The world population surpassed eight billion on Tuesday, the United Nations and several other news media outlets confirmed. Experts and statisticians pointed out that the population took 48 years to double – it was 4 billion in 1974 – and it is unlikely that the population will double again.
We will not reach 16 billion, or it is highly unlikely. Population will peak at 10 billion across the planet somewhere around this century and then population growth will plateau.
However, in the age of social media, there will be a lot of clamour to find out who is the planet’s eighth billion human. It may take some days to figure out which baby will be that celebrity but a report from the BBC found out the world’s fifth, sixth and seventh billion children and asked them how they feel about the earth they inherited.
Matej Gaspar, a Croatian, who is now 35-years-old is the world’s fifth-billion human, according to the BBC news agency. The news agency in a report said that Gaspar, now an engineer, is not particularly fond of the attention he has received for being a milestone of humanity. He likes living the quiet life and lives with his wife in Zagreb.
Bangladesh’s Sadia Sultana Oishee, the 11-year-old, who is the world’s seventh-billion child, is aware of her stardom. Even her family members consider her a lucky charm. She was born in 2011 and her parents narrate that her birth was no less than an event as politicians and TV crews gathered around her mother to catch a glimpse.
Sarajevo resident 23-year-old Adnan Mevic says he is worried about where the planet is headed. The sixth-billion human Mevic also gained celebrity status when he was born, as politicians and military officials gathered around the maternity ward to catch a glimpse of little Mevic.
Mevic was christened the world’s sixth-billion baby by then UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and his stardom also allowed him to meet his idol, footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, when he was 11.
The stories of these people and their loved ones goes on to show that across cultures children are seen as harbingers of hope and happiness, but parents across the world are also concerned about an ever uncertain future as the planet faces threats from wars, pandemics, hunger and climate change.
(with inputs from the BBC)
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