Feeding ten billion people is possible within four terrestrial planetary boundaries (2024)

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Feeding ten billion people is possible within four terrestrial planetary boundaries (2024)

FAQs

Can we feed a future population of 10 billion people a healthy diet within planetary boundaries? ›

Feeding 10 Billion People Within Planetary Limits May Be Achievable, Say Researchers. In 2050 the world population will be close to 10 billion people. Will it be possible to feed everyone a healthy and sustainable diet? A new scientific paper says yes – on the condition that we transform our food system.

What are the 4 planetary boundaries? ›

The four are: climate change, loss of biosphere integrity, land-system change, altered biogeochemical cycles (phosphorus and nitrogen). Two of these, climate change and biosphere integrity, are what the scientists call "core boundaries".

What can be done to sustainably feed 10 billion people? ›

Shift to healthier, more sustainable diets.

Limiting ruminant meat consumption to 52 calories per person per day by 2050—about 1.5 hamburgers per week—would reduce the GHG mitigation gap by half and nearly close the land gap. In North America this would require reducing current beef and lamb consumption by nearly half.

Can the Earth feed 9 billion people? ›

However, there is in fact enough food produced every year to feed 10 billion people. And yet, around 11 percent of people are hungry worldwide, and 98% of that hunger is concentrated in “developing” countries. So hunger is a more complicated problem than sheer quantity, and there is a issue of distribution.

Will we be able to feed 10 billion people? ›

Feeding 10 billion people on Earth is possible—and sustainable, scientists say. A new study finds that if major steps in global farming are taken, agricultural production would be substantially increased without compromising the planet.

How will we feed everyone in 2050? ›

The World Resources Institute (WRI) reports that a 25 percent reduction in food waste would push food production 12 percent closer to the levels necessary to feed the world in 2050 and would shrink the amount of increased agricultural land needed by 27 percent, inching closer to fully closing the land gap.

Is a population of 10 billion sustainable? ›

Sustainable population refers to a proposed sustainable human population of Earth or a particular region of Earth, such as a nation or continent. Estimates vary widely, with estimates based on different figures ranging from 0.65 billion people to 9.8 billion, with 8 billion people being a typical estimate.

Can the United States feed itself? ›

The United States is growing less and less of its own food and is becoming increasingly dependent on foreign countries to feed itself as a result. The U.S. has been a proud agricultural powerhouse, consistently running an agricultural trade surplus.

How do we feed a growing population without destroying the planet? ›

  1. Shift the diets of high-meat consumers toward plant-based foods. Meat, particularly from cattle, sheep, and goats, is very resource intensive. ...
  2. Boost crop yields and dramatically increase the output of milk and meat. ...
  3. Improve wild fisheries management and aquaculture.
Jul 17, 2019

Can Earth handle 10 billion people? ›

If the global fertility rate does indeed reach replacement level by the end of the century, then the human population will stabilize between 9 billion and 10 billion. As far as Earth's capacity is concerned, we'll have gone about as far as we can go, but no farther.

What is the maximum human population the Earth can support? ›

He estimated that the world could support 13.4 billion people. Estimates in the last half of the 20th century ranged from less than 1 billion to more than 1,000 billion.

What is the limit for humans on Earth? ›

Carrying capacity

A 2004 meta-analysis of 69 such studies from 1694 until 2001 found the average predicted maximum number of people the Earth would ever have was 7.7 billion people, with lower and upper meta-bounds at 0.65 and 98 billion people, respectively.

Is there enough food on the planet to feed the world's entire population? ›

There are limits to Earth's capacity to feed humanity. Even if we use available resources at maximum efficiency (meaning if EVERYONE on the planet agrees to become vegetarian) the world's farmland could not support more than 10 billion people, according to Harvard sociobiologist Edward Wilson.

Can we feed the world's rapidly growing population? ›

By 2050 the world's population will likely increase by more than 35 percent. To feed that population, crop production will need to double.

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