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Can the planet handle more than seven billion humans?
October 27, 2011 |
Features
A mere 12 years after surmounting six billion, the world's population will reach seven billion, according to the U.N. But that rate seems to be slowing
Features
There's no way that anyone could pinpoint which baby became the seven billionth person living on Earth. The uncertainties in measurement are simply too huge
Interactive Features
Five steps, reflected in the maps below, could be taken to help feed the large population predicted for 2050 as well as reduce the sizeable harm agriculture imposes
60-Second Science
The Rockefeller University's Joel Cohen noted at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science that the question of Earth's human-carrying capacity depends on how we're being carried. Steve Mirsky reports
Solving climate change, the Sixth Great Extinction and population growth... at the same time
Two typical German shepherds kept as pets in Europe or the U.S. consume more in a year than the average person living in Bangladesh
Scientists propose a list of planetary boundaries for human impacts ranging from biodiversity loss to the global nitrogen cycle
The human enterprise now consumes nearly 60 billion metric tons of minerals, ores, fossil fuels and plant materials
Human activity is responsible for a sixth extinction of thousands of species, so Paul Ehrlich and a colleague call for educating women to slow population growth
Some researchers think our tendency for explosive population growth and concentration helped us seize the future from the Neandertals
The nine billion people expected by 2050 will stress the planet, but cost-effective means can prevent overpopulation
Changing the peak population number alone could save at least 1.4 billion metric tons of carbon from entering the atmosphere each year by 2050
Population growth, now at roughly 78 million extra people per year, is the don't-go-there zone of modern environmentalism and political discourse
Booming population growth among the living, according to one rumor, outpaces the dead
A five-step global plan could double food production by 2050 while greatly reducing environmental damage
A technology originally developed for maritime navigation and detection has become the dominant method for sex selection
The population bomb is being defused. It is being done without draconian measures by big government, without crackdowns on our liberties--by women making their own choices
Slowing the rise in human numbers is essential for the planet--but it doesn't require population control
Our numbers continue to swell, life expectancy is on the rise, child mortality is declining, and the rising tide of economic growth is lifting most boats
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