The challenges and opportunities that come with population growth and seven billion people

SALT LAKE CITY — When babies are in the news, like Danica May Camacho of Manila was earlier this week, it's usually not associated with the end of the world. But over the last few weeks, talk of the apocalypse has been tied the fact that there are now seven billion people on the Earth, after Danica and a few others were born on October 31.

Doomsday predictions have gone hand in hand with population growth since Thomas Malthus declared in 1798 that "the power of population is indefinitely greater than the power in the earth to produce subsistence for man." But this time around, the discussion is split: Is the world about to end because of too many babies? Or too few?

The United Nations population division announced recently that the world's seven billionth person would be born on October 31st of this year. This declaration and its ensuing coverage have brought the subject of the global population and its implications to the fore.

But has the world even reached 7 billion people yet?

That's a question that's currently under debate, as other organizations are arguing that the UN's October 31st designation is premature. BBC News reports that the US Census Bureau estimates the world reaching the seven billion mark in March or April of 2012, six months from now. The UN itself recognizes that due to a 1-2 percent margin of error, the current population could in fact be 56 million above or below seven billion.

Whether or not the exact number has in fact been surpassed, the UN's declaration has provided a venue to examine the effects of the world's changing population and demographics upon our present and future.

For some, the commemoration of the seven billionth living person is a reminder of the Malthusian challenges that come with an ever-expanding population.

According to a recent Reuters report, these challenges will include climate change, food shortages and overcrowded urban areas. About 925 million people already suffer from hunger, Reuters says, and rates of food production will need to increase by 70 percent in order to keep up with continued growth.

Robert Engelman of the The Guardian added to the list of concerns: "Fresh water is now shared so thinly that the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) projects that in just 14 years two thirds of the world's population will be living in countries facing water scarcity or stress. Half of the world's original forests have been cleared for human land use, and UNEP warns that the world's fisheries will be effectively depleted by mid-century."