The Earth is one of the planets in the solar system, the third in
distance from the sun and the fifth largest of the planets in diameter. The
mean distance of the earth from the sun is 149,503,000 kilometers. It is the
only planet known to support life.
The continental area (all land above sea level) amounts to about 29% of
the Earth's surface or 510,066,000 square kilometers and comprises seven major
land masses or continents. The continents, in order of size
are: Asia,
Africa,
North America,
South America,
Antarctica,
Europe and
Australia.
The largest country in the world is Russia with an area of 17,075,400
square kilometers, followed by Canada, China, USA, Brazil, Australia, India,
Argentina, Kazakhstan and Sudan.
The world's oceans can be divided into four major subdivisions:
- the Pacific Ocean which apart from the marginal seas along its
irregular western rim, has an area of 166 million square kilometers;
- the Atlantic Ocean which has a total (including marginal seas)
surface area of 82 million square kilometers;
- the Indian Ocean, which has a total area of 73.4 million square
kilometers and
- the Arctic Ocean which has a total area of 9,485,000 square
kilometers.
As well as Oceans there are numerous seas which are bodies of water that
are partially landlocked or even completely landlocked like the Sea of Galilee,
Caspian Sea and Lake Bakail; however most seas are connected to an ocean in
some way or other.
The longest river in the world can be found in Africa and is the Nile
with a total length of 6,825 kilometers. The next longest river in the world is
the Amazon in South America which has a length of 6,437 kilometers and is also
the widest river in the world with an annual outflow accounting for one-fifth
of all the fresh water that drains into the oceans of the world. The Chang
Jiang (Yangtze) in Asia is the third longest river with a total length of 6,380
kilometers, while the fourth longest is the Mississippi in North America which
is 5,971 kilometers long.
The population of the world continues to grow, as does the average
standard of living, increasing demand for food, water and energy and placing
increasing pressure on the environment. The population of the world doubled
from 3.2 billion in 1962 to 6.4 billion in 2005 and is forecast to grow from
6.7 billion in 2006 to 9.2 billion in 2050. Asia is the most populous continent
with more than 3.75 billion people.
The most commonly spoken languages, by native speakers
only, are:
| Mandarin |
885 million |
| Hindi |
375 million |
| Spanish |
358 million |
| English |
347 million |
| Arabic |
211 million |
| Bengali |
210 million |
|
| Portuguese |
178 million |
| Russian |
165 million |
| Japanese |
125 million |
| German |
100 million |
| French |
77 million |
| Malay-Indonesian |
58 million |
|
Christianity is the religion of about one third of the world's
population, of whom half are Roman Catholic. Islam is the religion of some 25%
of the world's population, another 15% claim no religious adherence and 13% are
Hindus.
Where are we and where is the world going? We need to know in order
to plan our own lives and those of the organisations in which we work.
Fertility rates are dropping in developed countries, while migration
could lead to significant changes in population compositions. In most countries
of the world, life expectancy is increasing, leading to larger populations of
retirees who require pension and health benefits to last longer thus placing
pressure on private and state social security systems. The health care sector
is also under pressure to provide more cost-effective solutions. With 80% of
deaths from cancer, heart disease and other chronic diseases taking place in
low and middle income countries, demand for low cost medicines in developing
countries is leading to conflicts with first world pharmaceutical companies
determined to protect their intellectual property.
While the world's workforce is growing apace, education systems are
failing to provide enough skilled professionals, artisans and managers to meet
demand, particularly for the mining, energy, construction and education
sectors. The income gap between rich and poor is growing.
Though food supplies have more than kept pace with rising population
levels in the past, a combination of biofuels, rising standards of living and
climate change, including drought, are stressing agricultural production and
leading to significant increases in food prices. With food already representing
10-20% of developed consumer spending but 65% of developing nation consumer
spending, this impacts most on the world's poor.
According to the UNDP, 40% of the world's population will suffer water
shortages by 2050. Scientists forecast that there will be no commercial fishing
by 2048 as present levels of fishing would cause stocks to decline to less than
10% of maximum catches recorded.
Supplies of oil, gas, coal and uranium are forecast to peak as reserves
are depleted. At the same time, fear of climate change is putting pressure on
the energy sector to move away from carbon burning to nuclear, solar and other
environmentally friendly energy sources. The combined pressures of
environmental regulation and higher energy costs will lead to the relocation of
energy-intensive, polluting industries, such as smelting and pulp and paper
production, to developing nations with fewer safeguards.
Experts warn that world temperatures could rise significantly during the
21st century, leading to climate changes everywhere, unless governments,
companies and individuals take corrective action soon. There is disagreement
between developed nations, with a history of pollution, and developing nations,
industrialising to improve standards of living, on the appropriate action to
take.
The global economy continues to grow apace with China and India leading
the way with export led manufacturing and services industries. While many
countries of the world continue to report regular GDP growth, the growth itself
is uneven within countries with the rich growing richer and the poor poorer. As
the average standard of living in booming economies rises, so too does the
number of poor people around the world, many of them moving from the
countryside to unemployment in the city slums as part of a search for a better
lifestyle.
Globalisation now comprehends the movement not just of physical goods,
but also services, finance, people, information and ideas. As a result the
world is becoming ever more interlinked putting pressure on global, national
and local governance systems designed in a previous era by those with power and
influence at the time and, as trade agreements are negotiated, even now. At one
and the same time, we are seeing the move to larger, and even global, groups
covered by the same regulations as well as to the creation of smaller entities
with niche interests.
Technology continues to play an important role in communication,
entertainment and improving productivity. Convergence is leading to the merging
of computers, cell-phones, hi-fi, TV and other electronic devices, as well as
the blending of cable, wireless and satellite communication. The rise of
outsourcing services in countries such as India and the Philippines is
underpinned by improvements in the global telecommunications infrastructure.
Economic power has shifted from the governments and companies of the USA
and EU to those of the energy rich countries of the Middle East and Russia and
of low cost Asian manufacturers and service providers. Asia now has nearly 60%
of the world's population, accounts for more than 35% of world output and 26%
of world trade and has contributed more than 50% of post 2000 world economic
growth. Asian average per capita incomes are now 25% of those of the USA and
rising though 20% still live in poverty.
In the financial sector, technology is also allowing stock exchanges of
the developed and developing worlds to merge and provide sophisticated trading
products. A shift is taking place from traditional money managers to sovereign
wealth funds, which result from huge trade surpluses, hedge funds and private
equity groups, all of which are less transparent and relatively unregulated,
but tripled the value of their assets between 2000 and 2006. Another new trend
has been for companies domiciled in developing nations to buy companies in the
developed world.
Although reports give the impression of a large scale move in
manufacturing capacity from the G7 countries to Eastern Europe and the Far
East, where wages are lower, the reality is that the move has been much more
gradual and less spectacular. As of end 2006, Western Europe, North America and
Japan still accounted for 75% of world manufacturing output, with China
accounting for 9%, up from 4% in 1996.
Fuelled by demand from China, the mining industry has grown worldwide.
In the five years to September 2006, primary commodity prices doubled, metal
prices tripled and mining companies grossed US$ 222 billion in revenues and US$
45 billion in net profit.
The transport industry is the one most likely to be impacted by the
combination of rising standards of living in the developing world, speciall
China and India; increased prices of hydrocarbon fuels; and efforts to mitigate
global warming. There will be a move to more hydrocarbon-efficient vehicles.
Transport infrastructure will have difficulty coping with forecast increases in
traffic.
Military power could well follow the shifts in economic power and
tensions could be exacerbated as groups with different beliefs and ideologie
battle to control scarce resources. Traditional warfare between national armies
is increasingly being replaced by, on the one hand, terrorist groups
representing dissident groups and prepared to conduct suicide missions against
civilian targets and, on the other hand, weaponry that is more powerful and can
be more closely targeted. The spread of nuclear weaponry continues to be a
major risk.
That's a thumbnail sketch of today's world and some of the interwined
factors we need to consider. What will the world be like in 2020 or even 2050?
We don't know. All we can do is scan the mass of data coming our way and try to
identify the signposts which might only hint at where we are all headed.
