The United Nation estimated that human population reached 7 billion on Monday. It was only 12 years ago that the world reached the 6 billion mark. The Chair of NGO Population Matters Roger Martin recently remarked that "every additional person needs food, water and energy, and produces more waste and pollution, so ratchets up our total impact on the planet, and ratchets down everyone else's share." On the other hand, 7 billion may be an enormous but somewhat graspable number. If 7 billion people fitted into Texas, the population density would only be as great as that of New York City.
It is true that population growth has curbed significantly in recent decades. The average number of children per women is currently 2.5, down from figure of 5 observed in the 1950s. The current population growth at 1.1% is half the peak value in the 1960s. The tempered growth rate "enables families and societies to focus on the well-being of their children rather than the quantity."
The recent figure also shows that there's a high correlation between country's wealth and population growth. Countries like Japan struggle to keep up with a declining population, but many Sub-Saharan African countries, women may be having five or more children on average. The disparity becomes significant when the resource usage is accounted for. Industrial countries, accounting for 20% of the world population, account for 80% of the accumulated carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Furthermore, the average carbon dioxide emission per person is 19.9 tons per year, while in Kenya, the figure is 1.2 tons per year.
As a result, the focus may be two-fold. Quality of life should be addressed in the low-income countries to curb the massive population growth. At the same time, they consume so little compared to high-income countries. While the 7 billion mark may draw much attention to issues of sustainability, the world shouldn't be alarmed. The planet is capable of producing enough food; however, it's not always getting to those in need. 50% of the food Americans buy get thrown away. At the same time, it is difficult to transport and utilize that resource to the 1 billion people who go hungry around the world.
So the rising population is indeed a concern. But trying to curb the growth at the locations with the highest growth rates isn't quite the solution, for those areas consume little resources. As for resources, it's not that the world can't produce enough for the pending population. As the world slowly awaits for the next mark, the true challenge rests in transferring the excess capacity to areas where it becomes the necessity.
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