{"id":564446,"date":"2026-07-29T01:02:26","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T01:02:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/564446\/"},"modified":"2026-07-29T01:02:26","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T01:02:26","slug":"study-reveals-halving-human-population-gradually-could-help-earth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/564446\/","title":{"rendered":"Study reveals halving human population gradually could help Earth"},"content":{"rendered":"

Your support helps us to tell the story<\/p>\n

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n

Your support makes all the difference.Read more<\/p>\n

It sounds like something out of a Marvel movie, but scientists have said halving the human population<\/a> over a span of about two centuries could make the planet much more sustainable by reducing excess consumption<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the 2018 Hollywood blockbuster Avengers<\/a>: Infinity War, the \u201cMad Titan\u201d Thanos<\/a> played by Josh Brolin halves the population of the universe instantly using the mystical \u201cInfinity Gauntlet<\/a>\u201d to stop the suffering caused by overpopulation.<\/p>\n

Now, researchers estimate that halving the Earth<\/a>\u2019s human population, more gradually over 200 years and not like the instant decimation of life brought about by Thanos<\/a>, could ease our negative impacts such as decreased wildlife populations and increased carbon emissions.<\/p>\n

Scientists argue that the indiscriminate use of Earth\u2019s resources by humans<\/a> has led to environmental effects, ranging from biodiversity loss to climate change.<\/p>\n

Biodiversity loss, resource consumption rates, and pollution levels<\/a> are strongly linked to human population size, they observe in the study published in the journal Sustainable Development.<\/p>\n

\"ThousandsThousands of revellers gather to attend the 2026 New Year’s Day celebrations in Jakarta (AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Over the past few hundred years, there has been a dramatic increase in human lifespan, quality of life, lowered child mortality and poverty, as well as expanding access to education and human rights.<\/p>\n

These have led to a profound growth in global population, reaching about two billion in the 1920s to the current 8.3 billion.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur collective impact upon the planet’s ecosystems has become overwhelming and unsustainable,\u201d scientists write.<\/p>\n

Estimates suggest the population growth is currently about 0.85 per cent per year.<\/p>\n

People in high-income nations also tend to consume about 13 times more energy per capita than low-income nations, researchers find.<\/p>\n

Scientists warn that the ever-increasing levels of population and resource consumption are not in the interests of future generations.<\/p>\n

\u201cGlobal environmental problems are caused by people, nothing else,\u201d they wrote, adding that \u201cgently reversing population growth is the better course\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cHelping population growth end and gently and justly reverse, while also moderating per capita impacts, is our best hope to secure a sustainable, desirable future worldwide,\u201d scientists concluded.<\/p>\n

\"UndatedUndated picture from Nasa shows a view of Europe at night (AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The progression to lower populations will also improve the economic well-being of nations, they say, observing that many countries with declining populations have seen increases in per capita GDP, work participation, and real wages.<\/p>\n

Citing an example, they say the Indian state of Kerala limiting its population growth three decades ago via higher education, female empowerment, delayed marriage, and extensive access to voluntary family planning, has led to its rise from \u201cone of the poorest to one of the most prosperous Indian states\u201d.<\/p>\n

Researchers show that slowing and gradually reducing the human population to about 4 billion or less from its current 8 billion by 2200 can lead to a much more sustainable planet.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmong the benefits are habitat recovery and conservation of wild species, reduced greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants, reduced conflict over resources, and the reduction of global poverty,\u201d scientists write.<\/p>\n

\u201cA more modest population \u2013 gently easing population to 4 billion by 2200 \u2013 would protect Earth’s natural heritage, including its wild habitats, wild species, and its climate. Such a world is within our grasp,\u201d they concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":564447,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[242,85,46,141],"class_list":["post-564446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=564446"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564446\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/564447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=564446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=564446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=564446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}