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Tiger Edge

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Global population could reach 7 billion by Oct. 31

Want a real Halloween scare? The planet's population will reach 7 billion by Oct. 31.

That's according to the United Nations Population Fund, which is trying to use that staggering figure as a wake-up call and an opportunity to harness the world's resources -- and not just resources of the food and water kind -- for the greater good.

"It's a big number," Omar Gharzeddine, a spokesman for the population fund, told The Times. "We're confident that, while it's a challenge, it's also an opportunity with all of the young people in the world and how we can change."

The fact that the milestone figure could be reached on Halloween is coincidence and not commentary, he said. The projection is based on the U.N.'s census data and birth rate information, but experts are already haggling over whether the data are accurate or not. The U.S. Census Bureau reportedly predicts a February 2012 due date.

And buckle up for the inevitable media race to anoint the 7 billionth person. Plan International, an international child advocacy agency, is planning to seize that limelight on Oct. 31, according to Live Science. It will present a 7-billionth-person birth certificate to a baby girl in Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state, in a bid to draw attention to the problem of sex-selective abortions in that country.

Regardless, it seems that everyone can agree that Mother Earth's population continues to grow by leaps and bounds -- and won't slow down anytime soon.

That recognition could help shape global policies going forward, even as authorities grapple to understand what the population growth will mean and how the world should respond. No doubt, there are politically charged discussions about family planning and birth control on the horizon, as well as tough decisions about how to best help areas of the world burdened by poverty and hunger.

Here are some U.N. projections to mull over with a handful of candy corn:

-- Looking ahead, the U.N. projects that the world population will reach 8 billion by 2025, and 10 billion by 2083. :)yikes: Glad I'll be dead!) But it cautions that those numbers are mere projections, and could veer dramatically with changes such as access to birth control.

-- Average life expectancy is also expected to continue rising, but again that depends on a number of factors. Today, 893 million people are 60 or older. But by the middle of this century that number will nearly triple, to reach 2.4 billion, according to the population fund. Globally speaking, today's average life span is 68 years, compared with 48 in 1950.

-- The population explosion will be especially felt in cities around the globe. Right now, one in two people live in an urban area. In about 35 years, two out of three will.

It all adds up to a lot of mouths to feed.

So, what's next? The population fund will release its annual State of World Population report next week. Titled "People and Possibilities in a World of 7 Billion," it promises to make the case "for sound planning and investing in people" as a way to deal with population growth.

"By empowering people to improve their own lives, we can foster sustainable cities that serve as catalysts for progress, productive labour forces that fuel economic growth, youth populations that contribute to the well-being of economies and societies, and a generation of healthy older people who are actively engaged in the social and economic affairs of their communities," the report's teaser says.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nat...opulation-will-reach-7-billion-on-oct-31.html

Now there's a case for same-sex marriage.

I hope you and the Duggars are satisfied.
 
The human carrying capacity of planet Earth is about 10 billion, once that threshold is surpassed, the population will stabilize itself by bringing back that threshold to an average of 10 billion.

Most of the articles overexaggerate the possibility of not achieving a sustainable population number; more people are thinking not twice but thrice when deciding to have kids, and more effective new forms of birth control are being developed and their use is becoming more predominant throughout the world, especially in areas with high birth rates.
 
Time for a plague or two.

You guys got your underground isolation shelters ready to go, or is it just going to be me and millions of hours of pre-taped TV series?
 
Bill Murray already has his bunker set up, he doesn't settle for "underground isolation shelters", because he is this classy:

3144620.jpg
 
And God gave them his blessing and said to them, Be fertile and have increase, and make the earth full and be masters of it; be rulers over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing moving on the earth.

~Genesis 1:28
 
And God gave them his blessing and said to them, Be fertile and have increase, and make the earth full and be masters of it; be rulers over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing moving on the earth.

~Genesis 1:28
What's the proverb where God said it's probably not a good idea to do that 10s of miles from a potable water source?

The Africans we converted to Christianity seemed to have missed that crucial one.
 
And God gave them his blessing and said to them, Be fertile and have increase, and make the earth full and be masters of it; be rulers over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing moving on the earth.

~Genesis 1:28
i don't think god had overpopulation in mind when he said this. mind you that was back when the population could've been measured in millions. they probably had no idea the earth could ever be "full".
 
And God gave them his blessing and said to them, Be fertile and have increase, and make the earth full and be masters of it; be rulers over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing moving on the earth.

~Genesis 1:28

What cracks me up about fundementalist is that they claim God is all knowing and all powerful, yet they somehow think God lacks common sense...
 
the iron horse said:
And God gave them his blessing and said to them, Be fertile and have increase, and make the earth full and be masters of it; be rulers over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing moving on the earth.

~Genesis 1:28

I'm sure he's probably kicking himself over that one


If everyone only had 2 children there would be no problem
 
And God gave them his blessing and said to them, Be fertile and have increase, and make the earth full and be masters of it; be rulers over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing moving on the earth.

~Genesis 1:28

This should come with a disclaimer to "please disregard".
 
And God gave them his blessing and said to them, Be fertile and have increase, and make the earth full and be masters of it; be rulers over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing moving on the earth.

~Genesis 1:28
It's when Christians do this shit that everybody hates them.

- A Christian
 
Eh, I can't get too worked up over these scare pieces. I've read a little on the topic too and the impression is of a probably levelling-off after 2050. In the very long term, gentle demographic decline probably.

Here's a tip: independent of religious ideology or complaints about 'breeders', human populations (well, birthrates) tend to track the food supply. But it's not as simple as that. Changes in mortality have to be taken into account. There was a time, in Europe, when a family of 12 or 14 children would be not unusual. Many of them would not reach adulthood. After certain advances in public sanitation and later, vaccination, that obviously changed dramatically.

It's a complex picture. 'Education' is a small part of it I suspect. People have exactly as many kids (ok with some caveats) as they want to. You need a labour force to support your poverty-stricken family, and a ready made nursing care for your old age... and you live in a place or circumstance where basic mortality might claim some portion of your offspring in childhood... it is going to affect things.
 
Stop breeding, people.

This was a conscious decision by my wife and I, no kids.
We may adopt someday (an older child, not an infant), and we have 3 nephews and a niece that my live with us from time to time as they get older.

I get that there is a biological urge to breed, but I'd like to see people stop at 2.
 
Kieran, don't raise the tone of this thread too much with sensible posts now.

This was a conscious decision by my wife and I, no kids.
We may adopt someday (an older child, not an infant), and we have 3 nephews and a niece that my live with us from time to time as they get older.

I get that there is a biological urge to breed, but I'd like to see people stop at 2.

Yeah, my two short quips in this thread probably mask the fact that my partner and I have made the same conscious decision to not have kids. We're still young though and open to the possibility that our feelings on the matter might be different in ten years, but given our mutual dislike for young children, I'm not sure our feelings will shift that much. I really don't think our lifestyle would suit children either.

But if we ever decide we do want children, I very much doubt the planet's over-population would dissuade us much, nor do I imagine it dissuades anybody else. So Cobbler's post above is fairly well on the money in that sense.
 
Gosh, I guess we should stop giving people good health care and stuff too.

"We need a new plague." ~ Dwight K. Schrute
 
Though you can keep breeding all you like if your offspring turn out to be champion All Blacks.

THE RUGBY WORLD CUP IS NEW ZEALAND'S!!!
 
My main gripe is that there's too much traffic as it is. :tsk:

And God gave them his blessing and said to them, Be fertile and have increase, and make the earth full and be masters of it; be rulers over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing moving on the earth.

~Genesis 1:28

God has GOT to put numbers down. "Full" by what standards? I think we were simultaneously full and masters somewhere around 1400.
 
Yeah, it's just your fault. Get off the road.

On a more serious note, ZPG needs to get here sooner.

No mention of the disaster that is the One-Child Policy in China yet? FYM, I'm saddened. I thought it was something we could all agree on for once. :wink:
 
Births peaked in my time of birth, 1990-1991. The class of May 2013 will be the largest graduating college class in US history.

And there will be no jobs! What a way to celebrate our parents getting it on in 1990.
 
No offense to Axver, but I have a hard time understanding how anyone could have a "dislike for young children". It's just baffling to me, especially since we all used to be children.

Of course, I'm speaking as someone who absolutely adores kids, although I don't think I want to have any of my own.
 
You can start you own business that handles negotiating the payoffs of defaulting student loans.

I would start a business that consolidates student loans and then sells the bundles. Then, start a market for betting that the student loans will default.
It could be huge!
 
The_Population_Bomb.jpg


A best-seller in the late 60's and early 70's.

And completely wrong. Wrong because they couldn't foresee technologies like irradiated and genetically modified food.

Two technologies, I might point out, opposed by what can only be described as anti-science liberals.
 
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