From Nigel Langley, Totnes, Devon, UK
As the world population hits 8 billion and amid official predictions that it will probably peak later this century, I still fear that extreme alternative scenarios could come to pass. Small annual percentage changes in population can multiply over the years, causing large changes. As a result of this compounding effect, it is possible that global population will become either much smaller or much bigger than it is today(12 November, p 14).
I don’t think the head count will stay around the 8 to 10 billion level. At some point in time, it is possible, due to the compounding effect, for the population to be either under 1 billion or over 100 billion.
