8 billion souls living and breathing on the same Earth. This is a number that had been speculated that humanity will never reach during the 20th century due to all the world conflicts that had taken place. On November 15, 2022, the global population will exceed 8 billion, marking a crucial turning point in human development. The gradual gains in human lifespan brought about by improvements in food, personal hygiene, public health, and medicine are the cause of this hitherto unheard-of extension. It also results from the high and consistent fertility rates in some nations.
What is a very interesting fact is that it only took humanity 12 years to increase from 7 billion to 8 billion people. Specialists estimate that it will take around 15 years for humanity to reach from 8 billion to 9 billion.
According to World Population Prospects 2022, fertility has decreased significantly in several nations during the past few decades. Currently, two-thirds of the world's population reside in regions or nations with lifetime fertility rates below 2.1 births per woman, or about the number needed for a population with low mortality to have long-term growth of zero. Between 2022 and 2050, it is predicted that the populations of 61 nations or regions would decline by 1% or more because of persistently low fertility rates and, in some circumstances, increased rates of emigration.
These prospects also show that most families that have more than 3 children come from third-world countries where poverty is at an all-time high.
Despite all this good news, Liu Zhenmin, UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs mentioned that the increased world population makes poverty, world hunger, and health crisis more difficult to resolve as there are more victims in every category.
“Rapid population growth makes eradicating poverty, combatting hunger and malnutrition, and increasing the coverage of health and education systems more difficult." (Quote by Liu Zhenmin)
The UN held many discussions about possible projects aimed at reducing fertility worldwide, but experts state that these efforts would have little to no impact on the pace of population growth. Due to the destructive consumerism approach current society has to live, more humans at the moment means more destruction, but also more hope towards a better future.
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