World Population Day

            The United Nations has designated July 11 each year as World Population Day.  This date was chosen in 1990 because it was the anniversary of the Day of Five Billion, when the world’s human population was estimated to have reached five billion individuals in 1989.  Total world population in mid-2020 is around 7.6 billion people.

The earth now holds about 7.6 billion people (photo by Jubair Sayeed Linas)

World Population Day is organized by the United Nations Population Fund, the primary global agency dedicated to reducing population growth by enhancing women’s health.  Each year, the organization chooses a theme to highlight critical issues.  In 2017, the theme was family planning, in recognition that “around the world, some 214 million women in developing countries who want to avoid pregnancy are not using safe and effective family planning methods, for reasons ranging from lack of access to information or services to lack of support from their partners or communities.” 

Global population continues to rise, but the rate of growth is declining (graph by Frank Gotmark)

            Human population became a societal issue in the 1960s when the reality of rapid growth collided with fears about the ability of the earth to sustain large populations.  Books like Paul Ehrlich’s The Population Bomb, published in 1969, predicted massive famine in the 1970s and the total collapse of India. 

            Fortunately, the dire predictions of the 1960s have not occurred.  With increases in agricultural productivity and improved health in developing countries, population growth rates have fallen—perhaps a counter-intuitive outcome.  But when quality of life improves, birth rates gradually decline.  In the 1960s, the earth’s human population was expected to reach 15 billion individuals before stabilizing.  Today, the stable population is predicted to be about 11 billion.

Providing education for girls in the developing world is the surest way to reduce population growth (photo by Amuzujoe)

            Despite this improvement, population continues to grow.  The Day of Six Billion occurred on October 12, 1999, and the Day of Seven Billion on October 31, 2011. Each year, we add a net of about 80 million people to the earth—the equivalent of the country of Turkey.  Birth rates are highest in Africa, and the continent’s total population is expected to double, from 1.2 billion to 2.4 billion, over the coming generation. 

            Consequently, continued attention to the reduction of population growth rate is needed.  And the problem is a multi-faceted one, as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has stated:  “The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is the world’s blueprint for a better future for all on a healthy planet. On World Population Day, we recognize that this mission is closely interrelated with demographic trends including population growth, ageing, migration and urbanization.”

References:

Coleman, Jasmine.  2011.  World’s “Seven Billionth Bay” is Born.  The Guardian, 31 October 2011.  Available at:  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/oct/31/seven-billionth-baby-born-philippines.  Accessed July 11, 2017.

Sommerfeld, Julia.  1999.  World Population Hits 6 Billion.  NBC News.  Available at: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/3072068/ns/us_news-only/t/world-population-hits-billion/#.WWUb64TytEY.  Accessed July 11, 2017.

United Nations.  World Population Day, July 11.  Available at:  http://www.un.org/en/events/populationday/.  Accessed March 24, 2020.

United Nations Population Fund.  2017.  World Population Day, 11 July 2017.  Available at:  http://www.unfpa.org/events/world-population-day.

This Month in Conservation

March 1
Yellowstone National Park Established (1872)
March 2
Theodore Geisel, or Dr. Seuss, Born (1904)
March 3
World Wildlife Day and Creation of CITES (1973)
March 3
Isle Royale National Park Authorized (1931)
March 4
Hot Springs National Park Established (1921)
March 5
Lynn Margulis, Evolutionary Biologist, Born (1938)
March 6
Martha Burton Williamson, Pioneering Malacologist, Born (1843)
March 7
Luther Burbank Born (1849)
March 8
Everett Horton Patents the Telescoping Fishing Rod (1887)
March 9
The Turbot War Begins (1995)
March 10
Cape Lookout National Seashore Established (1966)
March 11
Save the Redwoods League Founded (1918)
March 12
Girl Scouts Founded (1912)
March 12
Charles Young, First African American National Park Superintendent, Born (1864)
March 13
National Elephant Day, Thailand
March 14
First National Wildlife Refuge Created (1903)
March 15
Harold L. Ickes, Secretary of the Interior, Born (1874)
March 16
Amoco Cadiz Runs Aground (1978)
March 17
St. Patrick and Ireland’s Snakes
March 18
Nation’s First Wildlife Refuge Created (1870)
March 19
When the Swallows Return to Capistrano
March 20
“Our Common Future” Published (1987)
March 21
International Day of Forests
March 22
World Water Day
March 23
Sitka National Historical Park Created (1910)
March 24
John Wesley Powell, Western Explorer, Born (1834)
March 25
Norman Borlaug, Father of the Green Revolution, Born (1914)
March 26
Marjorie Harris Carr, Pioneering Florida Conservationist, Born (1915)
March 26
Kruger National Park Established (1898)
March 27
Trans-Alaska Pipeline Begun (1975)
March 28
Joseph Bazalgette, London’s Sewer King, Born (1819)
March 29
Niagara Falls Stops Flowing (1848)
March 30
The United States Buys Alaska (1867)
March 31
Al Gore, Environmental Activist and U.S. Vice President, Born (1948)
January February March April May June July August September October November December