How many people can live on Earth?

Overpopulation - Myth or Crisis?

Watch

David Attenborough looks at the issue of human sustainability and whether the planet is on a course towards a population crisis. The Earth’s population is growing exponentially, having grown from just 2.5 billion people in 1950 to 7 billion today. However, its resources are not increasing at the same pace of human reproduction, which is about 80 million births a year. All of them require food, energy, clothing, and shelter. What is the breaking point when the world will no longer be able to support the vast number of people that inhabit it?

Attenborough interviews several academics and professionals who give their opinion on what needs to be done so that the Earth can sustain generations of people yet to be born. The overall consensus is that the Earth’s population will increase by another three billion by the year 2050.

Speak

1. Will living longer and having more people on the planet be useful or a detriment to the planet? In what ways?
2. How can we get organized to deal with this phenomenon?
3. Do you think governments should limit the number of children you can birth?
4. Is this issue a myth or a crisis?

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World Population Day Facts

July 11 is celebrated as World Population Day every year. The main purpose of this day is to highlight population issues and work to solve them together. It was established and organised by the Governing Council of the United Nations Development Programme in 1989.

There are more than 7.6 billion people on the earth. Top five most populated countries are: – China, India, USA, Indonesia, and Brazil. According to an estimate, every second there are 4.3 births and 1.8 deaths. It leads to a net population gain of 2.5 people per second.

Quick Facts: –

• Every 20 minutes, there are around 3,000 people born in the world.
• Approximately 52% of the entire population of the world is under 30 years old.
• World’s population was one billion in 1804 and it took 123 years to reach 2 billion. In next 32 years the figure was 4 billion and after 37 more years it was around 7 billion.
• According to an estimate by United Nations, it will increase 4 billion more by 2100.
• The United States of America ranks third in the list of most populous countries in the world.
• There are more people migrating than ever before.
• World Population Day is mainly celebrated to empower youth of both genders and offer them detailed knowledge about their responsibilities.
• It is estimated that 108 billion people have lived thorough our history.
• The entire world’s population, standing side by side would fit into 500 square miles.
• Approximately 1.8 billion people around the world are between the ages of 10 and 24.
• As today our population is growing by 1.18 % per year.

Write

• Find 5 more facts about the growing population and create a class list of more facts.
• Write 3 questions about the facts that you found.
• Make a class trivia game in quizlet. Play in groups or against another class.

Quizlet for Living on the Earth

Quizlet Trivia for Living on the Earth