World to Hit 7 Billion People This Year

Take THAT, nature.

The world's population is going to hit 7 billion later this year, and if we're on our best behaviour and avoid launching a nuclear war or drain the planet of all its resources by then, we'll probably surpass 10 billion by 2100. Harvard University demographic researchers published a study today looking at our ever-growing population, concluding that we'll have added a billion people to the planet between 1999, when we hit the 6 billion mark, and this fall. Nearly all (97 per cent) of population growth between now and 2050 will take place in the developing world, with 49 per cent occurring in Africa as developed countries get older and stagnate in natural growth. There are millions of variables at play in these projections, leading the authors to caution that by 2100, there could be as many as 15 billion or as few as 6.1 billion on the planet.