The UN's World Population Prospects 2022 predicts that the world's population will hit 8 billion on Nov. 15 and that India will overtake China as the world's most populous nation in 2023.
In 2020, the world's population decreased by less than 1%, rising at its slowest rate since 1950. According to the UN's' most recent estimates, the world's population may reach 8.5 billion people in 2030 and 9.7 billion by 2050.
The population is predicted to peak at 10.4 billion people in the 2080s and stay there until 2100.
In this photograph taken on October 30, 2022, devotees gather to worship the sun during the Hindu festival of Chhath Puja on the banks of river Ganges in Patna. - India is projected to see an explosion in its urban population in the coming decades, but its cities already cannot cope and climate change will make living conditions harsher still
According to World Population Prospects 2022, fertility has decreased significantly in many nations during the past few decades.
Currently, two-thirds of the world's population reside in regions or nations with lifetime fertility rates below 2.1 births per woman, or roughly the number needed for a population with low mortality to experience long-term growth of zero.
Between 2022 and 2050, it is predicted that the populations of 61 countries or regions will decline by 1% or more. This is due to persistently low fertility rates and, in some cases, high emigration rates, as per the UN's report.
Eight nations-the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, and the United Republic of Tanzania-will account for more than half of the expected growth in the world's population by 2050.
Sub-Saharan African countries are also projected to account for more than half of the growth predicted through 2050.
Will Our Growing Population Worsen Climate Change?
Human communities and the natural world are already suffering from the various effects of global warming. Experts claim that further temperature rises will spur catastrophic effects on several nations, prompting more action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
"Multiple factors contribute to climate change, and multiple actions are needed to address it. The number of people on our planet is one of those factors. Every additional person increases carbon emissions - the rich far more than the poor - and increases the number of climate change victims - the poor far more than the rich," PopulationMatters wrote in a report.
Glaciers and ice caps are already receding due to climate change, which will affect how much fresh water is available. It causes coral reefs and other aquatic ecosystems to die by accelerating ocean acidification.
It renders areas uninhabitable for some plants and animals, causing species to go extinct or move around, and endangering food production due to foreign pests and diseases, according to PopulationMatters.
Related Article: Unesco Calls to 'Drastically Cut Emissions' Before Glaciers Disappear to Climate Change
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Written by Jace Dela Cruz
