According to recent studies sponsored by the United Nations
(UN), the number of people living on earth will pass 11 billion by the end of
this century. Our current worldwide count is 7.5 billion.
Demography studies, the science of human population, gave estimates
in the mid-1980s predicting a slowdown in both birth rates and world
populations by now. The lower birth rate estimates became true, but populations
in countries throughout the world continue to increase, contrary to the
predictions.
People are living much longer than the demographic scientists
concluded just 30 years ago. Life expectancies continue to increase, and that
accounts for the larger numbers of people living on earth.
The UN studies show that China continues to have the largest
percentage of people with 19.24% of the total planet population. By the end of
August 2015, the population in China will reach 1.5 billion. At the end of
August, the population of India will be in second place with 1.3 billion people,
17.50% of the world’s population.
United States occupants total the third largest population
with 350 million estimated by the end of August. In fourth place is Indonesia
with 257 million, and Brazil is in fifth place at an estimated 204 million by
the end of this month.
Population density in major cities throughout the world
causes increased demands for water, food and basic sanitation. This strains the
world’s resources for humans as well as all species on the planet. Increased
recycling is the single most important action by nations that will continue to
conserve our resources and ease the strain from the increasing waste generated
by populations.
Expanding landfills that hold and process human-generated
waste continue to increase in size. The World Bank released figures on waste
disposal that indicated that 2.4 billion tons of solid waste would go into our
world’s landfills by 2025. That’s only ten years away.
The long-term effects of population growth will influence
the quality of life for generations that exceed us. Most adults alive today
will be dead by the year 2100. Plans need to begin now to cope with the number
of people who will need the basics of food, clothing and shelter as the
population increases.
Some solutions underway now include developing low-water
farming for crops that can grow in desert areas. The planet has millions of
square miles of deserts that could be used to farm food. Tapping into the
oceans to both supply us with water and places to farm is in the realm of
reality.
Outrageous solutions include colonizing other planets. NASA
has plans to explore Mars within our lifetimes. Life support is a deal breaker
in putting humans in outer space colonies. Do scientists really believe the
pioneer spirit of discovering new territories can include placing cities under
huge domes so people can have air to breathe? That’s unlikely and would never
include enough people to reduce the earth’s population.
Technologies will improve when incentives to profit from
such changes come along. Scientists, inventors and entrepreneurs all want to get
paid for their work. When making a dollar is the incentive, people developing
solutions will solve the problems. Meantime, the simple mantra from the
protectors of our planet is the truth—reduce, reuse, recycle.
Thank you for reading this blog. Come back to this space
later this month and read about another topic. You can also visit my website at www.joevlatino.com.
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