Tag Archives: population growth

Protected areas are too few and growth too slow to prevent biodiversity loss

The current global network of protected areas is quite extensive, covering 17 million square kilometers of land and 2 million square kilometers of oceans. But the more than 100,000 areas appear to be insufficient to halt global biodiversity loss, according … Continue reading →

Until 2050 97% of population growth comes from less developed regions

This year we will hit 7 billion. But the big demography news is not just the net growth figure, but also the differentiation – where it takes places. A new Harvard study has sifted through the billions of unborn people … Continue reading →

Population decline: comparing Russia and Ukraine

In our new demography series we compare population growth for sets of countries, based on the UN World Population Prospects 2010 Revision, which was released last month. To better illustrate that global population growth is far from uniform, today we … Continue reading →

Average African woman has more than 5 children, African population growth accelerating over rest of 21st century, problem ‘non-existent’

Demography is statistics in its plainest form, and the below picture says it all. It is not the world population that is growing, it is the African and Asian populations that are growing – and dwarfing all the other continents.

World population forecast increases by 0.5 to 1 billion in just two years

…comparing either 21st century peak population or 2100 population. Somewhere this year (October 31 says UN’s big computer) the 7 billionth human inhabitant of this planet will be born – then starting to emit his of her average annual 5 … Continue reading →

Engineering population growth: part 1, the problem

Ask engineers and they’ll say there is an engineering solution to any problem. With respect to climate change and geoengineering that’s hotly debated, with respect to overpopulation it’s a novelty. Today the UK-based Institution of Mechanical Engineers presented a report … Continue reading →