Africa population tops a billion

[pampango]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8366591.stm

The number of people in Africa has passed the one billion mark, the UN Population Fund says in a report.

"Africa countries are all growing fast... because there is large number of women who have no access to planning their families," she said.

"It's an African phenomenon of a large growing population and a large percentage of young people in the population," she told the BBC's Network Africa programme.

In its State of the World Report, the UNPF says the world's population currently stands at about 6.8 billion. Africa's population is estimated to reach 1.9 billion by 2050, it says.

[NYC_SKP]

1. 1.9 billion in 40 years?

Population growth world-wide, not just in Africa, is frightening.

:scared:

What is the carrying capacity of planet Earth?

[Richard D]

2. Less than are here now n/t

[The2ndWheel]

3. We wouldn't have as many people as we do if it couldn't carry us

Though we only have this many people because we manipulate the circumstances so much. So, there will be less of something, somewhere, if there are more of us.

[NYC_SKP]

5. Carrying Capacity:

(emphasis added)

Carrying capacity

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The carrying capacity of a biological species in an environment is the population size of the species that the environment can sustain indefinitely, given the food, habitat, water and other necessities available in the environment. For the human population, more complex variables such as sanitation and medical care are sometimes considered as part of the necessary infrastructure.

As population density increases, birth rate often increases and death rate typically decreases. The difference between the birth rate and the death rate is the "natural increase". The carrying capacity could support a positive natural increase, or could require a negative natural increase. Thus, the carrying capacity is the number of individuals an environment can support without significant negative impacts to the given organism and its environment. Below carrying capacity, populations typically increase, while above, they typically decrease. A factor that keeps population size at equilibrium is known as a regulating factor. Population size decreases above carrying capacity due to a range of factors depending on the species concerned, but can include insufficient space, food supply, or sunlight. The carrying capacity of an environment may vary for different species and may change over time due to a variety of factors, including: food availability, water supply, environmental conditions and living space.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrying_capacity

[The2ndWheel]

7. "Though we only have this many people because we manipulate the circumstances so much."

Our population size hasn't been sustainable for a long time. If we stopped manipulating the circumstances in which we live, we wouldn't have this many people. Since we won't stop doing that voluntarily, we're going to force our environment to conform to our size, to whatever end that may lead to.

[Richard D]

6. Well . . .

You have to take into account that we are living on deficit spending of the environment; literally living on oil and other natural resources that are finite. Oil is running out as are many other resources that are being used far faster than they can be replaced by natural cycles. I shudder to think of the consequences of that eventual occurrence. That's why I said we're exceeding our carrying capacity. It's working (very sort of) now, but it's like taking money out of the bank way faster than it's being replenished. Eventually it's gone and then what?

[The2ndWheel]

8. Absolutely

We just wouldn't have almost 7 billion people today if we couldn't have almost 7 billion people today. We keep making it possible to have this many people, regardless of the overall cost, because what else are we going to do? Every institution we've built is designed to allow more people to do more things. When we can't have this many people, we won't have this many people.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

4. I read somewhere...

That Africa was not densely populated, given its size. That was only a few years ago.