Worlds population reaches 7 billion: UN report

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Worlds population reaches 7 billion: UN report

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The United Nations estimates that the world population will pass seven billion by October 31.

26 October,2011 06:59 am

The United Nations will warn this week that the worlds population could more than double to 15billion by the end of this century, putting a catastrophic strain on the planets resources unless urgent action is taken to curb growth rates.That figure is likely to shock many experts as it is far higher than many current estimates. A previous UN estimate had expected the world to have more than 10billion people by 2100; there are nearly 7 billion.The new figure is contained in a landmark study by the United Nations Population Fund to be published worldwide this week.The report, The State of World Population 2011, is being compiled to mark the expected moment this month when someone will take the world population over the seven billion mark.Some experts reacted with shock to the figure. Roger Martin, chairman of Population Matters, which campaigns on population control, said that the Earth was entering a dangerous new phase.Our planet is approaching a perfect storm of population growth, climate change and peak oil, he said. The planet is not actually sustaining seven billion people.The Earth has now doubled in population since the 1960s, boosted by high birthrates in Africa, Asia and Latin America as the spread of medicine and better health care has seen the mortality rate for young children decline.This has easily offset the general decline in the birthrate of advanced countries. It has also been boosted by an increase in lifespans of people across the world.Some experts reacted with scepticism that the population would really hit the upper end of the predicted spectrum of growth and reach 15billion so quickly.Professor Jack Goldstone of George Mason University, author of The New Population Bomb, said that he thought world leaders would act to ensure the Earths population would start to plateau below that higher level.The means and the desire to reduce the number of children people have is spreading around the world, he said. A level of 10-12billion by 2100 was more likely.