World’s Population Hits Record 8 Billion As Planet Boils
The world’s population will reach 8,019,876,189 on January 1st. It has increased by 75,162,541 over the course of 2023, according to the US Census. Temperature change, a primary cause of the climate crisis, has been tracked by scientists starting from a calendar date at the start of the Industrial Revolution, which began in 1850. The world’s population then was well below one billion. The match between the population and temperature is not linear, but there is almost no argument that population growth causes an increase in temperature worldwide. An enormous financial cost accompanies this increase in population.
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The earth’s average surface temperature has risen 1.1 degrees C since 1850. “This historic trend of global warming is a clear signal that human emissions of greenhouse gases are changing the planet’s climate,” according to Imperial College of London research.
An increase of 1.5 degrees C measured from the same starting date on the calendar is often called the “point of no return,” at which time human efforts to stop global warming can no longer be effective, MIT experts recently commented. The ability to stay below this number will cost about $63 trillion over the next 35 years. The size of the world’s population will make reaching this number more difficult. The UN’s estimate for the global population in 2050 is 9.7 billion. Add to this data projecting 2024 to be the hottest year on record and skepticism about COP28 pledges. These make the goal of staying below 1.5 degrees C much more difficult.
The growing size of the global population, along with rising temperatures, poses another grave threat. The number of people needing to relocate due to climate crises will rise. The Climate Central Climate Change Index identifies areas most at risk for global warming, with concentrations in India, western Africa, Southeast Asia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Brazil, and Kazakhstan. African countries highlighted by this map have some of the fastest population growth in the world. Based on a raw count of people, so is India, which already has 1.4 billion residents.
One recent study forecast that three billion people will live in areas too hot for human survival by 2050. Moving those people will be too difficult logistically, and any group, individual country, or collection of nations could never underwrite the cost of such a relocation.
The population link with rising temperatures has been in place for two centuries. Over the next three decades, it will get much worse.
