We have no exact prediction about the future of our
population growth. People have made guesses, but have never been correct.
Thomas Malthus in the 1800s, for example, believed the human population will be
always kept in check by war, pestilence, or “inevitable famine,” when the
population was at one billion. Then in 1968, Paul Ehrlich published “The
Population Bomb,” believing that the population will reduce significantly due
to starvation. The population stood at 3.5 million at this time. However, he was wrong
again. The population continued to skyrocket, and today we have over 7 billion
people living on this planet. The UN believes that the estimate of humans in
this world will level off at around 9 billion in 2050. Yet, we are still unsure
if this is accurate enough. While we see signs in some developed countries slowing down rates of growth, some developing countries are
still rising in numbers, contributing to more people on the planet.
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