Don't panic. The truth about population.

Professor Hans Rosling presents this documentary in front of a live audience. He looks at the problem of rising population on Earth and questions whether we should worry about the effect it is going to have on the planet. Using interactive diagrams Rosling demonstrates how the Earth’s population has grown from 10,000 BC to the present day. Interactive maps show that family sizes in the world have decreased and life expectancy increased. In Bangladesh the Khan family is interviewed, they have chosen to have only two children and the mother visits other families providing contraception and education to encourage smaller families. Rosling discusses misconceptions about population; he describes the results of a survey conducted to measure British people’s perception of birth rates in Bangladesh. Rosling argues that one of the contributing factors towards lower birth rates is decreasing child mortality. Diagrams are used to demonstrate that since the year 2000 the number of children in the world has not increased and using foam blocks Rosling explains how the number of children has stayed the same, but net population has increased. Using his time as a doctor in Mozambique 30 years ago, Rosling explains how resources and the economy in Africa have improved and whether these resources will be able to keep up. Olivia and Andre from a poor family in Northern Mozambique are interviewed; they discuss how difficult it is to provide for their children but that things are improving. Rosling uses interactive diagrams to divide the Earth’s population in to wealth categories depending on what form of transport they can afford to use. Rosling goes on to compare data on literacy, wealth and life expectancy over the last few hundred years to see the effect they have on each other. He then focuses on how the proportion of those in extreme poverty has changed and how it may change in the future. Attention is then turned to how changes in population and increased wealth will change how much energy is used in the world. Rosling concludes that the world is doing better than many people think.