Room for one more? World population to reach 7 BILLION in next few days
- Children most likely to be born in Asia-Pacific region
- Fears over pressure on food supply and medical care
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.
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.
Aging 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.
The
report states: '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.
The life expectancy for both women and
men has also increased in every Asian and Pacific country during the
past decade, Dr Heyzer added.
And although the pace of development
is 1.1 per cent in 2011 - meaning an extra 78 million people will live
on the planet by the end of this year - it has slowed down slightly from
its peak of 2 per cent in 1968.
Professor
David Bloom, from the department of economics and demographics at
Harvard University, said in a report earlier this year that the issues
would also affect developed countries.
He said: 'Population trends indicate a shift in the 'demographic centre of gravity' from more to less developed regions.
Already strained, many developing countries will likely face tremendous difficulties in supplying food, water, housing, and energy to their growing populations, with repercussions for health, security, and economic growth.'
- Professor David Bloom
No comments:
Post a Comment