‘Population bomb’ might prove to be a dud: Study

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For many years, it was feared that a “population bomb” would explode and severely impact the planet. But a new study indicates it might not actually go off, because the human population will peak and decline quicker than anticipated.

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The study — commissioned by the  Club of Rome. — projects that we will have a high of 8.8 billion people on Earth before 2050, followed by a rapid decline.

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It’s also possible that the decline could start earlier should more people be lifted out of poverty, according to the Guardian.

That said, the study noted the projected population decline won’t be enough alone to solve climate change and other issues.

“This gives us evidence to believe the population bomb won’t go off, but we still face significant challenges from an environmental perspective,” said Ben Callegari, one of the authors.

“We need a lot of effort to address the current development paradigm of overconsumption and overproduction, which are bigger problems than population.”