Eighteen centuries ago, the population of the world was only approximately 200 million. Today, it is 34 times that number. The ever-ballooning human population is deemed as the single biggest problem facing the planet. ‘There are nearly 7 billion humans alive today, twice as many as there were in 1965, with 75 million more being added each year. UN predictions say there could be an extra 2 to 4 billion of us by 2050.’

Behind the mind-boggling statistics are a ‘multitude of complexities’ attendant to the ‘common-sense assumption that population is the root of all evil.’

Alongside human population growth in absolute terms is the growth rate that is slowing. The rate of population growth declined from its peak of 2 percent in the early 1960s to around 1 percent today.

Some populations are even shrinking such as those in Japan, Russia, and many European countries because birth rates have declined in these places. Fewer children are being born. On the other hand, however, ‘the populations of many of the least developed nations are exploding, with women in some countries giving birth to more than five children on average.’

The impact of so-called population explosion is manifested in the difficult availment of finite resources that have become scarcer. So, the real issue isn’t really the burgeoning world population but the often unchecked, unmitigated, uncontrollable, and unbridled consumption.

Via NewScientist