Some time yesterday the Earth’s population passed 8 billion, according to the United Nations. It means the number of people in the world has more than tripled in the past 70 years and comes only 11 years after the figure hit 7 billion.
The UN attributes the growth to human development, with people living longer thanks to improvements in nutrition, personal hygiene, and medicine.
Improvements in public health have also led to longer lifespans. Women, on average, are doing better on that score than men. Women born in 2019 had an average life expectancy of 73.8 years, whereas for men it was 68.4 years.
By 1804 the population reached a billion, but it really took off during the 20th century: from 1.6 billion to 5 billion by 1987,
and 6 billion by 1998. It projected the world’s population will reach around 8.5 billion in 2030, 9.7 billion in 2050 and 10.4
billion in 2100.
Esta historia es de la edición November 16, 2022 de The Independent.
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