There will soon be 7 billion people on the planet… by 2050 global population could reach 10.5 billion.

Can the planet take the strain? In the coming decades, despite falling birth rates, the population will continue to explode—mostly in poor countries. If the billions more people who want to boost themselves out of poverty follow the path blazed by the wealthy countries—clearing forests, burning coal and oil, scattering fertilizers and precedes—they too will be stepping hard on the planet’s resources.

Senior Photo Editor: Gail Fisher

Photography: Randy Olson & Freelance