http://www.grist.org/population/2011-09-23-numbers-statistics-population-meet-your-7-billion-neighbors Yeah, yeah, you know -- the world population is hitting 7 billion this year. Here are some facts about the world's people that you might not already be familiar with.
50,000 -- years it took for the human population to reach 1 billion, in 1800 1
12 -- years it took to add the latest billion, in 2011 2
12 -- projected number of years it could take to add the next billion, by 2023 2
9.3 billion -- potential world population in 2050, according to the U.N.'s medium projection 3
10.1 billion -- potential world population in 2100, according to the U.N.'s medium projection 3
15.8 billion -- potential world population in 2100 if fertility rates don't fall as much as expected, according to the U.N.'s high projection 3
158 -- people added to the planet every minute (births minus deaths) 4
227,252 -- people added to the planet every day 4
82,947,000 -- people added to the planet every year 4
100-1,000 -- factor by which the extinction rate of species has increased since Homo sapiens came onto the scene 5
15-37 -- percentage of existing species expected to be pushed to extinction by 2050 because of human-driven climate change 6
60 -- percentage of key ecosystem services (freshwater, air and water purification, etc.) degraded or used unsustainably by humans over the last 50 years 7
350,000 -- number of Endangered Species Condoms the Center for Biological Diversity gave away in 2010 8
100,000 -- number of Endangered Species Condoms the center plans to give away this fall, with your help 8
5.0 -- number of children born to the average woman in 1950 9
2.5 -- number of children born to the average woman today 4, 9
2.0 -- number of children born to the average woman in the U.S. 4
0.9 -- number of children born to the average woman in Taiwan, the country with the world's lowest fertility rate 4
7.0 -- number of children born to the average woman in Niger, the country with the world's highest fertility rate 4
215 million -- number of women in the world who want to prevent or delay pregnancy but don't have access to modern contraception 10
$16.9 billion -- estimated annual cost of providing family-planning services to all women in developing countries 11
$20.8 billion -- amount Wall Street firms paid out in bonuses in 2010 12
1.25 billion -- number of people living in more developed countries 4
5.75 billion -- number of people living in less developed countries 4
100 -- percentage of future population growth expected to happen in less developed countries 13
1.35 billion -- population of China, the most populous nation on earth 4
1.24 billion -- population of India, the second most populous nation 4
312 million -- population of the U.S., the third most populous nation 4
4.5 -- percentage of world population living in the U.S. 14
18 -- percentage of global CO2 from fossil-fuel burning emitted in the U.S. 15
1 -- rank of the U.S. in terms of energy consumption 16
18 -- number of languages the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement website has been translated into 17
http://www.vhemt.org/0 -- chance of the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement achieving its goal
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Sources:
Hat tips to Vicky Markham and Laurie Mazur.
1. "What If Experts Are Wrong On World Population Growth?" by Carl Haub, Yale Environment 360.
http://e360.yale.edu/feature/what_if_experts_are_wrong_on_world_population_growth/2444/ "Scientists Rough Out Humanity's 50,000-Year-
Old Story," by Nicholas Wade, New York Times Learning Network.
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/featured_articles/20001115wednesday.html 2. "Population Bulletin: The World at 7 Billion," Population Reference Bureau.
http://www.prb.org/Publications/Datasheets/2011/world-population-data-sheet/population-bulletin.aspx 3. "World Population to Reach 10 Billion by 2100 if Fertility in All Countries Converges to Replacement Level" [PDF], United Nations.
http://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/Other-Information/Press_Release_WPP2010.pdf 4. "2011 World Population Data Sheet," Population Reference Bureau.
http://www.prb.org/Publications/Datasheets/2011/world-population-data-sheet/data-sheet.aspx 5. "Humans driving extinction faster than species can evolve, say experts," by Juliette Jowit, The Guardian.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/mar/07/extinction-species-evolve 6. "Extinction risk from climate change," by Chris D. Thomas et al., Nature.
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v427/n6970/abs/nature02121.html 7. "Ecosystems and Human Well-Being: Synthesis" [PDF], Millenium Ecosystem Assessment.
http://millenniumassessment.org/documents/document.356.aspx.pdf 8. "Endangered Species Condoms," Center for Biological Diversity.
http://www.endangeredspeciescondoms.com/ 9. "9 Billion?" by Leslie Roberts, Science.
http://video.sciencemag.org/SciOriginals/1084573072001/1 10. "Facts on Investing in Family Planning and Maternal and Newborn Health" [PDF], Guttmacher Institute.
http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/FB-AIU-summary.pdf 11. "Population policies, programmes and the environment,
" by J. Joseph Speidel et al., Philosophical Transactions B. Correspondence with J. Joseph Speidel, August 2011.
http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/364/1532/3049.short 12. "Wall Street bonuses," The Economist.
http://www.economist.com/node/18231330"Wall Street Cash Bonuses Fall, Despite Strong Profit," by Brett Philbin, The Wall Street Journal.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703775704576162731016064512.html 13. "Rapid Growth in Less Developed Regions," United Nations Population Fund.
http://www.unfpa.org/pds/trends.htm 14. "U.S. and World Population Clocks," U.S. Census Bureau.
http://www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html 15. "List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions," Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_carbon_dioxide_emissions 16. The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_carbon_dioxide_emissions 17. Voluntary Human Extinction Movement website.
http://www.vhemt.org/Augie
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