14 DAY TRIAL // Earth is already a fairly crowded place, what with the current global population revolving around 7.3 billion people. Still, it looks like things will very soon take a turn for the worse.
According to John R. Wilmoth, director of the United Nations Population Division, there will be around 9.7 billion people in the world by the year 2050. Then, by the turn of the century, this figure will soar to an astounding 11.2 billion.
Under an even gloomier scenario, it could increase to a whopping 13.3 billion, EurekAlert informs.
In the US alone, John R. Wilmoth expects the population will grow an average 1.4 million people per year and reach an impressive 450 million by 2100. It now stands at 322 million.
Still, it's not the US that will contribute the most to the predicted growth in the world's population. This role is reserved to Africa, whose population is expected to up from 1.2 billion to 3.4 billion - if not more - by the end of the century.
As for Asia, now home to 4.4 billion people and the world's most populous continent, John R. Wilmoth expects its population will first up to 5.3 billion by 2050 and then drop to 4.9 billion.
Whatever the exact figures turn out to be, having more people around will undoubtedly put more strain on global resources.