Renson Mwakandana
The world is set have its eighth billionth person on earth be born on Tuesday, today, according to a United Nations prediction.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated in a statement that “the milestone is an occasion to celebrate diversity and advancements while considering humanity’s shared responsibility for the planet.”
According to the UN, the increase is due to human development, with individuals living longer as a result of advancements in medical, diet, personal cleanliness, and public health. It is a result of rising fertility rates as well, which endanger the development of the world’s poorest nations, the majority of which are in sub-Saharan Africa.
The effects of economic development on the environment have also been amplified by population increase. While some people are concerned that eight billion people would be too numerous for the world, most experts agree that the main issue is the overconsumption of resources by the richest individuals.
According to Natalia Kanem, director of the United Nations Population Fund, “Some express concerns that our world is overpopulated. I am here to say clearly that the sheer number of human lives is not a cause for fear.”
According to Joel Cohen of the Laboratory of Populations at Rockefeller University, there are two aspects to the question of how many people the planet can sustain: natural constraints and human decisions.
Humans use significantly more biological resources, such as forests and land, than the world can replenish annually as a result of our decisions. For instance, excessive use of fossil fuels increases carbon dioxide emissions, which are the cause of global warming.
“We are stupid. We lacked foresight. We are greedy. We don’t use the information we have. That’s where the choices and the problems lie,” Cohen remarked.
He disagrees with the notion that humans are a scourge on the world, arguing that people should have better options.
According to UN estimates, the population will reach 8.5 billion in 2030, 9.7 billion in 2050, and peak at 10.4 billion in the 2080s. However, other teams came up with different numbers. In research published in 2020, the US-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) predicted that the world’s population will peak by 2064, never exceeding 10 billion, and then drop to 8.8 billion by 2100.
