Experts fire back at Elon Musk over his claims on humanity's collapse

Experts have fired back at SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who recently claimed that population collapse is a bigger threat than global warming.

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SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has recently been very vocal about his position on the biggest risks to civilization, which has now caused experts in fields that Musk has mentioned to fire back at the CEO.

It was only a few days ago that Musk took to his personal Twitter account to inform his 100+ million followers that population collapse due to low birthrates was a much larger risk to civilization than global warming. This isn't the first time Musk has rung the bell on population collapse, as the billionaire has previously stated in multiple interviews that he is gravely concerned with declining birth rates.

According to the United Nations projections, Earth is expected to reach 8 billion people by the end of November this year, with further projections estimating an additional 500 million people in the following 8 years. Even further projections estimate that in 2080 the world's population will peak at approximately 10.4 billion, with a 50% that population growth will half and essentially plateau by 2100.

Notably, multiple models have been done on Earth's population, and as pointed out by CNN, studies using more conservative models project that by 2100 Earth will only have 8.8 billion people.

According to United Nations numbers, in 1950, women across the globe usually had five children, with 2021 numbers indicating that women only have 2.3 births per year. Notably, the United Nations projects that by 2050 the global fertility rate will reduce to 2.1 births per woman. As for the US specifically, in the 1950s, birth rates were at 3.6 births per woman, with it reducing to just 1.6 as of 2020.

Other countries around the world are also seeing similar birth rates below 2, with Japan having 1.2, China, 1.2, and Italy 1.2. Despite China's rollback of its one-child policy, the nation announced its birthrate has declined for the fifth year in a row. Chamie told the publication that almost every developed country has a birthrate of below 2 and that this isn't surprising because its been that way for the last 20 - 30 years.

Continents such as Africa contain between 15 and 20 countries where the birthrate remains high at five births per woman. However, the chances of a child below the age of 5 dying are 8 to 10 times higher compared to a child of the same age in a developed country.

Experts fire back at Elon Musk over his claims on humanity's collapse 01
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Jak joined the TweakTown team in 2017 and has since reviewed 100s of new tech products and kept us informed daily on the latest science, space, and artificial intelligence news. Jak's love for science, space, and technology, and, more specifically, PC gaming, began at 10 years old. It was the day his dad showed him how to play Age of Empires on an old Compaq PC. Ever since that day, Jak fell in love with games and the progression of the technology industry in all its forms. Instead of typical FPS, Jak holds a very special spot in his heart for RTS games.

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