If you have looked out of your window recently you may have noticed lots of people. It’s true, there are a lot of people out there and by all accounts, there are lots more appearing every day. But the question is, do we have too many people? Will over-population finally destroy civilisation as we know it? And where does it all end?
Well, maybe things are not going to spiral quite as far out of control as some of us think. It turns out there is actually some very interesting news afoot and it looks to be inevitable.
Most people are probably aware of the population growth graph below. We are currently on the very steep bit, towards the right-hand side. This is what is commonly referred to as the population explosion and it is easy to see why!
What a lot of people are not aware of, is the other statistic, equally as important , which is the population growth rate. Now, take a look at this graph below and you will notice a couple of things. First, global growth peaked already, in the 1960’s and has been reducing ever since. The WHO (medium) estimate, predicts that the population will actually begin to reduce by 2100 and most likely a lot sooner.
So we know now, for a fact, that the world’s population will begin to decrease and quite dramatically too, once it starts. Once this happens the pressures on our over-used planet will start to be relieved. The only question is, what do we do in the meantime?
In the meantime, we are going to have to make room for our extra guests. After all, there is plenty of room on this planet and plenty of resources. Unfortunately, the way we live today is not very sustainable, so if we carry on with ‘business as usual’ then we will run out of space and resources very soon and have nothing left to share with the future generations on their way.
Remember that it’s our future and no-one will protect it but us!
One Brown Planet is group of like minded people raising awareness and trying to make a difference for our environment. If you want to help you can. By sharing our stories and liking our facebook page you can learn about the impact that we all have on the plane. Then every day, just try and tread a little lighter.