World population set to hit 7 billion in next few days
It’s most likely ‘that baby’ will be born in Asia :
The world’s population looks set to smash through the seven billion
barrier in the next few days, according to the United Nations. It comes
just 12 years since the total reached six billion - with official
estimates saying the figure will top eight billion in 2025 and 10
billion before the end of the century. And it is most likely the baby
will be born in the Asia-Pacific region - where the population growth
rate is higher than anywhere else in the world.
Experts say the pace of growth - which has seen the number of people
on the planet triple since 1940 - poses an increasing danger to
citizens.
With more people to feed, house and provide medical care for, they
say the world’s resources look set to come under more strain than ever
before.
As populations stabilise in the industrial world, almost all growth
in the near future is expected to take place in developing countries.
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Of the 2.3 billion people the UN believes will be added by 2050, more
than one billion will live in sub-Saharan Africa. The Indian
subcontinent will add some 630 million people.
It will mean less land and water available for each person. Poorer
people, who tend to depend more on natural resources, will bear the
brunt as they will not be able to compete with the rich.
The major issues will be how to feed the new arrivals, which will see
the need for new varieties of improved crops.
World population
Ageing populations are also set to pose a problem with some
industrial countries, such as Japan, nearly doubling its share of the
population aged 65 and over in the past 20 years. This will put
increased pressure on pension and healthcare systems.
‘Another two billion people may be added to the world population by
mid-century, many of them in places where hunger, poverty, and
environmental degradation are already taking a high toll.
‘Supporting the world’s human population will mean eliminating
poverty, transitioning to an economy that is in sync with the earth, and
securing every person’s health, education, and reproductive choice.
‘If we do not voluntarily stabilize population, we risk a much less
humane end to growth as the ongoing destruction of the earth’s natural
systems catches up with us.’
But despite the problems the world is facing, Under-Secretary-General
of the UN Dr Noeleen Heyzer said the seventh billion child of the world
has a better chance than decade ago of surviving past the age of five
than a decade ago.
AFP |