Space for 8 Billion People

The human population has hit a new milestone, to the dismay of some. But the expansion of humanity should be a cause for celebration

This year, according to the UN, the 8 billionth living human was born. There are more people on this planet than ever, and the population is still growing. It will likely peak at around 10 billion people this century, then decline.

There has been some negative reaction to this milestone. Every time the subject of population comes up there are always those claiming it is already far too high, that there are too many mouths to feed, and not enough to go around. Famously Thomas Malthus in the 18th century predicted that the linear growth in agricultural output could never keep up with the exponential growth in population, and the result would always be famine. Malthus was proven wrong by events, and every similar prophet of population doom thus far has also been proven wrong. What has happened in every case is that technology has improved fast enough to not only support a rising population but also to increase living standards at the same time.

Recently environmental concerns have bought …