The United Nations picked today to be the day where the Earth officially holds seven billion human beings (give or take 56 million).
Why "give or take 56 million" people? From the BBC:
"The U.N. recognises that its own figures come with a 1 to 2 percent margin of error. Today's population could actually be 56 million higher or lower than 7 billion," according to U.N. population estimates expert Gerhard Heilig."There is a window of uncertainty of at least six months before and six months after the 31 October for the world population to reach 7 billion," he added.
Are there really seven billion people walking, sleeping, working, eating, dreaming, crawling and just generally living right now? Maybe — that's being debated. Either way,this girl, Danica May Camacho of the Philippines, has been chosen as the symbolic baby to represent seven billion concurrent human lifeforms.
Pictured above: the fertile crescent of the Nile Delta as seen from the ISS, an apt image depicting the cradle of civilization, the achievement of humanity in even being able to take such a shot, and our humble host, spaceship Earth.
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BBC News, via NPR and NASA
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