SOURCE: Tree Hugger
DATE: July 10, 2018
SNIP: Every two or three years, in a series of publications entitled World Population Prospects, the United Nations issues a forecast for the future growth of the world population. In the course of the 15 years of the examined prospects—from 2002 to 2017—the forecast world population for 2050 increased by about 10%, or a staggering 0.9 billion.
From the report: “The current world population of 7.6 billion is expected to reach 8.6 billion in 2030, 9.8 billion in 2050 and 11.2 billion in 2100, according to a new United Nations report being launched today. With roughly 83 million people being added to the world’s population every year, the upward trend in population size is expected to continue, even assuming that fertility levels will continue to decline.”
[T]here are two key reasons for the large increases in the forecast world population: general increases in both the assumed fertility rates and the assumed life expectancies—both being critical factors in the forecasting process.
If the latest projections prove to be accurate, we need to plan for about a 10% increase in the needed supply of food, drinking water, and energy, and in carbon dioxide emissions by 2050, compared to a projection from just 15 years earlier.
Furthermore, given the continuously increasing projections for 2050, we also need to be prepared for the possibility that the actual future fertility rates and life expectancies would be even higher than those assumed in the latest projections. That would result in even larger future world population than in the latest United Nations projections, with the consequent additional strain on the world resources and climate.