The most important thing on this list is misleading
Lots of people say this about population growth don’t they? They write it in bestselling books and technically it’s true, but it gives the impression that global population is scarily out of control. And that’s very misleading.
The rate of population growth is going down. It peaked in 1963 at 2.2% per year and is now at 1.05% per year. In other words, quite soon, the population of the world will stop growing. It’s estimated to peak at about 10 billion before levelling off, at which point it might well start shrinking.
This should be common knowledge, because knowing it changes the frame through which we look at so many of the world’s challenges.
A false belief that the rate of population growth is increasing can lead to all sorts of terrible decisions.
I’m not going to say who wrote this list; there is no need to dig them out; they most likely made an innocent mistake, which I’m sure someone has already told them*.
The trouble is it’s in a recent and bestselling book, and that’s what worries me - the more this myth spreads, the more oxygen it gives those who seek to blame the world’s problems on population growth.
Population growth is happening, but the rate at which it is happening is slowing down.
Instead of worrying about population growth, we should be celebrating the consistent fall in its rate of growth and spend our time figuring out how a steady-state global population of ~ 10 billion people can live sustainably and peacefully on planet Earth.
*If you recognise this list and who wrote it, please keep that info to yourself - there’s really no need to post this article on Twitter with the author tagged in. Be kind, it’s nearly Christmas.