Why Do We Speak So Many Languages?

Published: Aug. 15, 2017, 8:43 p.m.

More than seven thousand languages are spoken around the globe, but researchers have picked up on a curious fact: as you move from the Earth’s poles toward the equator, more and more languages are spoken. Why are there so many more languages spoken in the tropics? Dr. Michael Gavin , associate professor of Human Dimensions of Natural Resources at Colorado State University , describes his investigation of language diversity.