The world's population keeps growing by the second. By the end of October 2011, the world will witness the arrival of the seven billionth baby. The projected date incidentally falls on a mysterious day. The mystery surrounding the celebration of the weird annual festival called Halloween (Hallowe'en)is bound to have another addition. The name of the festival which means roughly "summer's end" this year will end in a special style when it ends in the birth of the seven billion human being. My expectation is simple, who will this special child be and what special attraction will such a child offer the world? Will the child be actually and accurately identified at all? If so, where and who will receive this person? Some projection has predicted India as the most likely place for the arrival of the 7 billionth baby. My prayer is this person ain't gonna be weird in every aspect of life like the day on which the birth will take place. Halloween is an annual holiday observed on October 31, in the western world, which commonly includes activities such as trick-or-treating, attending costume parties, carving jack-o'-lanterns, bonfires, apple bobbing, visiting haunted attractions, playing pranks, telling scary stories, and watching horror films.
In spite of all attempts by policy makers and demographic experts to keep the world population in manageable control which can be sustained by resources, on October 31, 2011, the world’s population is projected to hit 7 billion. This milestone highlights both achievements and setbacks for the global community.
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| Jack-o'-lanterns Hallowen festival |
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| Over 80 million people are added to world population each year. |
The human population growth curve is currently following an exponential curve or a "J-shape. Common sense tells us that such growth cannot continue - otherwise within a few hundred years every square foot of the Earth's surface would be taken up by a human. Furthermore, experience with other species tells us that, ultimately, resource limitations and/or habitat degradation will force the human population curves to approach an upper limit or asymptote - the carrying capacity, often symbolized as " K" by ecologists. It is very natural to ask the linked questions - does humanity have a carrying capacity and, if so, what is it - and when will we reach or overshoot this limit?
For the achievements, the world celebrates improvements in health care that are leading to increased life expectancy and lowered risk of maternal and child death, while at the same time calling for increased attention and funding for reproductive health and family planning.
Progress has been made in areas of the world where women have access to contraception. In these regions, women are, on average, having fewer children than they were in the 1960s. However, an estimated 215 million still women want, but lack access to, the family planning resources they need. Worldwide, 40 percent of pregnancies are unintended.
When women are able to plan when and if they get married, as well as when and if they have children, they are better able to stay in school. Studies show that education and family planning reduce child and maternal death as well as boost women’s participation in their communities and increase economic advancement.
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| Global population growth projection |
With almost all population growth in the future expected to occur in developing countries, the time is now to invest in programs that will provide access to reproductive health and family planning. It is not only a universal human right for all people to make choices about their bodies and futures, it will also help lift communities out of poverty and decrease the burden on increasingly scarce resources.
There are no easy answers to the questions: “How many people can the earth support?”, and “At what level of well-being?
- Make a bigger pie: Increase human productive capacities through technology and innovation
- Put fewer forks on the table: Reduce numbers and expectations of people through such means as family planning and vegetarian diets
- Teach better manners: Change the terms of people’s interactions through improved planning and government to enhance social justice.
What do you think of each of these approaches, and what is your reasoning?
We have a great opportunity right now to change the course of our future. The time to act by investing is now! According to demographers, 78 million babies are born each year. Two billion people were added to the population of the world in just the past 12 years. The investment the demographers proffer is in poverty reduction and education. If more girls have equal access to education as boys, demography will take care of itself. Another important point that needs to be addressed is unequal access to and distribution of world's resources. It is estimated that 77% of all resources in the world are consumed by the top 20% richest people. Thus the implication is that it is not so much about the quantity but about the quality. Resources are not as much scarce as unequal access.Come to think of this issue: if all the 7 billion people in the world were to take a group picture, we will all just occupy space on earth equivalent to the size of the city of Los Angeles in California in the United States of America. This implies that the population question confronting us is not that of too many people but the issue of equity.
