8 Billion People, is it good or bad?

On November 15th, 2022, we officially reached a world population of 8 billion. But is that a good thing? For years we have been worried about what overpopulation can do to our planet and resources. With the population growing by the second, should we be scared for the future? 

With the growing population, UN member Antonio Guterres stated, “It is a reminder of our shared responsibility to care for our planet and a moment to reflect on where we still fall short of our commitments to one another." The UN has estimated that "the global population is growing at its slowest rate since 1950, having fallen under 1 percent in 2020. The latest projections by the United Nations suggest that the world’s population could grow to around 8.5 billion in 2030 and 9.7 billion in 2050. It is projected to reach a peak of around 10.4 billion people during the 2080s and to remain at that level until 2100."

Cons:

  • Food. How are we supposed to feed all of these new people? The world isn't growing, we only have so much land to farm or use for manufacturing. 
  • Diseases. Scientists have proven that more than half of the infectious diseases that humans contract can become deadlier because of climate change. More people, more pollution, more climate change. More people also means that diseases can be spread easier. 
  •  Temperatures. Rising temperatures due to climate change can also affect the population in a negative way. It can cause droughts, which cause food and water shortages. It can also cause long-term damage to individuals. 
  • Resources. The more people, the more resources that we need to use. 

Pros:

  • It can cause migration, allowing the population to spread out more evenly. 
  • Technology will get better to allow for an easier life. 

There weren't very many pros I could find for the 8 billion people. 

 

What do you think?

Is the increase good or bad?

Do you want more people?

 

 

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Replies

  • In my opinion the increase is not good for our planet. The more people there is in the world means there is more poeple that contaminate them. As you said it can also be a problem for the spread of diseases, for the food and resources in our world. I personally don't want more poeple even if it is hard to stop the growth.

    • I feel like the diseases will also be huge. Look at COVID, it spread like wildfire. Imagine adding 2 billion more people to that equation. That is just more people spreading deadly diseases to others. 

  • I feel that 8 billion people is bad the number only increases more and more soon we will reach a point where we won't be able to handle all these people and it's not that there are only 8 billion people but its how fast we went from 3 billion to 8 that rapid increase is not good for the environment.

  • 8 billion people is not as bad as some people think it is. The food situation is only bad because A. they live in area where you can't grow or hunt for food. Or B someone is purposefully keeping a country startved. 

    • I don't think that currently there is an issue. But when we get into higher numbers like 11 or 12 billion, that is when we need to be treading lightly. That many people can cause major climate damage. 

  • I know that having 8 billion people on earth is making it harder to have enough food, medical help, temperature of earth, and resources. I think that the governments will have to find a humane way to process and help the people. I think that sooner or later they will have to do something about overpopulation.

  • I personally feel that the increase isn't good, the more people the less space is left. I feel like if we keep growing our population, we are gonna run out of room in the cites, and then people are gonna go to the forests or wildlife and cut it all down just to build yet another city. I personally don't want more people, I think we have enough. But what are we gonna do about it? Nothing. 

  • I think that 8 billion people isn't really the best thing, but it has some good things about it. Now that the Earth has 8 billion people, each and everyone of those people will be doing some kind on pollution to the Earth. But one of those people may also be one of the ones who find a cure for cancer or any other disease. Over all, 8 billion people has its pros and cons about being on Earth. 

  • I think that 8 billion people is a both good and bad, there are many jobs that could be filled. On the down side there are many problems that could be caused due to over population things such as lack of food, another outbreak of diseases and other problems. Although more people may be great there are also problems that could come from more people. 

  • I think the increase in people is not the best but it can have some pros. It doesn't help if we have a lack of resources. We reallly don't need more people but I don't think its doing a lot of harm but over time it might not be super good. Therefore, I think this increase in population can turn out to be a bad thing. 

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