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The Graphic Truth: 8 billion, but nowhere near equal

November 15, 2022
Carlos Santamaria
and
Paige Fusco
Infographic showing global lack of access to electricity, internet & water along with hunger below world's fastest-growing and most rapidly declining populations.
Paige Fusco

The world's population hit 8 billion on Tuesday, according to UN projections. So, why should you care about this particular milestone? For one thing, population growth is slowing down, which means it'll take longer to reach 9 billion. That’s mainly a result of declining birth rates in Europe and East Asia. For another, 8 billion humans are now competing for increasingly scarce resources and territory in a planet already suffering the effects of climate change. Meanwhile, countries in sub-Saharan Africa are still having babies like there's no tomorrow — precisely where people have the least access to basic stuff like food, electricity, the internet, or water.

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