In a newly released report, the U.N. Population Fund has determined that in mid-October the world population will reach 6 billion. The U.N. study projects that by the year 2050, 8.9 billion people will populate Earth. It continues to soar in sub-Saharan Africa, and South and West Asia. While China remains the world's most populous nation with 1.5 billion people, according to the U.N. report India is projected to surpass China in less than 50 years.
Experts debate whether Earth's natural resources can continue to support the booming population.
Other factors, such as longer life expectancy and declining fertility, may also affect future growth rates. The State of World Population 1999 . There are many factors that affect a population's growth. A common concern about the exponential growth of the human population is that the Earth's natural resources will be strained beyond an ability to support the population. The activities in the Learn about the Problem section deal with plant and animal species, but the concepts are valid for the human population as well.