The world population surpassed eight billion on Tuesday, the United Nations and several other news media outlets confirmed. Experts and statisticians pointed out that the population took 48 years to double - it was 4 billion in 1974 - and it is unlikely that the population will double again.
We will not reach 16 billion, or it is highly unlikely. Population will peak at 10 billion across the planet somewhere around this century and then population growth will plateau.
However, in the age of social media, there will be a lot of clamour to find out who is the planet’s eighth billion human. It may take some days to figure out which baby will be that celebrity but a report from the BBC found out the world’s fifth, sixth and seventh billion children and asked them how they feel about the earth they inherited.
Matej Gaspar, a Croatian, who is now 35-years-old is the world’s fifth-billion human, according to the BBC news agency. The news agency in a report said that Gaspar, now an engineer, is not particularly fond of the attention he has received for being a milestone of humanity. He likes living the quiet life and lives with his wife in Zagreb.
Bangladesh’s Sadia Sultana Oishee, the 11-year-old, who is the world’s seventh-billion child, is aware of her stardom. Even her family members consider her a lucky charm. She was born in 2011 and her parents narrate that her birth was no less than an event as politicians and TV crews gathered around her mother to catch a glimpse.
Sarajevo resident 23-year-old Adnan Mevic says he is worried about where the planet is headed. The sixth-billion human Mevic also gained celebrity status when he was born, as politicians and military officials gathered around the maternity ward to catch a glimpse of little Mevic.
Mevic was christened the world’s sixth-billion baby by then UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and his stardom also allowed him to meet his idol, footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, when he was 11.
The stories of these people and their loved ones goes on to show that across cultures children are seen as harbingers of hope and happiness, but parents across the world are also concerned about an ever uncertain future as the planet faces threats from wars, pandemics, hunger and climate change.
(with inputs from the BBC)
The global human population crossed 8 billion today, according to the United Nations. It has doubled from 4 billion in a span of 48 years. The global population was 4 billion in 1974.
The eighth billion child was born in some part of the world on Tuesday.
Experts say that the next doubling will never happen despite the global population growing for the next few decades. It will happen due to fewer deaths and due to increase in life expectancy. Due to the rise in population, the global median age also increases to 30.5 years.
“This unprecedented growth is due to the gradual increase in human lifespan owing to improvements in public health, nutrition, personal hygiene and medicine. It is also the result of high and persistent levels of fertility in some countries," the UN said on its Day of 8 billion website.
“While it took the global population 12 years to grow from 7 to 8 billion, it will take approximately 15 years—until 2037— for it to reach 9 billion, a sign that the overall growth rate of the global population is slowing," the UN further added.
The global media age divides the global population into two parts of equal numbers.
The global median age in 1974 was 20.6 years which means half the population was younger than 22 years while the other half was older than 22 years.
The population explosion will also cease at some point in this century and the African continent will see a rise in population as Asia will no longer remain the population growth engine of the world.
The global population will cross 10 billion mark before 2100 but this will not go on forever, within this century. It took 12 years for the global population to climb from 7 billion to 8 billion and it will take us more 15 years to reach 9 billion, the UN projects.
According to WorldOMeters.org, the current human population at the time of writing this report was 7,999,979,274 and increasing.
The UN projects that current life expectancy will rise to 77.2 years by 2050. The organisation said in 2019 that global life expectancy was 72.8 years, registering a rise of nine years from 1990 when life expectancy was 63 years.
You must be logged in to post a comment.