On Tuesday (15 November), the United Nations (UN) announced that the world population has officially hit the eight billion mark. In a statement, the UN explained that this population growth could be attributed to human development, higher fertility rates and lower mortality rates, coupled with advancements in medicine, nutrition and public health.
While it took the global population 12 years to grow from 7 to 8 billion, it will take approximately 15 years— until 2037— for it to reach 9 billion, a sign that the overall growth rate of the global population is slowing.UNITED NATIONS
At a time when global resources are taking continuous hits and the climate crisis is at an all-time high, this population boom does not warrant a cause to celebrate. Owing to these grim factors, Twitter reacted with what it knows best: memes. From urging the fictional Marvel villain, Thanos to "snap" his fingers and stabilize the world population to poking fun at people who are still single, netizens had a field day with their jokes and jibes.
Brands also did not miss an opportunity to join the bandwagon, with big names like Zomato, Netflix and Burger King dishing out their own memes and news-specific content. While Burger King tweeted, "8 billion people and you're still stealing my fries", Zomato wrote, "the world now has 8 billion people and 0 veg biriyanis."
Even Karan Johar's Dharma Productions could not pass up on this opportunity, joining the meme-verse with a Kuch Kuch Hota Hai joke.
Here are some more social media reactions:
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