EARTH'S POPULATION
Earth's human population, at 8.1 billion, (2024July1) is now a significant contributor to the overall health of Earth and its residents, not the least of which is humankind. Innovations in technologies and medical science, since the industrial revolution, have made significant strides in enabling healthier and longer human lives. Exponential population growth, over this period was due, in part, to these recent remarkable developments.
This tremendous growth coincides with the industrial revolution: whereas it had taken all of human history until about
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1800 for world population to reach one billion, the second billion was achieved in only 130 years (by 1930), the third billion in 30 years (1960), the fourth billion in 15 years (1974), and the fifth billion in only 13 years (1987)
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During the 20th century alone, the population in the world grew from 1.65 billion to 6 billion!
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In 1930, there were nearly 1/4 as many people worldwide as now (over 8 billion in 2024).
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Because of declining growth rates, it may now take over 200 years to double again; however, a still growing population is at the point where humans are depleting Earth's finite resources at an ever faster and faster unsustainable rate!
Population density map of the world showing not only countries but also many subdivisions (regions, states, provinces).
source: https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/
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The highest percentage growth population rates are now mainly in Africa. This is expected to triple the African population from about 1.2 billion today to more than 4 billion by 2050.
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More than half the world's population live in India and China.
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Great developments in science and medicine, during and since the Industrial Revolution, are major contributors to human longevity and population growth. It's wonderful that our life expectancies are longer and that many of us can enjoy a longer and healthier life. On the whole, however, there are negative aspects of these benefits -- longer lives mean more food and earth resource consumption per person. As well, more people on earth means global overconsumption of certain resources, jeopardizing human lives, as well as those of other organisms. Human over-population is an existential challenge.
Concerns over food instability resulting from ever increasing population are not new. Over the centuries, Aristotle, Malthus, and John Stuart Mill voiced strong disapproval of overpopulation, yet these warnings have been insufficient to garner action to bring
population growth under control. The difference today is that the science clearly shows that burgeoning population, connected to fossil fuel consumption (contributing greenhouse gas emissions), and vulnerable resource depletion must be brought under control to sustain human life on Earth.
So, where does this vast population live? Over half of the world's population is urban and lives in cities. The concentration of people in high density cities enables them to be hubs for arts and education, with universities, religious organizations, and cultural institutions.
Commercial, industrial, legal, political and infrastructural concentration also exist because of population density. Due to the efficiency of transportation and less per capita land utilization, dense cities hold the potential to have a smaller ecological footprint per inhabitant than more sparsely populated areas.[Pop-1] Yet, cities are located near waterways putting them at risk from rising sea levels, severe storms, and excessive freshwater depletion.
Yet, the lifeblood of the city, energy and food typically come from outside of the city. This is explained in part by the historical development of cities where city dwellers left rural agricultural and fuelwood gathering roles as enabled by a surplus of rural labor. Specialized crafts, arts, manufacturing and services arose in urban settings. Again, the people who left rural agricultural settings needed fuel and needed to be fed in large numbers.
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Next: go to Consumption
Footnotes
[Pop-1] UN News. 2019, September 18. Cities: a cause of and solution to' climate change.