The world population reached 8 billion in mid-November 2022, and it was only 2.5 billion in 1950, which is 3 times the world population than it was in the mid-20th century.

The world's population is expected to increase by about 30 billion people in the next 9 years to reach 7.2050 billion in 10. The projected peak in the world's human population could reach 4.<> billion people in the mid-<>s, the United Nations said in a report last year.

On the ground, the world has witnessed tremendous growth in population size over the past decades, with the Earth's population increasing by about one billion people since 2010 and two billion people since 1998.

This exponential growth was largely driven by the increasing number of people who survived to reproductive age, and the increase in human life span thanks to medical advances and improved healthcare systems in various countries.

About 83 million people are added to the world's population annually (Shutterstock)

This growth has also been accompanied by significant changes in the fertility rate of humans, especially in poorer countries, where global population growth is increasingly concentrated in the world's poorest countries, most of which are located in sub-Saharan Africa, and these trends will have far-reaching implications for future generations, according to the United Nations in its report.

India beats China

In India and China, the two most populous countries in the world, India will overtake China this year 2023 to become the world's most populous country, CNN reported recently.

The likelihood of India overtaking China rose within a few months, when China reported that its population shrank in 2022 for the first time in more than 60 years. The shift will have significant economic repercussions for both Asian giants, each with a population of more than 1.4 billion.

Observers speak of what they call a "real population bomb" that will significantly affect all aspects of political, economic, social, food and environmental life.

Once demographic inflation is overcome, the pressure on nature and climate will ease (Shutterstock)

Is the population bomb inevitable or is it exaggerated?

According to a new scientific study issued by the "Club of Rome" recently and published by the British newspaper "The Guardian" the most important of what was mentioned in it, this bomb may never explode, as the study found that humanity will reach its peak in less time and faster than expected.

The Club of Rome is a Swiss-based non-governmental think tank that brings together economists, scientists and politicians from different countries who share common interests in global challenges such as population growth and global warming.

The study predicts that the world's population will reach 8.8 billion before mid-century, then decline rapidly, and the peak could come earlier if governments take concrete steps to raise average income and education levels.

These new projections hold good news for the global environment at all levels: once demographic inflation is overcome, the pressure on nature and climate, as well as the associated social and political tensions, will recede.

The danger of overconsumption on the planet

The study warned that low birth rates alone will not solve the environmental problems facing the planet and its population, real and serious problems that result primarily from the excessive consumption of a wealthy minority, as a declining population could create new problems, such as shrinking workforce and increasing pressure on age-related health care, which countries such as Japan and South Korea are already experiencing.

Ben Caligari, one of the researchers involved in the study, said: "The results were encouraging, but we still face significant challenges from an environmental perspective. "We need a lot of effort to address the current development model of overconsumption and overproduction, which are bigger problems than the increase in the earth's population."

Fewer people on the planet mean lower carbon emissions and less pressure on global food systems (Shutterstock)

The new study was conducted by Earth4All, a group of leading environmental and economic science institutions including the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact, the Stockholm Resilience Centre and the BI Norwegian Business School, which was commissioned by the Club of Rome to study global population growth more than 50 years ago.

The study predicts that current policies will be sufficient to limit global population growth to less than 9 billion people in 2046 and then fall to 7.3 billion in 2100, but warns that this is "too late, as although this scenario will not lead to a global total environmental or climate collapse, the likelihood of regional societal collapses rises over the decades and into 2050, as a result of deepening social divisions within countries and societies, as well as between them."

Another scenario cited by the study is more optimistic, with governments around the world raising taxes on the wealthy to invest in education and social services and improving social equality among the population, with the planet's population estimated to reach 8.5 billion as early as 2040 and then fall to about 6 billion in 2100.

Under this trajectory, researchers predict significant gains for both humanity and the environment by mid-century, when greenhouse gas emissions will be almost 90 percent lower than in 2020, which will reduce global temperature by about <> degrees by reducing the carbon emissions of global industry.