The world population reaches 7 billion. Did you ever wonder how our precious Earth can hold that many people? What good is breaking our planet in terms of resources to support all of us?
Because of hunger and lack of opportunities, people from rural areas migrate to cities. They moved their families to the cities in hopes of a better life. Instead they find themselves living in conditions worse than before.
How many cities host this slum (or informal settlers, if we want to be politically correct) people? Studies show that there is an illegal family about half a million Filipinos living in Metro Manila. With a membership of households an average of 7, we can estimate about 3.5 million squatters in Metro Manila. 3.5 million people living in emergency housing often without water or waste.
It is not uncommon to see people who live along the waterways. Without proper sanitation, we can all imagine where they throw their waste. The rivers are dying if not dead because they were allowed to live there.
Metro Manila’s population has grown more than it can handle. There are more people than there are a number of jobs metropolis can offer. Many families resort to wild collect whatever they could save from landfills. It is only in Metro Manila. There are similar situations in other cities in the Philippines.
Metro Manila to shrink in terms of habitable space that is actually expanding to become a megalopolis. Nearby suburbs are now being developed to appeal to families living in Metro Manila. Rice fields are being converted into residential areas reduced mass of our source for food.
Trees are felled to give way to the villages. Then we heard a big flood occurred. It’s great flood which had sounded a few years ago. With the indiscriminate and reckless cutting of trees for our waterways, it does not take a genius to figure out what caused the flooding.
Earth’s population to reach 7 billion. Of these 7 billion, how many live out of poverty? How much will dispose of their waste water along the channel causing it to die? How many will be affected by the floods? How many of the 7 billion people will live in the community converted from paddy fields? How many of the 7 billion people will live in villages converted from forest?
Our habitable space is shrinking. Our resources are shrinking. How many people can the earth support, we really do not know. There are too many questions. Our world is shrinking. But every body deserve a piece of our planet, including future generations. Let us realize what is happening to our Earth is now on their behalf.
Soon we will celebrate Earth Day. We again will focus on emissions, recycling, global warming, and the environment. I hope the nearly 7 billion people will join in the celebration of the earth.
Incoming search terms:
- seven billion people: the world is shrinking
- a shrinking world seven people