July 11 was World Population Day and those of us here at The 9 Billion, a site named after the expected population level by the year 2050, went ahead and missed the day. Oh, irony.
Since July 11, 1987, this day each year has been known as World Population Day. It started as “the day of 5 billion,†and continued on each year as a way to track world population and bring light to population growth trends and issues related to it.
The irony of us skipping World Population Day goes hand in hand with the fact that so many of us go on with our daily lives without thinking about or noticing the world population increasing, despite the fact that it is growing at a very rapid pace.
If we want to sustain the Earth and maintain a healthy planet with 9 billion people living here, we will certainly have to take action in our own lives to provide and maintain a clean and healthy living space for future generations. Not to mention the fact that many of us may still be alive in 2050.
It took about 200,000 years to reach 5 billion humans, and only 24 additional years to add 2 billion more. The world is expected to reach 7 billion people by October of this year, with a large portion of couples soon to be reaching their reproductive years.
While 7 billion shows that people are also living healthier and longer lives than they were even just 50 years ago, it still brings light to the fact that we need to count each other in our thoughts and think globally as well as locally in regards to everything we do.
There is still one important thing to keep in mind day after day: whether we’re driving our cars, buying groceries, blasting our air conditioning or shopping for clothes, we’re not just affecting us, we’re affecting almost 7 billion other people as well.
Image CC licensed by bjaglin: Crowded street
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