The globe will have 7,000,000,000 inhabitants early in 2012, up from the current 6,800,000,000, and surpass 9,000,000,000 by 2050, according to the United Nations World Population Prospect. That last number is subject to considerable uncertainty because the UN's most likely scenario blithely assumes that, by 2050, most (but not all) nations will have rejected positive population growth in favor of below-replacement fertility rates. In historical terms, such an "implosion" or contraction of world population is unheard of-except when those passing catastrophes caused by the ancient enemies of humanity (war, famine, and pestilence) spread their venom.
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