On November 15th of 2022, the Earth reached the population milestone of 8 billion people. With 2023 fast approaching, it’s important to explore what this means for the present so we can go toward a better future. To help us gather some insight, we have quotes from credible people who can provide expert commentary on 2022 and what it means for the years ahead. António Guterres: United Nations Secretary-General of 2022 talked about our milestone by saying that it, “is an occasion to celebrate diversity and advancements while considering humanity’s shared responsibility for the planet.”
Dr. Mrittika Shamsuddin: Instructor of Development Economics at Dalhousie University had commented not only this year but a statement about humanity in general: “Humankind has made tremendous progress, with more and more people coming out of poverty and hunger in the midst of population growth. However, rapid population growth might lead to congestion, depletion of non-renewable resources, deforestation, pollution, and hence global warming.”
The final expert that gave a quote was Dr. Liz Allen: ANU researcher and demographer who gave some thoughtful insight on population growth: “Population growth or decline aren’t in and of themselves bad things. The key issue is how a population is functioning, and this often gets boiled down to the proportion of the population which is of working age.”
