The African continent is probably going to end up becoming the location of the most important demographic event of the 21st century.

非洲大陸很可能最終會成為21世紀最重要的人口事件的發生地。

Today, the population of Africa already accounts for roughly 17% of the human population, the second highest of any continent after Asia, which represents almost 60% of humanity.

今天，非洲人口已經佔到人類人口的17%左右，在各大洲中僅次於亞洲，占人類的近60%，居第二位。

However, Africa's population is growing significantly faster than anywhere else in the world is right now.

然而，非洲的人口增長速度明顯快於世界上其他地方現在的速度。

By the end of the century, it's estimated that Africa will by then be home to roughly 40% of the human population, while Asia will by then be home to only 43%.

到本世紀末，據估計，屆時非洲將擁有大約40%的人口，而亞洲屆時將只有43%。

The 21st century is going to be largely defined by the rise of Africa, but the continent faces several serious challenges to overcome in her rise to global prominence, and one of the biggest of these problems is desertification.

21世紀在很大程度上將由非洲的崛起來定義，但非洲大陸在崛起到全球突出地位的過程中面臨著若干嚴重的挑戰，其中最大的問題之一是荒漠化。

Everybody who's ever played Civ six knows this, but desertification is essentially defined as the degradation of land, such that it is no longer productive for useful things such as agriculture, land can only provide so much.

每個玩過Civ六的人都知道，但荒漠化本質上是指土地的退化，以至於土地不再能生產有用的東西，比如農業，土地只能提供這麼多。

And if the demand is too great that it cannot satisfy the needs of the population, especially in the 21st century, the pressure is ever increasing on dryland ecosystems across the world for providing goods such as food, fuel, building materials and water.

而如果需求量太大，不能滿足人們的需求，特別是在21世紀，全世界的旱地生態系統在提供糧食、燃料、建材和水等商品方面的壓力越來越大。

The humans need to survive and economies need to thrive as the pressure to provide these resource is for the world's rapidly expanding population increases.

人類需要生存，經濟需要發展，因為這些資源的提供壓力是世界上迅速膨脹的人口增加。

Coupled with the growing threats of global climate change, drylands across the world are experiencing mawr soil erosion than ever, and thus an inability for the land to retain water or ever re grow plants again.

再加上全球氣候變化的威脅越來越大，世界各地的旱地正經歷著前所未有的水土流失，從而使土地無法保住水分或重新生長植物。

So while yes, the term does bring to mind the windswept sand dunes of the Sahara, it's important to remember that this term reaches far beyond just those living in and around the world's deserts.

是以，雖然這個詞確實讓人想到撒哈拉的風沙沙丘，但重要的是要記住，這個詞遠遠超出了那些生活在世界沙漠中的人。

If we take a look at the world at large, we can see the drylands cover roughly 38% of Earth's total land area and cover much of North and South Africa, western North America, Australia, the Middle East and Central Asia, and all of these areas are home to roughly 2.7 billion people across the world today.

如果我們放眼整個世界，我們可以看到旱地的面積大約佔地球陸地總面積的38%，覆蓋了北非、南非、北美西部、澳洲、中東和中亞的大部分地區，而這些地區都是當今全世界大約27億人的家園。

But the major concern isn't just that soil degradation is happening, but the increasing pace at which it is happening.

但主要的問題不只是土壤退化，而是土壤退化的速度越來越快。

What used to take 30 years to degrade is now happening in just a single year.

過去需要30年才能降解的事情，現在只需一年就能實現。

Leading many toe worry about what the's expanding population groups will do in these regions over the next century, possibly forcing them to migrate elsewhere.

導致許多人擔心下個世紀人口群體的擴大會對這些地區造成什麼影響，可能會迫使他們遷移到其他地方。

It is now of such a concern that the United Nations even has a special convention, the Convention to Combat Desertification, or the U.

現在，人們對這一問題非常關注，聯合國甚至制定了一項特別公約，即《防治荒漠化公約》，即《聯合國防治荒漠化公約》。

N.

N.

C.

C.

C.

C.

D, that regularly meets and is comprised of 122 countries, each committing tow land degradation targets now focusing back in on Africa as we first discussed.

D，定期舉行會議，由122個國家組成，每個國家都承諾實現土地退化目標，現在又回到了我們第一次討論的非洲。

It is home to the world's third largest desert, after both Antarctica and the Arctic, which of course are both technically considered desserts as they receive far less than the 250 millimeters of annual precipitation to be considered one.

這裡有世界第三大沙漠，僅次於南極洲和北極，當然，嚴格來說，這兩個地方都算得上是沙漠，因為它們的年降水量遠遠低於250毫米，不能算是一個沙漠。

But what we're focusing on here is the Sahara Desert.

但我們現在關注的是撒哈拉沙漠。

This colossal desert, which comprises much of northern Africa, covers some 9.2 million square kilometers and spans roughly 3000 miles from coast to coast.

這片巨大的沙漠由非洲北部大部分地區組成，面積約920萬平方公里，從海岸到海岸大約有3000英里。

Right below this vast pile of sand is a region known as the Suhel.

就在這個巨大的沙堆下面，是一個被稱為蘇赫勒的區域。

It is tucked in between the Sahara in the north and the Sudan Ian Savanna to the south.

它坐落在北部的撒哈拉和南部的蘇丹伊恩大草原之間。

Here, some 135 million people live their lives.

在這裡，約有1.35億人生活在這裡。

But what is troubling is the increasing desertification in the region, which is essentially pulling the Sahara desert south.

但令人不安的是，該地區的荒漠化日益嚴重，這基本上是在把撒哈拉沙漠往南拉。

In fact, over the last 100 years alone, the Sahara desert has grown by 10% and much of that growth has been in this south where direction The fear is that if nothing is done, the Sahara will continue to expand, and this essentially wiped out this entire region and push even further into Central Africa.

事實上，僅在過去的100年裡，撒哈拉沙漠就增長了10%，而且大部分的增長都是在這個南方的方向。

And the worst thing is that this is expected to affect a ton of people, while today the population of the saddle is a lot at 135 million, it is expected that by 2050 the population could grow to as high as 340 million or more, or roughly with the United States population is today, and without any productive land to grow food on or to sustain a decent life, a spiraling cycle of even worse poverty than the saddle.

而最糟糕的是，這預計會影響到一大批人，而今天馬鞍的人口在1.35億很多，預計到2050年，人口可能會增長到3.4億甚至更多，也就是和美國今天的人口差不多，而且沒有任何生產性的土地來種植糧食，也無法維持體面的生活，這將是一個比馬鞍更嚴重的貧困的螺旋式循環。

Currently, experiences will quickly emerge, and this is actually already sort of happening.

目前，經驗會很快出現，這其實已經算是發生了。

For instance, over the past couple decades, this issue has already fueled severe food and water shortages, which in turn have caused recurring military conflicts.

例如，在過去幾十年裡，這個問題已經加劇了嚴重的糧食和水的短缺，這反過來又造成了反覆的軍事衝突。

Over these declining resource is and thus forced migration to better and more prosperous areas.

在這些不斷減少的資源是，從而被迫遷移到更好和更繁榮的地區。

One of these resource is the premier lake in the region.

其中一個資源是該地區的首要湖泊。

Lake Chad has shrunk to incredibly low levels in recent years.

近年來，乍得湖已經萎縮到令人難以置信的低水平。

What has historically been an extremely important body of water for countries like Chad, Cameroon, Nigeria and *** has seen its levels shrink to less than 10% of what they once were when the lake was at full capacity, meaning that the 30 million or so people who rely upon this lake each and every year are under serious threat of losing their entire water supply.

對查德、喀麥隆、尼日利亞和***等國家來說，歷史上是極其重要的水體，但在湖水滿溢時，其水位卻縮減到不足以前的10%，這意味著每年依靠該湖水生活的3000多萬人面臨著失去全部水源的嚴重威脅。

In the face of this massive challenge, however, many community leaders, scientists and politicians have begun looking at long term solutions.

然而，面對這一巨大的挑戰，許多社區領袖、科學家和政治家已經開始尋找長期的解決方案。

But finally in 2007, under the leadership of the African Union, countries across the region took a bold first step at solving this problem by unveiling their plans for what has become known as the African Great Green Wall.

但最終在2007年，在非洲聯盟的上司下，該區域各國在解決這一問題方面邁出了大膽的第一步，公佈了它們被稱為非洲綠色長城的計劃。

The plan is to essentially built a wall across the entire southern edge of the Sahara Desert, all the way from Senegal in the west to Djibouti in the east, all in the hopes of blocking the Sahara's continued relentless march south.

該計劃基本上是要在撒哈拉沙漠的整個南緣建造一堵牆，從西邊的塞內加爾一直到東邊的吉布地，所有這些都是為了阻止撒哈拉繼續無情地南下。

And this isn't just any wall because of the wall completely made out of trees, which, once complete, will make it the world's largest natural wonder, albeit sort of man made.

而且這不是普通的牆，因為這堵牆完全是用樹做的，一旦完成，它將成為世界上最大的自然奇觀，雖然算是人造的。

It'll be, ah, whole three times as large as the Australian Great Barrier Reef.

它將是，啊，整整三倍於澳洲大堡礁的面積。

Once constructed, the wall will be 4800 miles long and be roughly 10 miles wide through most of its path, which is about the same distance as a wall from Portugal.

一旦建成，這堵牆將長4800英里，大部分路徑寬約10英里，這與葡萄牙的一堵牆的距離差不多。

All the way to Mongolia would be the estimated cost of constructing.

一直到蒙古，將是建設的估計成本。

Such a titanic structure is believed to be around $8 billion.

這樣的巨無霸結構據信約為80億美元。

It's a small price to pay because in the end it could transform the lives of millions of Africans who see themselves on the very front lines of climate change.

這是一個很小的代價，因為最終它可以改變數百萬非洲人的生活，他們看到自己處於氣候變化的最前線。

And this isn't even the first time that this type of project has been undertaken.

而這種類型的項目甚至已經不是第一次了。

Similarly, both China and India have undertaken or are considering a green wall of their own that would aid in blocking the expanding Gobi Desert and Tar desserts, respectively.

同樣，中國和印度都已經或正在考慮建立自己的綠色長城，以幫助分別阻擋不斷擴大的戈壁沙漠和塔爾沙漠。

The project in the Sahel is being spearheaded by the African Union, but it's also being helped out by many other organizations like the United Nations as well as several other countries around the world, with the hopes of completing the wall by 2030 and once completed.

薩赫勒地區的項目由非洲聯盟牽頭，但也得到了許多其他組織的幫助，比如聯合國以及世界上其他一些國家，希望在2030年之前完成這堵牆，一旦完成。

Not only could it stop the Sahara from expanding, but the amount of CO two that all of these new trees could absorb will also provide a great bonus benefit as well.

它不僅可以阻止撒哈拉的擴張，而且所有這些新樹所能吸收的二氧化碳量也會帶來很大的額外好處。

It would be equivalent to the entire state of California keeping all of its automobiles parked for 3.5 years.

這相當於整個加州將所有汽車停放3.5年。

But this project alone is not enough to save this region or, for that matter, all of the regions across the world facing a similar crisis.

但是，僅靠這個項目不足以拯救這個地區，或者說，不足以拯救全世界面臨類似危機的所有地區。

In addition of this, we as a species have to begin taking better care of our environment.

除此之外，作為一個物種，我們也要開始更好地照顧我們的環境。

Two decades of overgrazing, climate change induced droughts and poor farming practices are stripping not only the Sudan ian grasslands of their once fertile top soil.

20年的過度放牧、氣候變化引起的乾旱和不良的耕作方式，不僅使蘇丹草原失去了曾經肥沃的表層土壤。

But hundreds of other regions like it across the world.

但全世界還有數百個類似的地區。

But what is also needed is to allow for regions to recharge their water tables and create the micro climates necessary to thrive so the vegetation can flourish.

但同時需要的是讓各地區補給地下水位，並創造必要的小氣候，讓植被能夠茁壯成長。

For instance, countries like Mali, Burkina Faso and *** are adopting a practice of fencing off large areas of land to allow it to recover from the effects of overgrazing.

例如，馬裡、布基納法索和***等國家正在採取將大面積土地圍起來的做法，使其能夠從過度放牧的影響中恢復過來。

Likewise, and agricultural areas farmers were being taught to plant around existing trees and vegetation rather than just plowing over them as faras, the wall itself is concerned there is a long way to go.

同樣，和農業地區的農民正在被教導在現有的樹木和植被周圍種植，而不是像法拉斯那樣只是在它們上面耕種，牆本身的問題還有很長的路要走。

With just over a decade left to meet the goal.

距離實現這一目標只剩下10多年的時間。

The project is currently only 15% complete with the most significant gains in Senegal, with over 11 million trees planted, Nigeria with 4.9 million and Ethiopia with 15 million.

目前該項目只完成了15%，其中塞內加爾的收益最為顯著，植樹1100多萬株，尼日利亞490萬株，衣索匹亞1500萬株。

However, there is so much more work left to dio, some of the delays have been due to funding, but a lot of it is also just the sheer level of manpower required to plant so many trees.

不過，留給dio的工作還有很多，有些拖延是由於資金的原因，但也有很多是需要大量的人力來種這麼多樹。

But the stakes could not be any higher.

但是，賭注不能再高了。

With what could be over 300 million people living in the Sahel after the next three decades, It is now Mawr important than ever to save this land from falling beneath the sands.

未來30年後，可能有超過3億人生活在薩赫勒地區，現在拯救這片土地不被沙塵掩蓋比以往任何時候都重要。

For if not, a mass migration could occur.

因為如果不這樣做，可能會出現大規模的遷移。

Unlike the likes we have ever before seen, this year is my five year anniversary creating videos here on YouTube.

不同於我們以前所見過的同類作品，今年是我在YouTube上創作視頻的五週年。

It's pretty crazy to think back on the journey that I began all that time ago and all of the lessons and all of you who have joined me along the way back then, five years ago, when I was just starting out, I didn't know a single thing about animation, video editing or even how to record my own audio.

回想一下我在很久以前開始的旅程，以及當時所有的課程和所有和我一起走過的人，都是相當瘋狂的，五年前，當我剛剛開始的時候，我對動畫、視頻編輯，甚至是如何錄製自己的音頻都一竅不通。

I literally just learned as I went through trialing air and man, was that a rough experience?

我真的是剛剛學會的，因為我經歷了試氣，夥計，那是一個艱難的經歷嗎？

If you go back and watch any of my ancient five year old videos from back, then you'll see exactly what I'm talking about.

如果你回過頭去看我以前的任何一個五年前的古老視頻，那麼你就會明白我在說什麼。

I would have loved to have had a resource then that actually walked me through step by step, how to actually make good quality animated YouTube videos.

我很想有一個資源，然後，實際上走我一步一步，如何真正做出優質的YouTube動畫視頻。

But thankfully, a resource like that actually does exist today, and it's called skill Share.

但值得慶幸的是，今天其實真的有這樣的資源存在，它叫技能分享。

My good friend Evan from Polly Matter has an entire class on there called Make Animated YouTube videos.

我的好朋友Evan從Polly Matter有一個完整的班級在那裡被稱為製作動畫YouTube視頻。

It's only 30 minutes long, but it has 13 complete projects for you to practice with.

雖然只有30分鐘，但它有13個完整的項目供你練習。

That will give you all of the fundamentals you need to get started with your own channel.

這將給你所有的基礎知識，你需要開始與自己的管道。

But even if you're not interested in creating your own animated YouTube channel, there's thousands of other classes that you could take on skill share and almost every field you can imagine want to learn how to take great photos for your instagram page.

但即使你對創建自己的動畫YouTube頻道不感興趣，也有成千上萬的其他課程，你可以參加技能分享，幾乎每個領域你都可以想象到想要學習如何為你的instagram頁面拍攝偉大的照片。

I'd recommend the class instagram worthy photography, shoot, edit and share with Brandon woeful or if you'd like to be more productive, my friend Thomas Frank teaches an entire productivity master class that will teach you how to stay focused and productive while doing just about anything.

我會推薦這門課instagram值得的攝影，拍攝，編輯和分享布蘭登禍害，或者如果你想提高生產力，我的朋友托馬斯弗蘭克教授整個生產力大師班，將教你如何在做任何事情時保持專注和生產力。

When you become a member of skill share, you could take these classes as well as thousands of others on subjects ranging from writing and Web development to music and graphic design, any of which can help you find a new passion, help you get ahead in school or give you the skills needed for career advancement.

當你成為skill share的會員時，你可以參加這些課程以及其他數千種主題的課程，從寫作和網絡開發到音樂和平面設計，任何一種課程都可以幫助你找到新的激情，幫助你在學校取得進步，或者給你職業發展所需的技能。

It's the absolute perfect activity to learn a new skill for the new year.

這絕對是新的一年學習新技能的最佳活動。

For whenever you're stuck at home or have a lot of free time, and with its varying difficulty levels, it's still great whether you're a beginner or an expert.

適用於每當你被困在家裡或者有很多空閒時間的時候，而且它的難度不同，無論你是初學者還是專家，它都還是很不錯的。

And best of all, you could get a completely free trial of skill share premium by being one of the 1st 1000 people who use the link down in my description.

最重要的是，你可以得到一個完全免費的試用技能共享溢價是一個1000人誰使用我的描述中的鏈接下來。

By doing this, you can achieve all of your own personal learning goals and help support my channel at the same time.

通過這樣做，你可以實現你自己所有的個人學習目標，同時幫助支持我的管道。

So go ahead and check them out and is always thank you for watching.

所以去看看他們，是一直謝謝你的觀看。