How Earth's population exploded

ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Parents care for their babies as they attend the Department of Health launching of Vax-Baby-Vax, a 10-day Intensive Routine Catch-up Immunization program, which aims to catch-up in the delay or lack of vaccine among infants because of COVID-19 restrictions the past 2 years, at the Lakeshore in Taguig City on Nov. 7, 2022. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/life/11/08/20221107-doh-infants-vaccination-jc-7347.jpg"/><figcaption>Parents care for their babies as they attend the Department of Health launching of Vax-Baby-Vax, a 10-day Intensive Routine Catch-up Immunization program, which aims to catch-up in the delay or lack of vaccine among infants because of COVID-19 restrictions the past 2 years, at the Lakeshore in Taguig City on Nov. 7, 2022. <em>Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>PARIS — Since the emergence of the first humans in Africa over 2 million years ago the world&#x27;s population has ballooned, with only fleeting pauses to the increasing number of people sharing planet Earth.</p><p>As the global population teeters on 8 billion -- a milestone expected to be reached in mid-November -- AFP takes a look at the main chapters in the growth of humanity.</p><div><strong>FIRST HUMANS </strong></div><p>The oldest fossils from the earliest known humans date back 2.8 million years and were found in east Africa.</p><p>But estimates of the number of people that populated the earth remained highly unreliable until the 19th century.</p><p>What we do know is that our ancestors were hunter-gatherers, who had few children compared to later settled populations in order to maintain their nomadic lifestyle.</p><p>The planet&#x27;s population was sparse also partly because hunter-gatherers needed a lot of land to feed themselves -- around 10 square kilometers per person, according to Herve Le Bras, a researcher at the French Institute for Demographic Studies (INED).</p><p>The globe&#x27;s population did increase over time but very, very slowly.</p><div><strong>FIRST BABY BOOM </strong></div><p>The introduction of agriculture in the Neolithic era, around 10,000 BC, brought the first known major population leap.</p><p>With agriculture came sedentarization and the ability to store food, which caused birth rates to soar.</p><p>&quot;Mothers were able to feed infants gruel, which sped up the weaning process and reduced the amount of time between births, meaning more children per woman,&quot; Le Bras explained.</p><p>The development of permanent settlements also brought hazards, however, with the domestication of animals causing humans to contract new deadly diseases. </p><p>Child mortality rates were particularly high, with a third of all children dying before their first birthday, and another third before they turned 18.</p><p>&quot;There was huge mortality but also a permanent baby boom,&quot; Eric Crubezy, anthropologist at the University of Toulouse in France, explained.</p><p>From around 6 million in 10,000 BC, the global population leapt to 100 million in 2,000 BC and then to 250 million in the first century AD, according to INED estimates.</p><div><strong>BLACK DEATH </strong></div><p>The Black Death brought the population to a sudden halt in the Middle Ages.</p><p>The pandemic, which emerged in Central Asia, in what is modern-day Kyrgyzstan, reached Europe in 1346 on ships carrying goods from the Black Sea.</p><p>In just 8 years, it wiped out up to 60 percent of the populations of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.</p><p>As a result of the Black Death, the human population dropped between 1300 and 1400, from 429 to 374 million.</p><p>Other events, like the Plague of Justinian, which hit the Mediterranean over 2 centuries from 541-767, and the wars of the early Middle Ages in western Europe, also caused temporary dips in the numbers of humans on Earth.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/11/07/22/world-population-at-8-billion-humans-and-still-growing">World population at 8 billion humans -- and still growing</a></li></ul><div><strong>8 BILLION, AND COUNTING</strong></div><p>From the 19th century on, the population began to explode, due largely to the development of modern medicine and the industrialization of agriculture, which boosted global food supplies.</p><p>Since 1800, the world&#x27;s population has jumped 8-fold, from an estimated 1 billion to 8 billion.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/06/16/22/black-death-origin-mystery-solved-675-years-later">Black Death origin mystery solved... 675 years later</a></li></ul><p>For Crubezy, the development of vaccines was key, with the smallpox jab particularly helping zap one of history&#x27;s biggest killers. </p><p>The 1970s and 1980s brought another small revolution, in the form of treatment for heart disease, which helped reduce mortality among over-60s.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/07/06/22/popcom-eyes-1-pct-yearly-population-growth">Popcom wants to keep yearly population growth at around 1 million</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/01/21/22/ph-population-growth-lowest-in-70-years-due-to-covid-19">Philippines’ population growth lowest in 70 years due to COVID-19</a></li></ul><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse </strong></div>

Since the emergence of the first humans in Africa over 2 million years ago the world's population has ballooned with only fleeting pauses. 

How Earth's population exploded | ABS-CBN

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How Earth's population exploded

How Earth's population exploded

ABS-CBN News

Published Nov 08, 2022 04:56 PM PHT

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