9 Billion People in 40 Years
Population growth may lead to serious problems throughout the world
According to historical materials, there were about 200 million people on the Earth in the year 0. This increased to about 1 billion by 1800. Since then, the population has grown much more rapidly, to 2.5 billion people in 1950, 5 billion in 1987, and 6.8 billion in 2009. The UN says that by 2050, the world will have more than 9 billion people. This is called the population explosion.
Why has the world population grown so much? One reason is the Industrial Revolution, which began in England in the 18th century. This brought new machines to make farming, trade, and manufacturing easier. The safety and supply of food improved. New medicines helped people live longer and allowed more babies to survive. Cures were found for diseases that once killed large number s of people. As quality of life improved, the number of people increased.
In recent years, however, the population explosion has led to huge problems. Birth rates in Japan and many European countries have decreased, but this is now happening in developing countries. In some Asian and African countries women have an average of seven babies in their lifetimes. Populations in these countries are expected to double in the next 25 years. As a result, shortages of food, water and other resources will become even more severe. People will have to fight for resources, leading to wars and conflicts.
It will be difficult to stop the population explosion, but there are things developed countries should do. They must work to make poor countries’ governments stable, and help them give their people better education and family planning programs. Just sending food, clean water, and medicine is not a long-term solution. If the causes of the problems are not addressed, the problems will not go away ― they will get worse. This is a great concern not only for developing countries, but for your country as well.
