STONYBROOK, NY, Aug 2, 2001 (LSN.ca) – A study released in this week’s edition of Nature says that the human population will peak at about 9 billion by 2070 and begin a decline. The researchers criticized the population predictions of the United Nations which show no decline in sight.
Warren Sanderson, a professor of economics and history at State University of New York at Stonybrook and co-author of the study notes that a major flaw with the U.N.‘s findings is that their estimates assume fertility rates will not drop below 2.1 children per women. “The evidence shows women are already not having enough children to replace themselves,” says Sanderson. “We may as well wake up and smell the coffee and begin focusing on how to live sustainably with the number of people we will have in the next century.”
Sanderson predicts major crises over immigration and aging as populations in various countries decline and age without a sufficient younger generation for support.
See the full study from Nature and ABC News coverage: https://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nature/journal/v412/n6846/full/412543a0_fs.html https://dailynews.yahoo.com/htx/abc/20010801/ts/worldpopulation010801_1.html