When Population Connection was founded as Zero Population Growth, or ZPG, in 1968, there were 3.5 billion people on the planet. Since then, our world population has more than doubled—with no end in sight. The United Nations projects that world population will fall between 9.0 and 10.1 billion people in 2050.
You may ask…why does it matter?
- One in eight people is hungry.
- More than a billion people live in areas where water is already scarce.
- High fertility leads to poor health outcomes for mothers and their children.
- Rapidly expanding populations can keep nations mired in a cycle of poverty and contribute to social and political unrest.
- Biodiversity is lost when plants and animals are crowded out to make room for more development.
Population growth stretches natural resources to their limits. Deforestation, food and water shortages, and climate change are all intensified by the addition of over 80 million people a year to the world’s population.
According to the United Nations, the global population could be as high as 10.1 billion in 2050 or as low as 9 billion, if the right programs are put in place now. Population Connection strives for the world to achieve the lower projection—for the sake of the environment and for the people and wildlife that depend upon it.
The perils of rapid population growth can be seen in events unfolding around the world today. Learn how population intersects with some of the biggest challenges facing our planet today by exploring the issue areas below:
