One of the greatest challenges facing humanity in the decades to come is dealing with population growth. The statistics are astonishing. Every second 5 people are born and 2 die, a net gain of 3 people every second. At this rate, the world population will double every forty years and will be 12 billion in 40 years. Th U.N.estimates that world population will stabilize at 12 billion if we can manage to implement effective family planning and improve world access to education in time.

When the number of children per family decreases, the explosive growth rates drop precipitously. Hans Rosling, a Belgian doctor and researcher, provides an interesting perspective on population growth and the evolving role of the developed west in this TEDxCannes presentation:

Wasn’t that fascinating? If you enjoy seeing real-time estimates of the growth or decline of key indicators for our world, you will love the Worldometer site.

Whether you believe that evolution got us to the lofty heights we now occupy as human beings on top of the food chain or that God established our dominion over the earth, the fact of the matter is that it is in our own best interest – call it enlightened self-interest – to care deeply about this issue.

One of the wonderful advantages of having the relatively big brains we have versus animals is that we can and often do care about the future. We can and often do proactively take steps now to secure a better result for generations to come. It is the principle behind investment and while the yield is not always a sure-bet, the odds are in our favor if the matter is sufficiently researched and understood.

Keep an eye out for the latest discoveries relative to population growth and green technology. The future of our planet depends on it!