World Population Reaches 7 Billion Mark

On Monday, the world’s population will reach the 7 billion mark, according to projections. Although it is impossible to know for certain when the 7 billion mark is actually achieved, the projected date has been used by the U.N., among other organizations, as an opportunity to discuss and inform about population growth and the many different issues linked to it.

Last week, the United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA, released its State of World Population 2011 report, where the 7 billion milestone is characterized as a combination of achievements, setbacks, and paradoxes.

On the one hand, the milestone represents an undeniable success for the human species: this is an era of unprecedented growth thanks to improved living conditions that lead to radically increased life expectancy (from 48 years in the early 1950s to 68 today). On the other hand, it also poses a number of challenges when it comes to dealing with issues such as food, housing, and employment for the population.

There are also huge disparities of different kinds in different parts of the world that pose problems in themselves. For one thing, paradoxically, the world is growing both younger and older at different ends. While some countries, particularly the industrialized and developed nations, struggle with an aging population and not having enough young people to fill the needs of the labor market, others have the exact opposite problem: Too many unemployed young people who seek to enter countries where they could find employment.

For the first time in history, the majority of world’s population lives in cities. This fast urbanization is a result of people seeking more social mobility and a possibility to elevate themselves out of poverty. Yet it also leads to problems. Already, close to 1 billion people live in “informal settlements” that is, slums, shantytowns, or squatter settlements in and around urban centers. This figure is projected to double by 2030.

Some of the figures are fascinating enough in themselves: Not until 1804 did the world reach the 1 billion mark, and in 1974, there were still only 4 billion people in the world. And although the growth is projected to level out significantly, it is projected that there will be 8 billion of us in 2025 and over 10 billion of us by the end of this century.

A more in-depth look at some of the problems and challenges is presented by National Geographic, who has also focused on the 7 billion milestone in a yearlong series.

In an article about the Albertine Rift in east Africa, the pertinent question, “Is there enough for all?” is set against a chilling background of the bloodiest conflicts since World War II. The fertile area featured in the article is rich in natural resources and has a huge biodiversity, yet its high altitude makes it inhospitable to disease-carrying insects. But this very richness has led to scarcity, as people from surrounding areas have descended on it in land-grabs and wars, leading to both the death of millions of humans as well as the extinction of species and destruction of their habitat.

Experts argue that both the genocide in Rwanda and the Great African War that followed in this area, mostly involving Congo, was in part a result of population pressure and scarcity of land. Since there will always be areas that are more hospitable to humans than others, there is a risk of seeing this kind of scenario unfold again, especially in Africa, a continent that will have the most dramatic population rise during this century.

Still, the UNFPA report is essentially optimistic, stating that the right kind of planning and measures now can make a world of 10 billion functioning, thriving, and sustainable. But population growth in underdeveloped areas with very high fertility rates must be stabilized to ensure a positive economic development, the report says.