Child X will be born in 2011

Sometime next year the population of planet Earth will reach 7 billion. No one will know who the 7 billionth person is, but various organizations will no doubt publish a picture of an appropriate looking baby.

In a sobering assessment, William P. Butz, president of the Population Reference Bureau, said that “chronically low birthrates in developed countries are beginning to challenge the health and financial security of the elderly” at the same time that “developing countries are adding over 80 million to the population each year and the poorest of those countries are adding 20 million, exacerbating poverty and threatening the environment.”

Projections, especially over decades, are vulnerable to changes in immigration, retirement ages, birthrates, health care and other variables, but in releasing the bureau’s 2010 population data sheet, Carl Haub, its senior demographer, estimated this week that by 2050 the planet will be home to more than nine billion people.

Thanks to JEEFUS for the thought.