A Possibly Daunting Future: The Sudden Decrease in Human Population?

Have you heard whispers that our world is overpopulated? Have you read any articles or listened to worried conversations that say there is no space left for more people? Maybe you have. But how would you react if I told you that you might not have to worry about that at all? In fact, what would your reaction be if you learned we should be anxious about the opposite?

There has been speculation all over the world whether our population will drop. This grave topic has been discussed by publications from Popular Mechanics to the New York Times. Unfortunately, this predicted drop is yet another possible problem for our species. However, there is one thing that’s perplexing. Weren’t we just fretting about an overpopulated world? That is, in fact, true. Even though the large growth in population has been very recent, with numbers spiraling upwards in only a few decades, there has been talk of too many people for over a hundred years. In the early 1800s, intellectuals like Thomas Malthus predicted that humans would eventually outgrow the amount of resources available on Earth. However, family structure and size were vastly different from what they are in the 21st century. When Malthus was alive, most women in the United States bore seven children, which has now dropped to, on average, less than two per female. This one tiny tidbit of information is the reason that we now fear a sharp decrease in our massive population.

Dean Spears is an economist and demographer who is a professor at the University of Texas. He wrote a column for the New York Times on this topic. He told us that the number of Earth’s inhabitants is shrinking, and in the long run, “Each new generation is smaller than the one before.” Spears says that, although the number of residents on the planet is not dropping currently, it might before the year 2100. He also adds that the large spike of human beings might only be a quick blip in human history, claiming that children born today will live to see the numbers of our population grow to its max in 2085, approximately 10 billion, before declining. 

Popular Mechanics, in an interview with Sebastian Dettmers, however, argued that the global population number is already waning and will decrease dangerously over time. Whatever particular month, day, or year it is, one thing is for sure: many of us will be there to witness it. When we reach our population limit, the number of people will begin to drop at a precipitous rate. Dettmers, the CEO of StepStone, says quite confidently that the number of inhabitants on Earth will have decreased by one billion at the end of the century. Can you imagine such a thing? 

Readers, you are now updated on the population concerns, but setting aside this new, stunning information lies the real question: What will happen to us? The human species has dominated for tens of thousands of years and has only been growing in strength and power. What is our new fate? What could happen to the humans, to the survivors? There are some varied options, but all point to a rather depressing outcome. Dettmers said that the diminishing birth rate would “hamper the world’s entire economic model,” and would later cripple our global economy. Dettmers smartly pointed out that our economic fuel comes from people. If we have only a dusting of humans remaining on the planet, economic systems would be nearly nonexistent. 

Spears added to Dettmers’s point, saying that a populous Earth has the outcome of higher living standards and that our health and living conditions would worsen drastically if our population did drop. He didn’t specify just how much our situation would worsen, but we can assume that our world and its resources would become rather mediocre and possibly mundane. Additionally, over the last few decades, the amount of advanced technology has skyrocketed. This was, again, the result of an enormous amount of brain power that comes from the number of people on our magnificent Earth. With a declining birth rate, there will be less human potential, fewer inventions, and only a scattering of revolutionaries like yourselves.

The human species has controlled the planet for thousands of years. While there are mixed views on the outcomes of a population drop and when precisely it will happen, we know for sure that this catastrophe is hanging rather ominously over our heads. We are tipping precariously on the peak of our population cliff. Could this mean the end of our species’ reign? Thankfully, even this remote possibility is far into the future. Nevertheless, it is something to keep in mind. The intentions of this article weren’t to dampen your spirits or your hope for humanity, merely to share a point of interest for me and others. I have no doubt that if the residents of Earth work together, we will be able to push through yet another barrier that has presented itself.