The population is increasing by about 2.5 people per second, taking into account the birth and death rates. According to Worldbank, the population accounts for all residents regardless of their legal status or citizenship. The estimates are derived from national censuses. The definitions, collection procedures, and estimation methods can account for disparities in the actual outcome of the estimates. However, with the information available currently, the population will continue to be a problem environmentally.
Technological discoveries are inevitable.
They can either be helpful or hurtful to the environment. For example, technology can create entirely new products that will become the newest fad, and thus use much of the supply of resources. On the other hand, technology can be used to improve current and future inventions by simplifying them or creating alternate materials to replace current ones. The latter is the goal for technologists in the next century. However, economics must be considered.