If this keeps up, things are going to get crowded.
A new study shows that the earth’s population will hit 7 billion in 2011, which is double what it was in the 1960s, according to Discovery News. What’s more, researchers predict that another 2.3 billion people will be added to our planet over the next 39 years. In case you were wondering, that’s a lot of people in not a lot of time.
(PHOTOS: Garbage Wars in Naples)
Worryingly, the study adds:
“Over the next forty years, nearly all (97%) of the 2.3 billion projected increase will be in the less developed regions, with nearly half (49%) in Africa. By contrast, the populations of more developed countries will remain flat, but will age, with fewer working-age adults to support retirees living on social pensions.”
Which means the coming population explosion will be bad news all across the globe, putting strains on space, labor and the environment. And, if estimates turn out to be true, things are going to get far, far worse: by the year 2100, the earth could be home to a staggering 15.8 billion people.