In 2011, it is estimated that the world’s population will reach seven billion people, leaving many families around the world at even greater risk of global health threats.
Earth - Home to nearly 7 billion people.
“It’s the consequence of two factors: rapid birthrates and urbanization,” says Werner Fornos, founder of Global Population Education and former laureate of the United Nations Population Award. “Bottom line is there are too many people and not enough resources.”
Fornos says there are proactive steps that can be taken to reverse rapid population growth such as empowering women.
The World Health Organization estimates that virtually all population growth over the next 30 years will be in urban areas. These numbers represent a paradigm shift in the global lifestyle because, for the first time in history, over half of the world’s population will reside in cities.
“Urban areas were once thought of as centralized hubs of wealth, employment and community services,” says Fornos. “But now, rapid population growth purges these resources and promotes a breeding ground for diseases, high unemployment and unsustainability.”
The world’s total population is currently estimated at 6.9 billion people (Source: Population Reference Bureau), and growing at a rate of 75.5 million people per year (Source: US Census Bureau). The most populous country is China with nearly 1.4 billion people, followed by India (1.2 billion people), United States (310 million people), Indonesia (235 million people) and Brazil (193 million people).
Tokyo is by far the largest metropolitan urban center with 37.7 million people, followed by Delhi (22.2 million), Sao Paulo (20.3 million), Mumbai (20 million), Mexico City (19.5 million) and New York-Newark (19.5 million). (Source: United Nations World Urbanization Prospects Report)
In today’s culture many may think women’s rights have become blasé, but actually Fornos says women’s rights around the world are an important indicator of understanding global well-being. Education and empowerment of women are proven to cut pregnancy rates in half and improve family health, which play a critical role in reversing rapid urbanization and the global population crisis.
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(Sources: Global Population Education, Inc., United Nations, Population Reference Bureau.)
