Could there have been an ancient period when Earth was already packed with billions of people, and then the population declined?"
As per Google/AI, Earth’s human population is approximately 8.3 billion today, growing from an estimated 1 million people 10,000 years ago.
Key Population Milestones
• 100,000 BCE – 10,000 BCE: The global population stayed under 1 million while humans lived as hunter-gatherers.
• 1 CE: The population reached roughly 170 million after the rise of farming.
• 1400: Numbers dipped slightly or grew slowly to around 350 to 400 million, impacted by events like the Bubonic Plague.
• 1804: The world population hit 1 billion for the first time at the start of the Industrial Revolution.
• 1927: Reached 2 billion in roughly 123 years.
• 1960: Reached 3 billion in just 33 years.
• 1974: Reached 4 billion.
• 1999: Reached 6 billion.
• 2011: Reached 7 billion.
• 2022: Exceeded 8 billion according to the United Nations World Population Prospects.
Thus stated, around 74,000 years ago there was a huge volcanic eruption: the Toba eruption. The eruption lasted perhaps 9 to 14 days, which caused a severe global volcanic winter of six to ten years and contributed to a 1,000-year-long cooling episode, resulting in a genetic bottleneck in humans. It nearly ended humankind life, leaving only a few thousand remaining.
So, it is HIGHLY unlikely that “billions” of humankind existed in the past.
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According to recent studies, humanity was on the verge of extinction 8 million years BC.
Ah, yes; an earlier event: a study recently reported at the journal Science [ https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abq7487 ]
A groundbreaking genetic study published in the journal Science revealed that around 930,000 to 813,000 years ago, our direct human ancestors suffered a catastrophic population crash.
The 900,000-Year Bottleneck
According to the genomic data analyzed from modern populations, nearly 98.7% of the breeding human ancestor population was wiped out at the start of this severe “bottleneck”.
- The Population: The global breeding population plummeted to a mere 1,280 individuals.
- The Duration: This tiny group of survivors kept humanity on the brink of extinction for roughly 117,000 years.
- The Cause: Researchers attribute the crash to a drastic global climate shift, during which the planet became significantly colder and drier, triggering prolonged droughts and destroying primary food sources. [
Very interesting! I had heard about this but I wasn’t aware that it’s down to only 1280 individuals! That’s insane.
On a similar note, did you know that all modern cows are descended from a single herd of proto-cattle? Mindblowing.
Wow. Yeah. Don’t tell anyone else, we don’t want to ruin their party; but, we’re very, very ‘lucky’ to be here.
Marvin Welborn
Author of:
Union Station, Paradigm Shift, and Tales of the Tribe.