Environmental Problems

WHEN THE EARTH TURNS TO DUST

Going underground

The number of organisms living in a handful of soil outnumber all humans on the planet. They ensure that the humus layer stores nutrients and water. After oceans, soils represent the planet's largest carbon bank. Soils store more carbon than all the world's forests combined.

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5. Overpopulation.

Problem: Human population continues to grow rapidly worldwide. Humanity entered the 20th century with 1.6 billion people; right now, we're about 7.5 billion. Estimates put us at nearly 10 billion by 2050. Growing global populations, combined with growing affluence, is putting ever greater pressure on essential natural resources, like water. Most of the growth is happening on the African continent, and in southern and eastern Asia.

Solutions: Experience has shown that when women are empowered to control their own reproduction, and gain access to education and basic social services, the average number of births per woman drops precipitously.

Done right, networked aid systems could bring women out of extreme poverty, even in countries where state-level governance remains abysmal.

Picture gallery: Remember when we used just one earth?

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REMEMBER WHEN WE USED JUST ONE EARTH?

Many more of us

In 1970, 3.7 billion people lived on the planet. Our numbers today exceed 7.5 billion. China and India top the global population list, with 1.4 billion and 1.33 billion inhabitants respectively. (Source: Statista, Deutsche Stiftung Weltbevölkerung)