Center for Biological Diversity


For Immediate Release, July 29, 2015

Contact: Leigh Moyer, (520) 623-5252 x 313, lmoyer@biologicaldiversity.org 

United Nations: Human Population Will Hit 11 Billion by 2100

Unchecked Human Population Growth Means Disaster for Wildlife

TUCSON, Ariz.— A new revision to the United Nations’ World Population Prospects predicts that the world’s human population will reach 9.7 billion by 2050 and exceed 11 billion by 2100. The world’s current human population, 7.3 billion, is nearly double what it was in 1970.

“It’s no coincidence that we’re in the middle of a mass wildlife extinction crisis right as the world’s human population is going through the roof,” said Leigh Moyer, the Center for Biological Diversity’s population organizer. “The more people you add, the more demand you create for fossil fuels, timber, water, food and space. All of that ultimately leaves less room for wildlife and wild places.”

The report also projects that the population of the United States is likely to reach 389 million in 2050, growing by more than 200 million people since 1950.

“The population problem isn’t some abstract crisis. There’s a lot we can do right here in the U.S. to make a difference,” Moyer said. “Simply by being conscious of the impact human population growth has on the environment when planning our families — and the choices we make as consumers — we can start to turn those numbers around and reduce our footprints on the planet.”

The Center’s population and sustainability program promotes a range of solutions, including universal access to birth control and family planning, as well as education and empowerment of women and girls.

Among the ways the Center highlights the connection between human population growth and the wildlife extinction crisis issues is the distribution of free Endangered Species Condoms. More than 600,000 have been given away since 2009.

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 900,000 members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.


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