@cicerone imposter,
World population
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Population density (people per km2) map of the world in 1994.
World population from 1800 to 2100, based on UN 2004 projections (red, orange, green) and US Census Bureau historical estimates (black).The world population is the population of humans on the planet Earth. In 2009, the United Nations estimated the population to reach 7,000,000,000 in 2011;[1] current estimates by the United States Census Bureau put the population at 6,862,000,000.[2]
The world population has experienced continuous growth since the end of the Black Death around the year 1400;[3] the highest rates of growth—increases above 1.8% per year—were seen briefly during the 1950s, then for a longer period during the 1960s and 1970s. The growth rate peaked at 2.2% in 1963, and declined to 1.10% by 2009. Annual births have reduced to 140 million since their peak at 173 million in the late 1990s, and are expected to remain constant, while deaths number 57 million per year and are expected to increase to 90 million per year by 2050. Current projections show a steady decline in the population growth rate, with the population expected to reach between 8 and 10.5 billion between the year 2040[4][5] and 2050.[1]
Forecasts of scarcity
In 1798 Thomas Malthus incorrectly predicted that population growth would out-run food supply by the mid 19th century. In 1968, Paul R. Ehrlich reprised this argument in The Population Bomb, predicting famine in the 1970s and 1980s. The dire predictions of Ehrlich and other neo-Malthusians were vigorously challenged by a number of economists, notably Julian Lincoln Simon. Agricultural research already under way, such as the green revolution, led to dramatic improvements in crop yields. Food production has kept pace with population growth,