Overpopulation, pollution and climate crisis
Humanity hit an alarming milestone on Nov. 15, 2022 when the world population reached 8 billion people.
Our rapid growth is unparalleled. The human population has doubled in the past 50 years and increased by 1 billion in just 11 years. Meanwhile wildlife populations have fallen by more than two-thirds. For example, since 1970, there are nearly 3 billion fewer birds in the United States and Canada, including common species like warblers and finches.
Adding more than 200,000 people to the planet every day comes at a steep cost: a worsening climate crisis, polluted air and water, ecosystems torn apart to make way for human development, oceans riddled with plastic, pesticides drenching the land, and plants and animals being pushed to the brink of extinction.
If we stay on this course, 1 million plant and animal species are on their way to extinction in the coming decades. But there’s still time for humankind to improve our relationship with nature and save these imperiled species.