The UN have been discussing fertility in Africa recently and according to their latest report, detailed by Mongabay.com, high fertility in Africa could push the population of the world to 11 billion by 2100. The African continent could see another 3.1 billion increase in population from 1.1 billion currently to 4.2 billion by 2100. This would mean that Africa would account for about 75% of population increase of the world between now and 2100.
The UN has revised its population projections claiming that reproductive rates in Africa just aren’t falling. In 2011 they estimated 10.1 billion people by 2100 but since fertility rates have remained high it is now believed we are more likely to see 11 billion.
This rising population is very much framed in crisis terms because overpopulation in Africa could further exacerbate current problems such as poverty, food shortages and environmental degradation. Nigeria will see the greatest population increase this century to the tune of 500% by 2100, India is second while the USA is eighth. China on the other hand is expected to decline by about 20% while Eastern Europe, Russia, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Brazil and South East Asia are all also expected to decline.
“Right now, 222 million women in the developing world lack access to modern contraception. This has far-reaching consequences for their health, and their opportunities to get an education, earn an income, take care of their families, and determine their own futures,” said Suzanne Ehler, president of Population Action International, in a statement. “The fact that any woman does not have the tools to decide the size of her family is absurd. That 222 million women do not is a tragedy, and a huge opportunity for all of us to do more.”
Image courtesy of the UN
The earth is far to over populated at the moment but I somehow doubt I’ll be around come 2100 (if so, I’ll be close to 150) so I’m really not concerned although I hope my descendants have enough sense to get out of Africa. Judging from the map, Greenland looks pretty uninhabited at the moment (and they won’t even have to cart their fridges along with them). But what about global warming?