As the world welcomed the seven billionth baby to its ranks celebrations were tempered by worries over the strain a population boom will have on the world’s already depleted resources. But that didn’t stop the cakes the festivities and the international cameras. What will the world look like when the eighth millionths baby makes his entrance?
With over 300000 babies born every day no one could be sure that October 31 2011 would be the day the world’s population would hit seven billion. But that didn’t deter the United Nations General Secretary Ban Ki-moon from issuing internationally televised congratulations to Danica May Camancho weighing in at 5.5 pounds (2.5 kilograms) to a blitz of camera flashes in a hospital in Manila Philippines as the seven billionth citizen of Planet Earth.
For almost eleven years now since the birth of the world’s six billionth child UN demographers and the United States Census Bureau have been waiting for the moment when an additional billion human beings would be added to the world’s population ranks. While the US Census Bureau maintains that the world population will not hit the seven billion mark until March 30 2012 the UN was not deterred. So Seven Billion Day got underway despite the wrath of demographers and gave the Philippines a reason to rejoice.
While the Philippines was the first country to declare a “winner” babies born on October 31 were showered with gifts in various countries around the world.
The digital numbers on the World Population Clock in UN headquarters change almost as fast as the digits on the United States National Debt Clock in Times Square as the world’s population increases by 215120 every day. Just eleven years ago then-UN Secretary General Kofi Annan visited a Sarajevo hospital and crowned newborn Adnan Mevic as the six billionth human in the world’s population register.
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