. Stop meat, stop wars, stop abortion and you will live in peace and abundance, without hurricanes and floods. Heaven will smile down upon you AND you’ll be at peace with yourselves. Let’s be providers not thieves. God gave us this plentiful lands not to waste them. Feeding on plant foods directly we‘d be food net exporters but because our gluttony we need to rob feed and beef from our poor brethren in the global South
I am big fan of BBC learning English… From Bangladesh
So should a new world war start to wipe out most of the population? Reason for the war would be soley that, but something will be made up to cover that fact.
No their are to many people who believe in a god that stops from believe in facts and evidence over a religion of ignorance and superstition, GET RID OF THEM AND EVERYTHING CHANGES FOR THE GOOD,
THIER SHOULD BE A PURGE ON EARTH TO WIPE IT CLEAN OF RELIGIUOS IGNORNACE AND SUPERSTITION.
The one percent that is destroying the earth GOD WILL GET RID OF
harp change is bad.. i mean climate change is bad, we must all die, lets get the covid jab! again! and again!
Thanks
cảm ơn bạn đã quay chia sẽ, chúc bạn luôn vui vẻ
8 000 000 000 humans on the planet. First billion humans about 1800 to 1850 AD. Next approximately 175 years to 2023 AD, this year, another 7 000 000 000 humanoids added to planet. Huge increase in CO2 emissions in this same time period, especially from around the year1950 to the present year, 2023. Almost all the climate scientists on this Earth agree that this is the direct-result of human activities upon this planet.
Google how long it would take you to count to 1 billion people, one second at a time, and consider that there are 8 billion humans on this planet relentlessly breeding, eating, consuming all the limited resources of this planet Earth, day after day after day. The huge population of humans on this planet is the primary cause of all the catastrophic destruction of the planet's environment, from the extinction of so many species and their natural habitats, to the unprecedented rates of climate change that is now taking place everywhere around the world.
I would say yes. Many people breed when they can never afford
Learning
The problem is not overpopulation, the problem is that people, especially in the Western countries consume too much.
Population growth is slowing down. We really don't need cars. We've become dependent on them because cities now contain large residential zones. You need a car to get from the residential zone where you live to the commercial zone where you shop and the zone where you work. Even if you take the bus you will have to walk a long way to the bus which doesn't usually enter any commercial zones. If we just made residential zones residential and commercial and allowed people to build stores or start businesses in residential zones we could reduce the need for cars. We should also make it illegal to tax property unless it's in a commercial or industrial zone because when property tax was introduced it was a form of income tax. It was assumed you would run a business on your property whether you lived on it or not. People used to live above the stores where they worked. We need to remove the incentive to buying cars. Also despite having cars if people don't drive them it will reduce carbon emissions that way. But cars don't even benefit the people who own them. They are money pits.
This topic leads me to think that at the rate we are going it will be very difficult to rescue the world
I like this video
This video gets the whole thing backwards. Every 58(?) years in northern India the bamboo flowers and fruits in that year the rat population goes from 6 rats per unit area to 1 million rats pua. Then when the fruit has all been eaten it's back to 6 rats pua It is the energy saved up and released by the bamboo that rats use to swell their population. If we graph human population over the last 10,000 years with a data point every 100 years, we get a graph with 97 data points less than a billion, one data point just over a billion, the next just over two and the last over 8 billion. Humans used the stored energy of the fossil fuels to swell our population. And now we stuck. Our food grows outside. If it's too hot and/or too dry the crops won't grow. And if our food is dead, we are dead. Death phase is coming for humans, and maybe extinction if we don't prepare for death phase.
Hello BBC Learning English is it ok if I put your logo with full credits on my intro video on my channel for Climate Change I thought I would reach out to you about this and I feel like your channel would be a perfect opportunity to raise more awareness of Climate Change. If not that’s fine I just wanted to ask.
Anthropogenic climate change wasn't an issue a few billion people. It's only now a problem
we have three times that many.
thank you
what's the theme of the BBC podacst? answer quickly i'm in class and struggling with the question. Thank you. Kind regards. A frenchy that eat frogs.
A cornerstone of effective climate action lies in education and awareness, enlightening the public about the far-reaching consequences of their choices.
in japan, there have been massive deforestations for the solar panels construction in this decade.
is it the right countermeasure against global warming ?
thank you for sharing knowledge 😇❤
They waste time talking about a problem that nature will take care of.
Pure propaganda …. typical of mainstream english classes now. You forgot to mention the military industrial complex and private jets; these are the greatest sources of chemical pollution on the planet.- as is the footprint of the global rich… this is our greatest threat to the well being of the planet, not poor people heating their homes or driving to work. Get out of these unnatural living spaces called cities and back to the land to reconnect with nature.
population increase with high demand of developmental projects in the industrial sector is a major reason for climate change, taking Accra as a case study where we do not practice the process of planting trees to absorb harmful emission into the atmosphere
The indigenes lacks quality air which posses several health hazards to its environs
In conclusion, how can we consume less?
Vocabulary recap
Carbon footprint
Crunch number
mod-con
affluence
apologetic
let your heart rule your head
Yes
Are people trying to romanticize poverty, and all that comes with it? 🤷🏽
Thanks for BBC learning english❤
I know BCC is the best channel rather than others
Thank you.
Manmade climate change is manmade.
It is man made-up. A racket, a con, a distraction.
Net Zero is ridiculous and impossible to achieve.
It is only a way to extract more and more money from us with no results.
The sun causes climate change and has done since the earth was formed.
Scientists talk rubbish just to get their grants, and we all must pay the price.
Pollution is another matter.
This needs to be controlled, not just charged for and left to carry on.
Wake up.
This is just an opinion.
This is how they brainwash our childen?
Are there too many people?
YES!
"Low Carbon", PEOPLE still need to eat & drink fresh water!
ok
Super