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According To The United Nations Population Fund, The World

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According to the United Nations Population Fund, the world population reached 7 billion on October 31, 2011. The previous milestone, the six billion mark, had been reached on October 12, 1999. This means that the number of inhabitants increased by one billion in only twelve years, that is, two million seven hundred thirty nine thousand seven hundred twenty six people per day. Although the growth rate has decreased from 2.08 percent in 1970 to 1.13 percent in 2016, by 2024 the population is expected to hit the eight billion mark. So, even with this deceleration in the growth rate, the increase of the human population poses a formidable challenge for the world 's natural resources. First, a growing population, albeit at a slower rate, …show more content…

On the other hand, the continent is facing an acute shortage of food and, base on the current trends, it will be able to satisfy only thirteen percent of its population 's food needs by 2050. Moreover, even in the eventuality that food production increases to the levels needed by 2050, studies suggest that without government intervention the needy and vulnerable could still be undernourished. It is calculated that sixty percent of the world 's chronically hungry people are women and girls, and twenty percent are children under five (WFP Gender Policy: Promoting Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women and Addressing Food and Nutrition Challenge). The fact that “...over eight hundred million people are considered food insecure and undernourished [suggest] abundant supply does not guarantee affordable access to food for all (Vos, 2015, FAO, Global Agriculture Towards 2015). Serious environmental problems are also looming in the horizon as a result of the demographic changes that have taken place worldwide. The volumes of waste product generated by the human society constitute a major environmental problem. In 2009, U.S. residents businesses, and institutions generated more than two hundred forty three million tons of municipal solid waste. Hazardous solid waste

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