Population 7 Billion: What's The Impact? (SLIDESHOW)

We're officially there. As we hit the 7-billion mark Monday, celebrations were held around the globe. But what's the toll of this growth on struggling populations, on the environment and on already-strained cities? 7 Billion Actions provides everything you need to know surrounding actionable news on the topic. Here's a glimpse:

SLIDESHOW:

Photos: AP

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Comments

[Jill Kennedy]

02:32 PM on 11/02/2011

Here's a crazy statistic - Facebook is projecting to have 7.3 billion users by 2015 and there will only be 7.2 billion on the planet - according to this chart...

http://mankabros.com/blogs/onmedea/2010/09/15/facebook-to-reach-7-3-billion-users-by-2015/

[TheLibraryOfCodex]

03:03 PM on 11/01/2011

We need to terraform the Moon and Mars.

It will be difficult.

But a lot simpler than convincing the people of the third world to ignore Catholic lies and put on a condom.

[greyhound2]

09:23 AM on 11/01/2011

The explosion is occuring in parts of the world who can afford it least: Central and South America, Africa and Asia. We need a bigger fence on our southern border and tighter immigration restrictions to avoid being swamped by hordes of new welfare applications.

[First Blast]

07:26 AM on 11/02/2011

It is too late, we should however permit pathogens to do the work they were intended by nature for. No more shipments of aid medicine.

[NevaforLeadership]

06:39 AM on 11/01/2011

The impact of 7 billion, flowing into 10 billion by 2050, -- 200,000,000 more in the U.S. alone by then without factoring in mad, mad and more mad continuous immigration, is the end of the human race.

[Peter Byass]

03:50 AM on 11/01/2011

Also a question of counting adequately! http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/peter-byass/7-billion-and-counting-or_b_1066017.html

[Neli Borba]

02:42 AM on 11/01/2011

WAKE UP!! WE ARE FREE PEOPLE, WHO HAVE THE RIGHT TO CONTROL OUR OWN FERTILITY AND LIFE. WE DO NOT BELONG, LIKE CATTLE, TO THE CONTROLLERS OF THIS WORLD. Get some sense in your heads. Stop moving to the cities, stop buying their latest toys and people will better off, and they will not have MONEY POWER TO CONTROL OUR DESTINY! This is stupid they are trying to scare people of, the planet Earth is big enough for all this people---we need better planning with our resources NOT PEOPLE'S LIVES. The Gurus out there who think they can MASTER OUR LIFE are out of control. Scaring people is a good tactic, and most fall for it....hungry exists in some parts of the world because the government of those places are selfish, corrupt and don't do anything to improve their own citizens lives. Not everyone can be or should be a doctor or a scientist (if everyone got high education in this planet who is going to sow the seeds, or clean the laundry?; teach people to do jobs that are needed in their own community and they can form a support system that will help them to get fed.

[California Wizard]

08:48 PM on 11/01/2011

Neli Borba, get real! The reality is that so-called "free" people around the world have an individual responsibility for RESPONSIBLE reproduction. Yet few if any Third World country peoples have even a CLUE about that responsibility or the values behind it. For them it is just birth, birth, birth, with some believing that the more kids the better the ability to have someone take care of you in old age. The reality is that this planet cannot continue to support this kind of population. At least China had the good sense to see that with its over-population and crisis that it must limit births to one per family, which is still the law there now. De-forestation so as to support increasing populations is one of this planet's greatest dangers to our existence, yet de-forestation continues at unpredecented rates in Third World countries where birthing is also out of control. In this country also, birthing is out of control, mostly among those persons who can least afford it and have to rely on taxpayer-paid government assistance. I am always amazed to walk in the malls and see how many young teenage girls are pregnant -- you rarely saw this in the 50's or 60's. This planet is turning ever more violent everywhere, and will continue to do so because of the nightmarish social and political policies or lack thereof. Teaching personal responsibility and community obligation to our own survival as a species must become a priority everywhere.

[Neli Borba]

08:15 AM on 11/04/2011

I am being real. I am not a cow or a pig that someone can come over and castrate me and tell me that I cannot produce offspring! Do you understand? I was not raised in this "death mentality" that teaches that people has power over other human beings to impose "cannabalystisc rules". I am not a pagan and I do not intend in become one. China, years ago was considered a country "off limits" to the American people, but now, with the craze of its cheap goods swarming America, does it seams like a good example? China is a very large country and it is not overpopulated or "it seems to be" because people move to the cities and these get crowded,if most people moved back to the country there would be enough space for them.

[JDZSB]

12:31 AM on 11/01/2011

The demographics of America is changing dramatically as the assimilation of immigrants from all over the world who gladly come to this country to enjoy the freedom and opportunity to have a good life the American culture and government provides to its citizens. The ethnic mix of America began with the initial immigration coming from western Europe but over the last 100 years the immigration dominance has dramtically changed with the massive influx of immigrants (legal and illegal) coming in through the southern borders which are dominated by Hispanics. The fastest growing part of our population is ofth Hispanic ethnic heritage which is especially obvious in California, Arizona, and Texas. The majority of those living in LA are of Hispanic background and the same is true in other California cities. The median income level in the US at large has not grown at traditional rates in the last decade because of the influx of immigrants who have taken over the majority the lower paying jobs that require less education and formal skills. The overall rate of population growth has not changed much but the mix of the growth is changing dramatically with the Caucasian population shrinking while the Hispanic, Black, Asian, East Indian, and middle eastern populations have increased. The USA is truly a melting pot, but unfortunately, the assimilation is not happening in a way that is preserving our heritage and American culture. Instead of assimilation and maintaining a somewhat homogeneous culture, the country is creating "mini countries" of

[NevaforLeadership]

06:41 AM on 11/01/2011

Continuous immigration, without consideration of the exponential effect on population growth, is mad, mad and more MAD, the policy of fools.

By 2050 there will be 200,000,000 more people in the U.S. alone, without factoring in immigration.

[California Wizard]

08:52 PM on 11/01/2011

Well said, JDZSB, I agree with what you have said. There can be no homogeneous culture in the USA because cultural assimilation is not possible where there are such divergent beliefs and behaviors based on ethnicity.

[Stan Chaz]

10:41 PM on 10/31/2011

Oh Lord!
I think I hear singing.
Can it be? Is that... Barbra?
Yes yes yes, it's DEFINITELY Barbra!
And... she wants us to join in!
All together now:

People,..... people who need people
Are the luckiest people in the world
We're children..... needing other children
And yet letting our grown-up pride
Hide all the need inside
Acting more like children than children

Lovers are very special people
They're the luckiest people in the world
With one person,..... one very special person
A feeling deep in your soul
Says you WERE half now you're whole
No more hunger and thirst
But first be a person who needs people

People, .....people who need people
Are the luckiest people in the world.
With one person, one very special person
A feeling deep in your soul
Says you WERE half now you're whole
No more hunger and thirst
But first be a person who needs people
People,...... people who need people
Are the luckiest people in the world.

Of course, on the other hand....Sartre claims that Hell is other people.

[Mochilero]

10:00 PM on 10/31/2011

Great photo - I believe that it is the New Delhi Railway Station. When staying in Paharganj, the international budget traveler's street by the station, it can take upwards of a half an hour to make one's way three hundred yards through the ocean of people to get to one's train. I enjoy saying about India (the cities anyway), people, more people than you could ever imagine.

[Hamburger Time]

02:36 PM on 10/31/2011

The planet could easily accommodate more people if it's resources weren't monopolized by sociopaths.

This 7 billion hullabaloo is meant to make individuals despise themselves and humanity instead of identifying the real problem -the people in charge.

[Neli Borba]

02:45 AM on 11/01/2011

Right you are. Thank you.

[NevaforLeadership]

06:48 AM on 11/01/2011

I urge you to watch the documentary, "Home." Just google "You Tube Home" and it should take you directly to the English version narrated by Glenn Close. The photography is spectacularly beautiful, the message dire. It is life changing. People are changed after they watch it.

You will not post such things as "7 billion hullabaloo" again, guaranteed. If you have children, or plan to have children, it is that much more important to watch this documentary to visually understand the impact of human density on this finite planet with LIMITED FINITE resources.

Human density is the root cause of just about every problem we have today. Ignore it at our peril.

[ThierryGhi]

02:29 PM on 10/31/2011

Humans are the cancer of the world, the cancer keeps spreading thanks to human greed. The question is: will the cancer win and kill the planet, or will the planet get rid of the cancer? In both cases, humans loose anyway.

[GCurry]

01:51 PM on 10/31/2011

IMHO, 7B people on the planet is nothing to celebrate at all. Humanity is not a good steward of the planet. We exploit abundance until it's scarcity. Worse, the exploitation is driven by greed. The planet is warming. The seas are dying. We are stripping its resources, then we'll start to kill it. Humanity is not capable of a sustainable vision, from its governments. Greed and power will always subvert that.

Unfortunately the only way that earth can defend herself against us is to decimate us, or more likely, let us do it to ourselves.

[imonlyhereforthelaughs]

01:16 PM on 10/31/2011

Interestingly, the advance of medical treatments for women and children are the exact reason the population is bloating in the first place. At one time, many children did not survive to breeding age. Likewise, many women did not survive childbirth, thus eliminating them from any further additions to the population. Now that we have come so far with both medical care for women and children, our population is becoming a burden. Men took care of their own mortality in years past (aside from the sicknesses that got everyone) by heading off to war and killing each other.

[AmericaninIndia]

01:08 PM on 10/31/2011

Two excellent books to read: Jared Diamond's _Collapse_. In it, he cites the 5 key factors to predict an eminent collapse (or survival) of any civilization:

1. Human impact on the environment and resources
2. Climate change
3. Relations with other friendly societies
4. Relations with hostile societies
5. Political, economic and social factors in society to enable it to see and solve problems

He writes about various cultures in our past which have collapsed, and what precipitated the collapse.

Secondly, an excellent work of fiction by Larry Niven: _Lucifer's Hammer_. In this book, he shows how every modern society is within 72 hours of collapse. With the impact of a comet, he shows how quickly everything breaks down (no power, transportation disrupted, etc.). It doesn't take long for people to start looting and then killing each other. A very very interesting (if not terrifying) look at human society in the face of disaster.

I recommend these two books to anyone who is interested in understanding how delicate and tenuous our modern civilization really is.

[gx5000]

01:18 PM on 10/31/2011

Just remember that Lucifer's Hammer was a work of Science Fiction (enjoyed the read back then). Not to say there aren't realities which we should ignore, but we're doing so well ignoring Climtae change and pollution levels, why worry about the population ? (sarcasm).

The point I would like to make is that this Reality is just going to end up becoming another talking point for the fear mongers making sure they cut back on every possible service and relief effort in any industrialized country.

[EsotericMystic]

03:08 PM on 10/31/2011

gx5000

Bingo!


Another point: "fear mongering' is the key. If society can be kept in fear - they then give up hope. On a massive scale many people do not realize just how much they are being manipulated. When in fear peoples guards/defenses/survivable instincts are at an all time low. Energy is being s.u.c.k.e.d right out of people by people who are under the control to the dark and s.a.t.a.n.i.c side and they don't even realize it. That's why it's important to be happy not matter how emotionally low one feels. Fake happiness's - before too long you will realize that you are happy the euphoric emotional feeling becomes second nature before long. People are to attached to material things and the "controller" know it.

People have not yet realize that the battle is on for the soul of humankind. Let go the material stuff and or at least do not become to attached to them - they can be take away at the drop of a hat.


Check out this site if and when you get a chance. (Collective weather related events around the world - something that the mainstream media does not report)

http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/

[AmericaninIndia]

08:38 AM on 11/02/2011

Good point! Yes, generally we do ignore the larger issues as we go about our day-to-day lives. We observe the artificially binary discussion (climate change vs. nuts; evolution vs. kooks; science vs. ignorance, etc.) and we remain paralyzed, since it looks like these are even-sided debates. They're not.

Yes, fear is a powerfully manipulative tool. I truly wonder if we'll be able to transcend these limitations and, as a civilization, take real steps to mitigate the risk of ecological collapse.

[gx5000]

01:20 PM on 10/31/2011

Oh and one more thing, it's probably going to be a Soylent Green, Blade Runner or Idiocracy Society in the end, but we'll be long gone by then...(not talking about the food, but the society we see around the principle actors).

Cheers.

[marjoriedevine]

07:36 PM on 10/31/2011

You forgot, "ON THE BEACH"

[Norma Ward]

12:33 PM on 10/31/2011

Here is what the United Nations predicts for the world's population in the year 2100:

http://viableopposition.blogspot.com/2011/05/ten-billion-of-us-in-2100-un-world.html

One has to wonder if there will be enough of the world's commodities to support a population of that size without the issue of major geopolitical conflict, particularly over potable water.