On Tuesday, November 15th the United Nations announced the world’s population has reached 8 billion, however, this is not an exact number as there is no official count, but the UN said that their projections crossed the line on Tuesday. The growth rate is expected to slow globally as the coming decades pass, but, this isn’t a great thing. Slowing growth rates in large nations such as China and the US have caused some alarm, as it threatens to alter their societies and the rising birth rates in poorer countries threaten to strain their systems that have already been struggling. 

The fertility rate has also dropped globally, with high-income nations having the number of people under the age of 65 expected to decline in the coming years. In poorer countries, the fertility rate has remained high, with women and girls lacking access to reproductive healthcare. The United Nations said in a statement on the site: “Meeting the needs  — including education, public health, employment, and water and sanitation — created by that growth will require a significant increase in public expenditures.”

The environmental impact of the growing population has helped increase fuel consumption at what experts say is an ‘unsustainable pace’. This has contributed to environmental challenges such as climate change, deforestation, and the loss of biodiversity. Lower-income countries with concentrated population growth however have contributed far less to climate change than those of higher income, still, as the poorer populations grow, their energy consumption will also need to grow if they are to economically develop.