KATV Channel 7 - The Spirit of Arkansas: Earth's population to hit 7 billion by this year

Earth's population to hit 7 billion by this year

Earth will be home to seven-billion people by the end of the year... and most of the planet's growth will take place in developing countries.  

That's according to an article published in the latest issue of Science. The article suggests that food, water, housing and energy will be hard to come by in growing nations with limited resources.  

The Harvard professor who wrote the article says tackling issues like contraception, retirement and global immigration policy are needed to deal with the growth.  

The world's growth has been dramatic. It was just in 1999 that the global population reached six billion.