VIEW: EARTH CAN SUPPORT EVEN BIGGER POPULATION
Researchers recently announced the earth could actually withstand up to 200,000 times the current population. They arrived at this figure by calculating the amount of heat a human body emits, and only at 1.3 million billion would the earth be too hot to be habitable. And though it would feel like being in a can of sardines if that figure were ever reached, the earth is capable of comfortably sustaining a population several times the current 6.5 billion.
In fact, fertility is actually on the decline worldwide. Though population has grown, the rate of growth has fallen sharply. Twenty years ago, the UN projected that population would reach 11.16 billion in 2050, today they say it will reach only 9.37 billion. Moreover, human population will stabilize at about 11.5 billion. While this figure is almost twice the current one, it is hardly claustrophobic.
True, the demands on resources are heavy even now, but this is more due to the manner in which these resources are being used. In fact, figures show that a bigger population does not amount to greater consumption. Over 20% of the world's people in the highest-income countries account for 86% of total private consumption expenditure — the poorest 20% a tiny 1.3%. With just 5% of the world's population, the US consumes about 40% of the world's resources. Would you say the US is overpopulated? Concerns on scarcity of food are equally baseless.
In fact, global food production has actually kept up with population growth. If people starve in many countries it is not because food is becoming scarce; it is because those people cannot afford it. We imagine the prospect of a bigger population only in terms of the lifestyle and technology of today. By 2050, or even 10 years from now, technology and even human bodies will have done much to adapt and innovate from the resources available, and made more inventions for sustenance and comfort.
Questions:
1. How much population can the earth withstand?
2. Though population has grown, what has fallen sharply?
3. What is the text about?
4. What is the current human population on earth?
5. What has been the most publicized technological development?
6. How many storied buildings are predicted?
7. Does the future look bright? Explain.
