The world's population hit a huge $ 7 billion

The world's population hit a huge $ 7 billion, and the researchers suggest it could reach 10 billion in the next century. On the one hand, this means that we are a success - after all, the goal of any species is to develop and conquer. On the other hand, all that expansion means more mouths to feed, which requires more space and energy, which increases the demand on resources and the environment, perhaps too much demand for the Earth to support.

So little mysteries of life asks: How can we stop this growth? Should there be a world-child policy, like that applied in China?

One child per family

In 1979, in response to two decades of rapid population growth, the Chinese government announced a policy limiting each family to one child (although there are exceptions). The concern was that if growth continued at such a rate, it would be a crushing burden to society and the economy. [How many people can support the world?]

In terms of limiting population growth, the policy was a success, cutting the population of China by 250 million to 300 million people around, according to Chinese authorities. But this success has its price. Reports of abortion and forced sterilization abound. And, because of a preference for male children in China, selective abortions have skewed birth rates in the country male-female ratio from the natural biological from 105 to 100 to 121 to 100, resulting in millions of young men of women. Socially, the consequences range from mental health problems in the abduction and trafficking of women for marriage.

Social issues aside, is a world-child policy makes sense?

"I do not think it's a good idea, frankly," said John Bongaarts, vice president of the Population Council, an NGO non-profit global. "First of all, no one will accept it. There was an outcry on the one-child policy in China as coercive and is not a single person I know who support it. In addition, You do not really want the fertility decline to a child per woman, because you are in the same problems that Japan now, and nobody wants that. "



Aging population

The world's population could be growing, with a total fertility of 2.5 births per woman, but it is not increased at an even more worldwide. Fertility rates in Japan and throughout Europe, for example, are very low, only 1.4 and 1.6 births per woman, respectively. In other areas, the rates are high, particularly in Africa (4.7) and parts of Asia and Latin America. The United States is somewhere in the middle (2.1).

The problem of low fertility rates - those rates so low that they will not replace the current population - is that there are people much older than the young, which means that there a greater burden on young financially and socially support their elders. Japan is currently struggling with this, and China is about a decade away from facing a similar situation, Bongaarts said. If the fertility rate worldwide has fallen to only one birth per woman, it could destabilize society and the global economy. [Eat Old: Can Solve Mass Cannibalism future food shortages?]

And, once a model low fertility begins, it is difficult to reverse. "Demography is not like a tap, unfortunately. It's not like turning on and off the water, "said George Leeson, a demographer at the Oxford Institute of Ageing of the population. "Once you close the tap can be difficult to run again."

Education and birth control

Rather than one child policy, Bongaarts recommends a three-pronged approach to reduce fertility rates that are at unsustainable levels, and suggests that governments should adopt policies that support it. First, he says, is to contraceptives there and educate women about what they are and how they work.

Then comes education: building schools and the introduction of incentives to keep girls in school is key, such as women with higher levels of education tend to have fewer children ( although recent research suggests that having children can affect the level of education, and not vice versa). And finally, Bongaarts suggests a delay in childbearing, which he says may limit the options of a mother if she comes at too early an age.

There may be other solutions that are not yet clear to us, but that can only come from our technologies and increase the collective knowledge. "I think if you look at history, there are a lot of comfort to have," said Leeson. "Historically, demographically, there have been equally difficult situations, which humanity has faced and conquered and evolved. And I'm sure the matter will be the same here. "