Some time today Earth’s population is expected to pass eight billion, according to the United Nations, which will announce the milestone in events staged in New York and at the Cop27 climate conference in Egypt.
The figure, expected today according to projections by the UN Population Fund, has come thanks to longer lifespans and the rapid growth of some nations in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
It came only 11 years after the figure hit seven billion, but amid projections that this “unprecedented growth” was now slowing. There will not be nine billion people until 2037, according to the UN.
Its officials sought to cast it as a cause for celebration while at the same time issuing warnings of the challenges that lie ahead as humanity
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