Santa Barbara, U.S.A. — July 11 is World Population Day, an annual observance to educate the public about the problems of overpopulation and continuing population growth. It grew out of the public interest in Five Billion Day in 1987 when the global population reached five billion people. A quarter century later, world population now exceeds 7 billion and is growing by 80 million per year.

“This dire situation underscores the need to provide safe and effective family planning to the hundreds of millions of men and women who lack it. Families must have the ability to determine the number and spacing of their children,” said Marilyn DeYoung, Chairman of the Board of Californians for Population Stabilization (CAPS).

CAPS is a nonprofit  organization founded in 1986 that focuses specifically on preserving California’s future through the stabilization of the state’s human population. CAPS also works more broadly to educate about the overall impacts of overpopulation and the environmental impacts of “too many people” throughout the world. In recent years since nearly all of California’s runaway population growth has come from immigration, CAPS has focused  on this issue by sponsoring public and media awareness campaigns, working with lawmakers to promote more responsible policies, maintaining a growing network of member-activists, and conducting vital research about how to create a sustainable state.

A major report from Britain’s Royal Society last year noted that the population must be stabilized rapidly to avoid “a downward spiral of economic and environmental ills.” While world population has soared 40 percent since the first World Population Day, the United States has grown almost as rapidly, increasing 30 percent, from 242 million in 1987 to almost 314 million today.

“Continuing growth of the human population is the most serious environmental problem for our planet and for our nation. The consequences of that growth are all around us—loss of open space, air and water pollution, and never-ending sprawl. Habitat loss due to population growth is by far the greatest threat to wildlife. We must tackle this paramount issue,” stated DeYoung, who served on the President’s Commission on Population Growth and the American Future in 1970.

Image Courtesy of  Tan Wei Ming / Shutterstock.com

The article World Population Increases 80 Million per Year appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

Singapore, Republic of Singapore — The development of sustainable urban infrastructure is one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century. With more than half of the global population already squeezed into cities that, collectively, make up less than two percent of the planet’s land cover(1), the pressure now being placed on urban infrastructure is unprecedented. This worldwide demand for infrastructure is expected to require the investment of tens of trillions of dollars over the next four decades in order to create and maintain sustainable and highly-liveable urban areas that balance the needs of the population, the economy and the environment.

To that end, KPMG’s Global Infrastructure Practice is pleased to announce the much-anticipated second edition of the Infrastructure 100: World Cities Edition – a high-profile report showcasing 100 of the most innovative and inspiring urban infrastructure projects from around the world. Released at the World Cities Summit in Singapore, this edition provides insight into the infrastructure projects that make great cities, with a particular focus on the innovations that make them ‘Cities of the Future’ – places where people want to live and do business.

“Existing urban infrastructure is in urgent need of revitalization, and demands for new infrastructure have skyrocketed to meet the basic needs of growing populations. The world’s cities are already home to more than half the world’s population, and that number is expected to jump by more than three billion by 2050,” said Nick Chism, KPMG’s Global Head of Infrastructure. “The World Cities Edition looks specifically at the challenges faced by cities around the world and features 100 innovative projects that can inspire readers to conceive, finance and develop infrastructure projects that make a positive difference to the cities we live in.”

From managing exploding urban population growth to updating aging infrastructure or effectively managing a declining population and tax base, each region of the world faces major infrastructure challenges that must be met in order to ensure the economic health of the region.

“Cities are playing an ever more important part in their country’s economy. However, current global economic conditions and austerity measures have resulted in a need to identify innovative infrastructure solutions to deliver the required investments,” said James Stewart, KPMG’s Chairman of Global Infrastructure. “Strategic city infrastructure projects are delivering economic renewal by connecting communities and increasing jobs while delivering tangible long-term impacts and growth. But the importance of investing in sound, smart infrastructure cannot be overstated.”

Image Courtesy of  Neale Cousland / Shutterstock.com

The article The Cities of the Future, A Global Challenge appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.