7 Billion

Sometime in late October 2011, the 7 millionth citizen of planet Earth will be born. To mark the event, National Geographic magazine commissioned seven articles that explore the fascinating issues--including demographics, food security, climate change, fertility trends, managing biodiversity--surrounding this topic, which are collected for the first time in this special ebook. Envi­ronment editor Robert Kunzig starts by sketching out a natural history of population. The issues associated with population growth seem endless: poverty, food and water supply, world health, climate change, deforestation, fertility rates, and more. In additional chapters Elizabeth Kolbert explores a new era--the "Anthropocene," or the age of man--defined by our massive impact on the planet, which will endure long after our cities have crumbled; and takes us to the Mediterranean, where she delves into issues associated with increasing ocean acidification. In Bangladesh, Don Belt...