The Truth About 7 Billion

As the world's population hit seven billion two weeks ago on October 31, concerns have arose about overpopulation and how it will affect the Earth in upcoming years.  Debates have recently started up again about overpopulation with the main concerns being the environment and poverty; but has the world really become overpopulated?

CNN and the United Nations reported the seven billionth inhabitant was born in Manila, Philippines. Danica May Camacho was greeted into the world with cheers and a score of flashing cameras. She arrived two minutes before midnight on Sunday the 30^th, but doctors still say it was close enough to count for a Monday birthday and the celebration commenced.  UN officials presented the child with a cake as well as good wishes towards her life. The UN named a Bosnian child, Adnan Mevic the Earth's six billionth inhabitant on Oct. 12, 1999.

However, with the birth of Danica comes a warning from Dr. Eric Tayag a member of the Philippine's Department of Health stating that, "We should really focus on the question of whether there will be food, clean water, shelter, education and a decent life for every child."

The same concern that most people are sharing is how will we be able to not become overpopulated? Even with China's one child policy the population is still over 1.3 billion people as well as its close neighbor, India with 1.17 billion. When thinking about China, its one-child policy has boosted its economy, so if China's population declines then its economy will too. This is true for only some countries, India is the world's second most populous country and yet it still suffers from vast poverty (over 2/3 of the population). This may be because it is not as technologically advanced or have many natural resources, but this fact is still true for most countries with high populations.

It's hard not to concern the general population with the United Nations estimating that by 2050 there will be 9.3 billion people on Earth. All of this is hard to comprehend for some, but the truth of the matter is that we should begin to take notice. Now we have more people in the world to feed, house and to keep healthy. The population continues to grow and the truth of the matter is the world is just not big enough and we are running out of room.