# 7 Billion by the end of 2011 **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 30, 2010, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-billion-by-the-end-of-2011/565886 "2010-12-30T23:06:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-billion-by-the-end-of-2011/565886/21 "2011-01-01T18:22:50Z")
> [@lavenderviolet](#): > > Off the top of my head, I can think of a lot of possible solutions: > -Colonizing the moon If you’re going to include this as a viable option, you might as well also include: - clap our hands together and wish really hard for everything to be OK It’s about as realistic. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-billion-by-the-end-of-2011/565886/22 "2011-01-01T18:41:37Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > If you’re going to include this as a viable option, you might as well also include: > > - clap our hands together and wish really hard for everything to be OK > > It’s about as realistic. There’s plenty of land in Antartica we could colonize first. Or build artificial islands in the sea. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-billion-by-the-end-of-2011/565886/23 "2011-01-01T18:47:37Z")
> [@](#): > > There’s plenty of land in Antartica we could colonize first. but first, we’d have to build a big fire so it’ll be warm enough for us. What? ---
**Author:** ![Zany\_Zeolite\_Zipper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/4af34b/32.png) [@Zany\_Zeolite\_Zipper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zany_Zeolite_Zipper)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-billion-by-the-end-of-2011/565886/24 "2011-01-01T22:35:23Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > but first, we’d have to build a big fire so it’ll be warm enough for us. > > What? If only there was some global phenomenon that could result in an inhabitable Antarctica. Some sort of global thawing. What? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-billion-by-the-end-of-2011/565886/25 "2011-01-01T23:35:09Z")
> [@pedescribe](#): > > Huh. I thought we hit 7B a few years ago. Or has it gone down, from 7.3B to 7B or something? I’m sure it hasn’t gone down. According to [this](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:World_population_growth_-_time_between_each_billion-person_growth.jpg) chart (Wikipedia reference), we “beat” the projection by reaching 7B a couple of years early. But as the chart indicates, the overall rate of growth is expected to decrease. The next billion should take slightly longer to reach, and the next one after that, 9B, longer still. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-billion-by-the-end-of-2011/565886/26 "2011-01-01T23:36:40Z")
**Moderator note** I admit I laughed, but let’s all try to stay on topic, shall we? No admonitions or warnings issued. ---
**Author:** ![dhkendall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9adbd/32.png) [@dhkendall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dhkendall)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2011, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-billion-by-the-end-of-2011/565886/27 "2011-01-02T02:46:46Z")
I’m wondering if they are going to do what they did when person number 5000000000 I think it was was born, artificially declare such and such a person in such and such a place is the actual person that rolled the population odometer over (in 5B’s case, the chosen person was a child born in Sarajevo because they were going to host the Olympics soon.) ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2011, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-billion-by-the-end-of-2011/565886/28 "2011-01-02T03:48:11Z")
And I still can’t get a date \ ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2011, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-billion-by-the-end-of-2011/565886/29 "2011-01-02T06:21:33Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > And I still can’t get a date \ Bawahahahah This for the WIN !!! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![mookieblaylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@mookieblaylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mookieblaylock)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2011, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-billion-by-the-end-of-2011/565886/30 "2011-01-02T15:17:10Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > And I still can’t get a date \ Beat me to it. ---
**Author:** ![dhkendall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9adbd/32.png) [@dhkendall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dhkendall)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2011, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-billion-by-the-end-of-2011/565886/31 "2011-01-02T18:49:22Z")
> [@mookieblaylock](#): > > Beat me to it. No, he didn’t **mookie**. “I can’t get a date” has been your exclusive domain for well before **Marxxx** made his post. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-billion-by-the-end-of-2011/565886.md?page=1)