7.5 billion people live on planet earth, and that number grows every day.
But planet earth is not getting any bigger, and won’t be able to handle its growing
population forever.
At a point, the planet will become overpopulated, resources will be scarce.
there is only so much space, water and food to go around.
Today, life’s biggest questions asks, how many people can earth sustain?
Overpopulation is arguably one of the biggest threats to the earth.
According to Paul Ehrlich, a Stanford university biologist, we face resource depletion, species
extinction and a human population so large that as a species we face mass poverty, famine,
starvation and death.
Ehrlich said the earth had reached its total capacity already in the 1960s and 70s, and
since then we have been living on borrowed time.
Even in the 1960s and 70’s scientists were warning about the potential dangers of overpopulation.
At the current rate, the population will reach 9.8 billion by 2050 and 11.2 billion by 2100.
That’s according to the United Nation’s populations division.
When it comes to 11 million people, there is actually space for all of us.
But the problem is not space, its resources.
Perhaps one of the biggest challenges the global population faces is a lack of fresh
water.
At the same time, there is only so much food that can be produced.
Places like Africa are especially vulnerable to a lack of food and water, yet Africa is
expected to see the sharpest increase in population in the world over the next 35 years.
Where food is concerned, Most scientists agree that the earth can sustain anywhere between
9-10 billion people.
Some say that number could be stretched to 11 billion.
But it isn't just food and water we need to worry about when it comes to a growing population,
its the emissions the growing population produces.
The earth is already showing signs that there could be another global mass extinction on
the way.
Warming oceans, created by increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, will kill off marine
life that is vital for food supply.
Rising oceans and extreme weather caused by a warmer planet will affect coastal cities,
which are coincidentally some of the most populated.
Changing precipitation patterns could cause decreased precipitation rates in some parts
of Africa.
No precipitation means no agriculture, and very little human habitation.
Scientists don’t know if the world can sustain 11 billion people.
If we do reach that number, we need to stabilize the growing population by reducing fertility
rates.
China envoked a one child policy, and that brought down fertility rates significantly,
while life expectancy is improving.
There is evidence to suggest that fertility rates are already slowing down.
In the 1960s, the fertility rate was 4.7 babies per woman, to 2.6 babies per woman between
2005 to 2010.
One way of reducing fertility rates, according to Will stiffen, an emeritus professor at
the fender school of environment and society at the Australian National university, is
to raise the status of women.
Make women more educated, and give them employment, and they will undoubtedly have less children.
This is especially true in poor countries where women don’t have the means, or the
knowledge on how to prevent pregnancies.
If those women had the knowledge and the access to contraception, less unwanted babies would
be born.
We know this because fertility rates in developed countries where women are educated, have declined.
Our earth could very well support 11 billion people, some experts say it could accommodate
100 billion people, but then theres the question of how many of those people will be living
in poverty with not enough food to go around.
1 billion people on planet earth already are living with nutrient deficiencies.
its difficult to say what percentage of 11 million will be.
But one things for certain, if we don’t change our consumption habits, and change
them quickly.
Developed societies need to move away from values like material wealth, and switch to
a model where societal well being is considered most important.
We have to think about limiting the resources that we consume, while still living comfortable
lifestyles.
The future will also bring technological innovations that could help with the many problems associated
with a growing population.
Like the X Seed 4000, one of the largest buildings that will ever exist, that could house up
to 1 million people in comfort, with minimal environmental impact.
Cities of the future could consist of clusters of these large structures, where 100 billion
people could fit comfortable in an area the size of Germany.
I should say that the X Seed 4000 was never meant to be built, and would encounter considerable
engineering problems.
But who knows what ideas the future will bring.
Perhaps there will be innovations in food production and cheaper ways to convert salt
water into fresh water.
That’s why its so difficult to determine how many people the earth could sustain.
In the 1960’s and 70’s scientists believed the global population would be doomed in the
next 20 years, 50 years later and we’re still here.
For now, I’m charlotte dobre for lifes biggest questions.
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